NEW DELHI: In Batumi, Georgia, the final handshake left nineteen-year-old Divya Deshmukh full of raw emotions and tears — not just for the game she had just won, but for what it meant: India, for the first time ever, had a Women’s World Cup chess champion — her closest companion in that moment were not her parents, coach or a fan, but a humble banana.Yes, a banana, untouched through the tension and triumph, now turned into the most unassuming witness to one of Indian chess’s most glorious days.In chess, White pieces traditionally hold the advantage by virtue of the first move.But Divya had the black pieces, going into the decider of Monday’s rapid tie-break against thirty-eight-year-old legendary Grandmaster (GM) Koneru Humpy, after all three previous classical and rapid games had ended in draws.The game teetered delicately, move after move, until Humpy cracked under the time pressure on move 40.Her sequence, 40.e4 followed by 41.d5, forced Divya to play 42…cxd5, and the veteran survived the first time. But it was not the last.The game stayed on a knife’s edge from there, with both players trading blunders and brilliance, led more by instinct than calculation as the clock ticked menacingly.When Humpy played 69.h7, the evaluation bar dropped again but never climbed back in her favour. Six moves later, the two-time World Rapid champion resigned. And with it came the coronation of a champion, a new queen of 64 squares, India’s 88th GM.
The board as Divya Deshmukh became the first Indian to win the Women’s Chess World Cup.
It felt like a dream that the 15th-seed teenager, with no Grandmaster norms coming into the tournament, had just become only the fourth female in India after Humpy, D Harika, and R Vaishali to achieve the distinction. But unlike the other three, she did it in one swing, without amassing the three GM norms.The playing hall rose in applause. But there, quietly soaking up all the drama, sat the banana, an omnipresent figure in Divya’s games these days.It had followed the Indian prodigy through round after round, a prop that puzzled many and amused more.Let’s rewind to Sunday evening, after the draw in the second classical game of the final, Divya was eventually asked about it. “I mean, what else am I going to do with the banana? I’m going to eat it,” she answered. “I don’t know what you’re wondering about. I’m going to eat it, obviously.”Except, she never did.
Divya Deshmukh on the podium after winning the gold medal at the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup. (Image: X/FIDE)
“My opponents are never letting me eat it,” she smiled, when pressed further. “If I start eating a banana, then you should know that I’m pretty relaxed in my body.”But since there was no room for relaxation, the banana became her constant in the chaos.When asked if it was proving lucky, she laughed it off with a quick “No!” But then again, we’ve all seen Rafael Nadal fuss over his water bottles and MS Dhoni with his glove rituals.Nevertheless, the banana sat just centimetres away, enjoyed the best view as Divya took down a player twice her age, earning the admiration of legends and the love of a 150-crore-strong nation.And now, while Divya may not have bitten into that, she has something far sweeter to sink her teeth into: a gold medal.Divya Deshmukh survived Batumi. So did the banana.
