21st Place U12 World Cup Winner Divi Bijesh Chess Comeback

India had a reason to celebrate on the battlefield of 64 squares on Saturday after 11-year-old Divi Bijesh claimed the U12 title at FIDE World Cup in Georgia’s Batumi, prevailing over a field loaded with some of the biggest names in the age category like Alisa Genrietta Yunker and Sharvaanica AS.

What was remarkable about her triumph was that after three rounds in the 11-round tournament, Divi was 21st in the 90-player standings after a loss to China’s Zixin Huang. It was a game where she held the upper hand but since she was running a temperature, she ended up losing the contest.

After sobbing herself to sleep that night, she responded the only way she knew: by fighting to victory. In fact, she went on a five-game winning streak after that defeat (her only loss at the event) and was in sole lead by the 8th round, a lead she never relinquished.

“Divi is a real fighter,” said Sreejith GS, who trains her at Trivandrum’s Masters Chess Academy. “She’s done it before in open tournaments. But doing this in a FIDE World Cup shows what she’s made of.”

Among Divi’s conquests at the tournament were her victories over Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Sholpanbek (round 7) and compatriot Sharvaanica (round 10), besides her draws with the Russian duo of Viktoria Makhina (round 9) and Alisa Genrietta Yunker (round 11). The battle with Sharvaanica was one that could become a regular feature in elite competitions in years to come as both of them, along with Charvi Anilkumar are starting to become flagbearers of Indian chess at the U12 age group.

To put Divi’s title at Batumi into perspective, she’s ranked 21 in the world in the U12 girls age group and eighth in the U11 category.

Her triumph is the latest vindication of the risky move that her father Bijesh S made at the end of 2024: to quit his well-paying IT job to become a full-time chaperone for his chess-playing daughter. It’s a story that’s now becoming commonplace in Indian chess: one parent quitting their job to become a full-time travelling companion for their kids. World champion Gukesh’s father did it. So did Charvi’s mother.

Sreejith, who has been sharpening Divi’s skills on the board since 2022 at his academy (where he also trains international masters like Goutham Krishna), says her ability to learn quickly from her mistakes and be single-mindedly focused on the board has led to her quick rise.

“Most days, she spends six to seven hours on her chess. On weekdays, she’ll spend even more time,” said Sreejith.

At Batumi, her games would finish around 9 pm IST and then Sreejith and Divi would have online sessions for an hour and a half to figure out battle plans for the next day’s opponent.

Sreejith hopes that her latest triumph helps her unlock one of the biggest doors for rising chess players that age: sponsorship.

“She’s done all this based on just one single income. Some of the players she left behind to win the title play tournaments abroad regularly. If she can get someone backing her, she can rise much quicker,” he said.

Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. He primarily writes on chess and Olympic sports, and co-hosts the Game Time podcast, a weekly offering from Express Sports. He also writes a weekly chess column, On The Moves. ... Read More