NEW DELHI: Back in 2018, when Gukesh Dommaraju and Divya Deshmukh were barely 13, they shared more than just a chessboard.In a now-viral clip from those early days, Divya asks Gukesh, “How much Hindi do you know?” To which the boy wonder tosses a deadpan reply, “Zero!”Though Divya’s instant reaction is to roll her eyes in mock disbelief, she would soon slip into the role of a translator, turning Gukesh’s English analysis into Hindi for a chess platform’s Hindi channel, and in the process win over millions on social media.
Seven years on, the setting could not have been more different. Amid the architectural splendour of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, the two prodigies, now Grandmasters (GMs) in their late teens, met again on Friday – except they didn’t speak a word between them for hours at end.But this time, at the FIDE Grand Swiss, Gukesh, rated 2767, was the reigning World Champion and Divya, rated 2478, the Women’s World Cup winner. It was their first-ever clash in a classical format and also a reminder of how far Indian chess had come, and how blurred the lines between “male” and “female” boards have begun to look.
D Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh (Image: FIDE)
“The eighth-round game between Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE Grand Swiss ended in a hard-fought battle after 103 moves,” GM Pravin Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com while analysing the game.“Divya chose a very unusual continuation on her fourth move (4…Be7). Apparently, Gukesh didn’t know this line because he took 17 minutes for his fifth move.“Although he had lost a lot of time, the opening choice of Divya doesn’t really look very sound, and White does get some very good technical edge. It was very dangerous to play such a position against Gukesh. In fact, I would never have thought that. And by move 12 or 13, Gukesh was already with a good sound advantage by advancing the queenside pawn (12.a5).”Yet, the youngest-ever world champion, undergoing a poor run of form at Grand Swiss this time, let his chances slip.“Gukesh chose a completely different plan to play on the kingside, and with 15.Bxf4, he opened up the game on the other side. As a result, all his advantage was gone, and we had roughly equal position,” explained Thipsay.“Later, Divya’s decision to exchange Queen on move 19th didn’t seem to be very good, and again Gukesh had the upper hand. But on 23.Nd2, Gukesh somehow didn’t find the right square for the knight, and that reduced the advantage. The game was thereafter into a very complex situation when nothing much was happening.”“Gukesh’s placement of the knight and the rooks after 28 moves turned out to be really bad and unproductive. And Divya, for the first time, got an advantage by move 30. It was a slight tangible advantage in an endgame, probably not enough to win, but she was better,” the 66-year-old GM continued.“A repetition could have taken place by move 40, but Gukesh refrained from repeating the moves and sacrificed a pawn. The rest of the game became a dead position, with Gukesh trying to set traps. Divya gave up a knight for the last pawn and got into an obvious rook-and-knight versus rook position, which is a theoretical draw.”
World Champion D Gukesh had suffered three consecutive defeats at the FIDE Grand Swiss. (Image: FIDE)
For Thipsay, Gukesh is having his “worst phase” after a poor run of results, including three defeats, in the Grand Swiss.“This entire year has been quite bad. Hardly any event has passed where he hasn’t lost rating. So one can say this is probably the worst phase in Gukesh’s life since 2021.”It is a sobering assessment for the youngest World Champion. Once hailed as unstoppable, Gukesh now sits outside the top 10 in the live ratings, his 2748.2 mark dropping him to 12th place.For Divya Deshmukh, however, the draw was more than just half a point.“Women players rarely get consistent chances against 2600+ opposition,” Thipsay opined. “For her, tournaments like these are about exposure, practice, and proving herself. She has played with great spirit, and this result will give her confidence.”Gukesh, on the other hand, was never playing for qualification. Already holding the World Championship crown, he had no Candidates’ slot to chase. “He’s only playing for practice and to expose himself to the elite players,” said Thipsay.But practice or not, every half-point surrendered has its cost.As the players shook hands after six and a half hours of play, there was no winner, yet no shortage of drama. With three rounds left, the tournament can still swing either way, “bad to worse” for Gukesh, or “good to better” for Divya.For now, the headline writes itself: The World Champion is out of the top 10. And the hand that nudged him down belongs to an old friend who once teased him about Hindi.
