FIDE Women’s World Cup Day 8: Gunina and Lagno roar back
Six matches will be decided in tiebreaks tomorrow The second games in the two-game matches of the FIDE Women’s World Cup continued to deliver tension and unpredictability—ranging from solid, careful maneuvering to explosive tactical skirmishes—and today was no exception. In the earlier rounds, players were often seen smiling and chatting casually, but today painted a different picture. With elimination looming for many, the playing hall was pin-drop silent. As players arrived and settled into their games, some closed their eyes in meditation while others stared intensely at the pieces before them. Among those fighting for survival, Kateryna Lagno stood out. Despite losing to Vantika Agrawal yesterday, she arrived early and appeared in high spirits. In this unforgiving format, there’s no time to dwell on past mistakes—something Lagno, with her vast experience, clearly understands. That resilient mindset was on full display not just in her game but across several crucial matchups. Let’s take a look at what happened today: Early qualifiers Lei Tingjie, Zhu Jiner, and Mariya Muzychuk confirmed their status as top seeds by winning both games and cruising into the Round of 16. Umida Omonova, Humpy Koneru, Lela Javakhishvili, Tan Zhongyi, and Meruert Kamalidenova also scored vital second-game victories to secure their spots in the next round. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8JoY5zZTiA Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh and Yuliia Osmak, both of whom had won their first games, held comfortable draws today to advance. Divya shared her thoughts after the match, admitting: “I wasn’t too happy about the pairing with Injac—she’s a strong player and has been doing well recently—but I felt I got lucky yesterday.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8P9eUZxy84 Comebacks Only two players who lost yesterday managed to fight back and force tiebreaks. Valentina Gunina, came very well prepared today dismantling Nana Dzagnidze Caro-Kann Defence after the Georgian GM missed a powerful pawn thrust. In a slightly inferior position, Nana played seemingly logical 21…Rg6??, which failed to 22.e6! “As a Caro-Kann player I don’t like playing against c6 myself which is what Nana played, so my coach and I prepared something special with 3.c4,” Valentina shared after the game. It did not too long for Gunina to wrap it up. After 22… Nc5? 23.Nc6! Nana threw in the towel. Kateryna Lagno essayed Saemisch system against Vantika Agrawal’s Nimzo-Indian and prevailed in a sharp tactical melee leveling the score and sending their match to a tiebreaker. Round of 16 on the line Lagno – Agrawal and Gunina – Dzagnidze will join the pairs Arabidze – Kosteniuk, Song Yuxin – Anna Muzychuk, Stavroula Tsolakidou – Harika Dronavalli, Carissa Yip – Vaishali R (who drew both games) to contest for a place in the round of 16. In her short interview after the game Carissa explained that she took a quick draw yesterday because there’s not much available in the line. She pressed hard today but Vaishali played and defended really well to secure a draw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoAbXE1JkGA The Round 3 tiebreaks will be played tomorrow starting at 3 PM local time. Photos: Anna Shtourman About the tournament: Scheduled to take place from July 6th to July 28th, the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup will gather together in Batumi (Georgia) the world’s best female chess players. A total of 107 players from 46 different federations are set to participate in the event, including seventeen of the current top twenty! Chess legends, seasoned professionals and emerging talents will play for the $50,000 first prize, in addition to three qualifying spots for the Candidates. The full pairings tree and day-by-day results can be found on the Women’s World Cup website.
Machteld and Jorden van Foreest, sister and brother, win 2025 Dutch Championship
Initiated by a classic bishop sacrifice on h7, Jorden van Foreest crushed Loek van Wely in the second final game of the 2025 Dutch Chess Championship, securing his second national title (his first was in 2016). On the other board in the playing hall of the Ald Weishoes in Venlo, his sister Machteld van Foreest defeated Robin Duson in the tiebreak, also claiming her second championship title (her first was in 2022). The 2025 Dutch Championships (Open and Women’s) were played in a knockout format, with 16 and 12 players respectively. The four highest-rated women received byes in Round 1 and entered the competition in Round 2. The tournaments were held in Venlo, the Netherlands, from July 5 to 12. “Glad it’s over,” were the first words of Jorden van Foreest (26) as he exited the playing hall. He had seemed to cut through Loek’s defenses like a knife through butter. “It was also partly due to my preparation,” said Jorden. “It was good.” When did he start calculating 18.Bxh7? “Quite a while ago. And I recalculated it a hundred times.” Does this national title bring Jorden happiness, or did he feel obligated to win, given his high rating? “A little bit of both,” he answered, as thoughtful as ever. With a 2700+ rating, the new champion is clearly in form. Does he dream of challenging for the world title someday? The ever-modest Jorden avoids bold claims: “I just want to be better than I am now.” Loek van Wely, runner-up and eight-time Dutch champion, came close to a ninth title but fell short in the final. “I think I wanted to win the tournament more than anyone,” he said. Yet there was also realism in his words. “It could have gone wrong against Arthur de Winter. He’s a very strong player. Just like Jorden, of course. You can want it, but sometimes that’s not enough.” At 52, does he still have the drive to compete again next year? “I take it year by year. But my kids are a major motivator. They’re 6 and 9, and they always ask how Dad is doing.” The Women’s final between Machteld van Foreest and Robin Duson was a tense, closely fought battle. After a draw in the first classical game, Machteld miraculously escaped defeat in the second, forcing a tiebreak. By then, Robin’s resistance had faded, and after Machteld won both rapid games, the Van Foreest siblings were crowned joint Dutch champions. This article is based on report written by Ron Puyn. Photos: NZ9_1789 and Frans Peeters Official website: https://nk.schaken.nl/