Divya Deshmukh Wins World Junior u-20 Girls’ Chess Championship

18-year Nagpur girl and women’s chess International Master Divya Deshmukh won the FIDE under -20 Girl’s World Chess Championship. In the men’s section, Grand Master Kazybek Nogerbek, a 20-year-old chess player from Kazakhstan, won the world title. The 2024 FIDE U-20 World Chess Championship was organised by the world chess governing body, the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

The FIDE World Junior Chess Championship 2024 was held in Gujarat’s capital city of Gandhinagar from 2 to 13 June 2024. Almost 230 players from 44 different country’s chess federations competed in this tournament.

Divya Deshmukh 4th Indian woman to win the Title  

Divya Deshmukh is the fourth Indian to win the FIDE under -20 Girl’s World Chess Championship after Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and Soumya Swaminathan.

Divya Deshmukh remained unbeaten in the tournament. In her last round-robin match, she defeated Bulgarian Grand Master Beloslava Krasteva. She finished with a total of 10 points out of the possible 11 points.  

It was her second consecutive title after winning the Sharjah Challenger in May 2024.

Armenia’s International Master Mariam Mkrtchyan finished in the second spot with a total of 9.5 points.

International Master Ayan Allahverdiyeva of Azerbaijan came third with 8.5 points.

Deshmukh has now become the second highest-rated girl under 20 and number 20 on the overall FIDE Women's list. She will now be part of the Indian team in the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.

Kazybek Nogerbek, the Boy’s Section Champion

Grand Master Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan won the 2024 FIDE World Junior Chess Championship. 

Nogerbek scored 8.5 points in 11 rounds like the Amernian Grand Master M Emin Ohanyan, who also scored 8.5 points.

However, Nogerbek was declared the winner due to having better tiebreaks than Grand Master M Emin Ohanyan. Thus, M Emin Ohanyan came in second place.

Grand Master Luka Budisavljevic of Serbia came third with 8 points.

World Junior Chess Championship and Indian winners 

The World Junior Chess Championship was started in 1951 for under 20 age chess players. Initially, it was held after two years, but since 1973, it has been held annually. In 1982, girls were also allowed to participate in the Championship.

Indian winners of the World Junior Chess Championship.