FIDE CEO downplays GM Divya Deshmukh’s merit after she gets wildcard entry to World Cup

FIDE announced on Monday that GM Divya Deshmukh has been awarded a wildcard for the upcoming chess World Cup to be held in Goa from October 30 to November 27.

The World Chess Body said the reigning Women's World Cup winner was selected after "last-minute cancellation of one of the participants, with Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan having earlier declined the invitation".

At the same time, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky put out a controversial post on X, which said Deshmukh was added to the list to have 'female representation' in the World Cup that features the majority of the top-rated men's players, including World Champion D Gukesh.

One of the comments under Sutovsky's post said that mentioning "female representation" was unfair, as "she did pretty well in the previous open, so let it be that way". To which Sutovsky replied: "She did very well, and that's one of the reasons she was granted a wild-card (sic).

"But the main reason is we want to support women's chess. We want to incentivize women players, we want to provide opportunities to grow. Said that (sic), a boy of her age and rating would not have been invited. That is normal. But let's be honest about it."

Sutovsky is not new to making controversial remarks about women in chess. In March this year, he said removing women-only events would deprive the majority of women of a chance to develop "under the false pretence" that they can grow by competing with men.

Deshmukh was impressive in the recently concluded FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, finishing on 5 points. Rated 2478, Deshmukh caused a series of upsets, defeating two 2600-plus rated GMs and holding six other higher-rated male opponents, including Gukesh, to a draw. She was one of the two women competitors in the event, and finished above a host of strong men's players, including Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand, Pavel Elijanov, Murali Karthikeyan and Alexey Sarana.