India, Aug. 7 -- Divya Deshmukh's recent victory at the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup perfectly reflected India's rise in the sport. What made it more special was that it was an all-Indian final with Divya taking on veteran Grandmaster Koneru Humpy. Before the final, Divya didn't even a single GM norm, and then fast forward to her victory, she became India's 88th Grandmaster.

Divya's victory comes after D Gukesh's win at the World C'ships in December last year, when he beat Ding Liren. After Magnus Carlsen won his first World Championship title in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess faced a short tenure of monotony. But now the new generation of chess players in India has been challenging for top honours in international events,...