NEW DELHI: Barely a month has slipped by since the city of Batumi stood guard to the saga of 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh, who entered the fray as an International Master (IM), seeded 15th, yet stormed through the Women’s World Cup to become its youngest-ever champion and a Grandmaster (GM) in the process.In her first FIDE interview post-victory, Divya couldn’t hold back her giggle while revealing her long-kept secret, finally tossing two most sought-after names behind her success: Csaba Balogh from Hungary and Abhimanyu Puranik from India.September 4, 2025, saw Divya up against GM Puranik in the first round of the Grand Swiss 2025, marking her return to the longest format since the World Cup.From getting a wildcard to take part in the open section to being part of a rare clash between mentor and protégé, scripts like these are rare even in Bollywood these days.For Puranik, the month leading up to the tournament had been a mix of a Disneyland vacation and a third-place finish in the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 Challengers section.
GM Abhimanyu Puranik on the laptop (Special Arrangement)
“The way I’m approaching the tournament is that I just had a month-long vacation in Disneyland,” Puranik, rated 2640 in classical, told TimesofIndia.com days ahead of the Grand Swiss.“There’s a saying in X-Men movies that to focus properly, you need the mental state between rage and serenity. You are Zen, but also laser-focused, ready to fight hard. That’s what I aim to achieve (in this Grand Swiss).”Thursday’s win with the black pieces over Divya now only suggests he is inching closer to that elusive state.Abhimanyu Puranik: A Mumbai-born PunekarBorn in Mumbai but raised in Pune, Abhimanyu Puranik, now 25, discovered chess at the age of five.“My mom used to take chemistry and biology tuitions at home. One of her students taught me the rules of chess when I was five. I was a very hyperactive kid, so it became a good calming exercise, and my parents were happy about it,” recalled the GM.But his early curiosity turned into dedication: “I started bugging them a lot. I kept asking them and my grandfather to play with me all the time. Seeing my enthusiasm, they enrolled me in a chess academy. At the academy, we played every day with other kids my age. Whenever someone won a game, we got a one-rupee coin. I really wanted as many one-rupee coins as I could get, and that made me more enthusiastic.”
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His dedication paid off as he began achieving results at the district and state levels.“My parents were super supportive from the start. I went to Symbiosis School in Pune, and they encouraged me all the way. Chess was never anything heavy for me.”Chess after schoolPreparation in his early days was equally disciplined.“After Velankar sir’s class, I joined Jayant Gokhale sir’s academy and Chandrashekhar Gokhale sir, so we had many peers. I used to go there directly after school, and we used to play all day till late evening, and then I would come back home,” he recounted.“We worked a lot on various aspects of the game, mainly from books, like Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, My Great Predecessors by Kasparov. You learn from ongoing games, I think there was Vishy (Viswanathan Anand) sir’s match with Kramnik at that time. It was a very interesting time to be learning chess.”A mature player, now a mature mentorAs he matured, Puranik steadily stepped onto larger stages, attaining his IM title in 2015 and becoming GM two years later in 2017.“Slowly, I started playing in world school events and other competitions,” he stated. “From there, I just kept going. There was never a conversation about pursuing other careers. It happened organically, and I kept going.”Now, as he outsmarted Divya over a nearly six-hour-long game on Thursday, the 25-year-old, even then, found enough zeal to analyse the game with the Women’s World Cup winner, someone Puranik holds in high regard.ALSO READ: ‘I tried to live as a man but couldn’t’: First-ever trans chess player to reach WIM, now French women’s champion“I basically did whatever small part I could, and I was glad because I’ve known her for some time, and she has been improving. She’s really evolved, with an amazing mentality. If you look at her results over the last few years, she shows up for the big event, winning the national championship, Asian Championship, and an Olympiad gold medal,” Puranik said with a chest full of pride. “I was happy to help her achieve her goal. She’s definitely someone to watch in the long term for Indian chess. She is already a star, but she’s going to be an even bigger one, and I was glad to play my part in that.”
