GCL — Sometimes, I forget my age: Divya Deshmukh

BENGALURU: AT some level, it does sound funny to 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh that the 20-year-old is at her happiest when she's motivating the next generation.

"Sometimes, I forget my age," she says in an interaction with select media a few days before the fourth edition of the Global Chess League (GCL) in the city. "But to me, when I talk about the next generation, I mean a five-year-old or an eight-year-old."

Even in a country where there is no shortage of chess prodigies, Deshmukh has managed to stand out. And wherever she has gone over the last year, kids as young as five have asked for photographs. In fact, when she was in Goa for the World Cup (open) last year, the then teen was mobbed several times, both at the venue as well as the Opening Ceremony.

A few months before that World Cup, she created history when she became the first Indian to win the women's World Cup. It changed her life. "It has changed in a very drastic way," she says. "Both pros and cons, more pros I would say. "What I really like about that is that it has motivated the next generation. There's a lot of kids that come up to me and say that they have watched my games. It's nice to me. One of the cons is that I have to deal with the pressure and I have to deal with that. Overall, it has been a very nice thing that happened."

That World Cup triumph, where she beat compatriot Koneru Humpy in the final in Batumi, meant she achieved the GM title on the spot rather than having to earn three GM norms (she became only the seventh woman to achieve the title as a teen). A couple of things happened post that triumph in Georgia. It convinced her that she had capacity to stay with players twice her age and experience. Even for somebody who's naturally confident, 'it added to my confidence'.

"It was special that I got it (the title) by winning the World Cup. It added to my confidence but I knew that if I didn't get the GM title now, I would get it in the next six months or so. It didn't matter to me when I got it but I knew I was going to get it anyway."

While she has always had these goals — becoming GM and winning a World Cup — it wasn't like 'I had to achieve them'. "It would be a nice thing to achieve. For me, it's about the confidence I get from within. I feel like I have more potential, I feel like I'm capable of doing it so why not just do it?"

Unlike an R Praggnanandhaa who had to develop that sort of will to win, Deshmukh has had no problems with the will. But at the higher level, the World Cup winner, who plays for Alpine APL Pipers, says it took time. "I have always had the will to win but at the higher level, it can be a scary proposition because it's an arena you have only just entered. They (your opponents) are older and more experienced. But one important thing for me was that even though they were stronger, they still made mistakes, they are still human and they are capable of messing up as much as me. After realising that, it has gotten much higher, the will to win."