A story resurfacing on the internet from almost 7 years ago shows a young Gukesh and Divya interacting, not like the professionals they are today but rather like two friends.

A now viral clip from 2018 shows Divya asking Gukesh, “How much Hindi do you know?” To which the boy gives a deadpan reply, “Zero!”

Though Divya first rolled her eyes in playful disbelief, she quickly switched roles, becoming the translator—converting Gukesh’s English analysis into Hindi for a chess platform’s Hindi channel—and, in the process, charming millions on social media.

In the realm of chess, India has come a long way. Chess is on the way to successfully blurring the line between “man” and “woman” on the board; at least that’s what it exemplifies at the FIDE Grand Swiss.

As the two prodigies of India, D Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh face each other in the architectural splendour of Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

While analysing the game, GM Pravin Thipsay told the Times of India that Gukesh is going through the “worst phase” after his continuous defeats and poor runs in the Grand Swiss.

He explained, “The eighth-round game between Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE Grand Swiss ended in a hard-fought battle after 103 moves.”

“Divya chose a very unusual continuation on her fourth move (4…Be7). Apparently, Gukesh didn’t know this line because he took 17 minutes for his fifth move.”

“Although he had lost a lot of time, the opening choice of Divya doesn’t really look very sound, and White does get some very good technical edge.”

Gukesh, rated 2767, the reigning world champion, sits across from Divya, rated 2478, the Women’s World Cup winner, for their first-ever clash in the classical format.

Regardless of their ratings, Divya gave excellent competition to Gukesh, emphasising that Thipsay stated, “Gukesh chose a completely different plan to play on the kingside, and with 15.Bxf4, he opened up the game on the other side. As a result, all his advantage was gone, and we had roughly equal positions.”

The GM continued, “Later, Divya’s decision to exchange Queen on move 19 didn’t seem to be very good, and again Gukesh had the upper hand. But on 23.Nd2, Gukesh somehow didn’t find the right square for the knight, and that reduced the advantage. The game was thereafter in a very complex situation when nothing much was happening.”

“Gukesh’s placement of the knight and the rooks after 28 moves turned out to be really bad and unproductive. And Divya, for the first time, got an advantage by move 30. It was a slight tangible advantage in an endgame, probably not enough to win, but she was better.”

“A repetition could have taken place by move 40, but Gukesh refrained from repeating the moves and sacrificed a pawn. The rest of the game became a dead position, with Gukesh trying to set traps. Divya gave up a knight for the last pawn and got into an obvious rook-and-knight versus rook position, which is a theoretical draw.”

While talking about Gukesh, he stated, “This entire year has been quite bad. Hardly any event has passed where he hasn’t lost rating. So one can say this is probably the worst phase in Gukesh’s life since 2021.”

It was a sobering reality check for the youngest world champion. Once considered unstoppable, Gukesh has now slipped out of the live top 10, his rating dipping to 2748.2 and placing him 12th.

For Divya Deshmukh, though, the draw meant far more than just half a point.

“Women players rarely get consistent chances against 2600+ opposition,” Thipsay opined. “For her, tournaments like these are about exposure, practice, and proving herself. She has played with great spirit, and this result will give her confidence.”

Gukesh, meanwhile, had nothing to prove. As the reigning world champion, there was no candidates’ berth to fight for.

“He’s here purely for practice and to test himself against top opposition,” noted Thipsay.

But practice or not, every half-point dropped carries a price.

After six and a half hours of intense play, the game ended peacefully, with no winner — but plenty of drama. With three rounds still to go, the story is far from over: things could slide “from bad to worse” for Gukesh or “from good to better” for Divya.

For now, though, the headline is clear: the World Champion has slipped out of the top 10 — and the one to push him down was none other than an old friend who once playfully teased him in Hindi 7 years ago.