Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has been awarded a wildcard for the FIDE World Cup 2025, which will be held in Goa from October 31 to November 27. The 19-year-old from Nagpur was given the last-minute entry after a participant withdrew. She will now join 20 other Indians in the single-elimination tournament, which is led by reigning World Champion D. Gukesh.
The wildcard was offered to Deshmukh after women's World Champion Ju Wenjun and World No. 1 Hou Yifan both declined their invitations to the tournament. FIDE and its CEO Emil Sutovsky confirmed the development, with Sutovsky stating it on X.
Her recent performance at the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in Samarkand was a major factor in her selection. Playing in the Open section against top players, she impressed with a score of 5.0/11, finishing above several top-ranked players, including Karthikeyan Murali, Boris Gelfand, Levon Aronian, and Alexander Grischuk.
The FIDE World Cup is a biennial knockout tournament that features 206 of the world’s top players. The competition is held over three weeks and consists of mini-matches. The stakes are high for the participants, as the top three finishers will earn a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger for the World Champion title.
The wildcard entry will now allow her the opportunity to compete for a spot in the Candidates Tournament on home soil. Having won the FIDE Women’s World Cup and becoming the fourth Indian woman to earn the Grandmaster title, her inclusion adds a certain excitement not only for Indian fans, but of the game as well. Other notable wildcard recipients include USA's Abhimanyu Mishra and the 11-year-old Argentinian Faustino Oro.
