Divya enters the World Top-10 just before Candidates 2026
The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 starts this month and will be the most important tournament for Divya, as she can qualify for the World Championship by winning it. In Prague, Divya showed a great resilience throughout the tournament with some solid draws and beautiful wins. In the last round, Divya was in a tough position, but she kept fighting and eventually won the game to secure 3rd place.
With that win, Divya reached World no 10 in live ratings, and now we will be seeing her competing in the Candidates 2026
The last round!
The last round of Prague Challengers 2026 was filled with decisive results and some heartbreaking blunders. Divya Deshmukh won her game against Stepan Hrbek when he blundered the rook in a great position. For Zhu Jiner, this event was a bad experience that she would like to forget before the 2026 Candidates. Going into the last round, Vaclav had a half-point lead over Daniil Yuffa, and both players won their games to finish on 1st and 2nd positions, respectively.
Stepan Hrbek vs Divya Deshmukh (0-1)
In a better position, Stepan made a terrible mistake and played 26.h4 and allowed a simple 26.f6, overloading the queen on e5, and if the queen moves, the rook on c5 falls. Stepan resigned after Divya played f6.
Photo Gallery from this round and Prize Distribution: Here
Participants
Venue: Don Giovanni Hotel Prague
Don Giovanni Hotel Prague is a 4-star hotel located in Prague's popular residential area of Vinohrady in proximity to the city centre. It is a modern city hotel built in 1995, and it is named after Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. The Hotel offers 412 spacious, air-conditioned guest rooms, and most of them offer exceptional views of Prague. Don Giovanni has 5 restaurants and bars. The Hotel also has one of the biggest conference capacities in Prague.
Live Stream
Replay Round 9 Challengers games
Final Round results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 2568 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2652 | 10 | |||||
2 | 6 | 2525 | GM | 0 - 1 | IM | 2538 | 4 | |||||
3 | 7 | 2629 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2578 | 3 | |||||
4 | 8 | 2466 | IM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2604 | 2 | |||||
5 | 9 | 2463 | IM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2497 | 1 |
Final Standings
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | IM | 2538 | 6,5 | 0 | 28,25 | 4 | |||
2 | 2 | GM | 2604 | 6 | 0 | 24,5 | 5 | |||
3 | 1 | GM | 2497 | 5 | 0 | 22,5 | 2 | |||
4 | 10 | GM | 2652 | 4,5 | 1 | 19,5 | 3 | |||
5 | 7 | GM | 2629 | 4,5 | 2 | 18,25 | 2 | |||
6 | 8 | IM | 2466 | 4,5 | 2 | 16,75 | 3 | |||
7 | 6 | GM | 2525 | 4 | 1 | 16,25 | 2 | |||
8 | 5 | GM | 2568 | 4 | 2 | 17,25 | 2 | |||
9 | 9 | IM | 2463 | 3,5 | 0 | 14,75 | 2 | |||
10 | 3 | GM | 2578 | 2,5 | 0 | 12,5 | 1 |
Time Control
90 Minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 Minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures, Open
Prague Chess Festival: Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
