FIDE Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals Game 1: Lei and Humpy strike the first blow
Top seed GM Lei Tingjie made a strong bid for a place in the semi-finals of the World Cup by winning the first game of her quarterfinal match against GM Nana Dzagnidze. The game ended dramatically when Dzagnidze overstepped the time limit. Despite the victory, Lei was candid in her post-game reflections: “I think today I played quite horribly, but the position was quite complicated. I spent a lot of time thinking, while my opponent developed her pieces very quickly.” With this win, Lei Tingjie now needs only a draw in the second game to secure her place in the final four. One of the other favourites to win the Cup, India’s top Grandmaster Humpy Koneru, pulled ahead in her two-game match against IM Song Yuxin. “It was a very complex game,” Humpy said afterward. “I wasn’t too sure about playing this position because she seemed very well-prepared, but I decided to take the risk anyway.” The other two games of the round ended in draws. The four encounters tomorrow will ultimately decide who advances in the World Cup and secures one of the three coveted spots in the Candidates Tournament—the next step toward the World Championship. Let’s take a closer look at the games: GM Humpy Koneru – IM Song Yuxin (1-0) Fully recovered after her grueling tiebreak victory over former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Indian GM Koneru Humpy struck first in her quarterfinal match against surprise contender IM Song Yuxin. In the opening, Song demonstrated excellent home preparation, blitzing out her moves with confidence. Humpy, on the other hand, took a more measured approach. On move thirteen, she introduced the new idea 13.e4, a move she found over the board. This appeared to be an improvement over a line previously seen in Vidit–Aronian, and it immediately took Song out of her preparation. By move seventeen, Humpy boldly sacrificed a pawn in exchange for active piece play. Song accepted the challenge, but within a few moves, she found herself under significant pressure. Humpy’s initiative grew rapidly, and by the time the dust settled, Song was already on the defensive — as clearly illustrated in the following diagram. White was an exchange up for a pawn, but both the rook on f5 and the knight on f3 were under attack. In this tense moment, Humpy opted for simplification with 23.Rxf6?!, returning the exchange while maintaining a slight advantage. However, the powerful tactical shot 23.Qf5! would have been decisive. After 23…Nxe6, White could continue with 24.Qxe6+ Kh8, and then the brilliant 25.Ng5! would have left Black in a hopeless position: If 25…Bxg5, then 26.Bxb7 threatens mate on e8, which cannot be stopped. If 25…Bxg2, then 26.Nf7+ Kg8 27.Nd8+, once again leading to a forced mate on e8. Though Humpy missed this crushing continuation, she continued to press her initiative and ultimately converted her advantage into a full point with confident play. After the game, she joined IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer for the World Cup, in the media center to share her thoughts on the first game. https://youtu.be/C7BM6EpILJs GM Nana Dzagnidze – GM Lei Tingjie (0-1) World Cup top seed Lei Tingjie continued her impressive run in the tournament with another victory, this time against Georgian Grandmaster Nana Dzagnidze. Despite not being at her best, Lei managed to navigate a tense and error-prone game to emerge victorious in dramatic fashion. Dzagnidze, the last remaining Georgian player in the tournament, had the White pieces and opted for the Reti Opening — a popular flank strategy. Lei responded classically, quickly staking her claim in the centre with pawns. The game soon left known theoretical paths, transitioning into a complex “hanging pawns” structure, setting the stage for a deeply strategic battle. Both players spent considerable time navigating the intricacies of the position, exchanging strong moves with occasional inaccuracies. For much of the game, Dzagnidze held the upper hand. However, as she approached time trouble, mistakes began to creep in, and the balance started to shift. In a surprising twist, Dzagnidze overstepped the time control, handing Lei the win. “At the end of the game, both of us had made a mistake on the scoresheets and we both thought we had reached move forty, although in reality we were at move thirty-nine,” Lei explained afterward. “It was a dramatic ending, and I feel sorry for her, but the final position is completely winning for me.” Despite the unexpected conclusion, Lei’s resilience and tactical awareness saw her through. With this win, Lei Tingjie moves one step closer to the title, proving once again why she is the tournament’s top seed. After the game, she joined Charlize van Zyl in the interview area to share her reflections on the match. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wGfKYnp7eY IM Divya Deshmukh – GM Harika Dronavalli (0.5-0.5) When two players perform at 99%, a draw is often the only realistic outcome. Harika chose the ultra-solid Berlin Defence against Divya’s Ruy Lopez, where Divya opted for a lesser-known side-line favoured by Spanish GM David Antón Guijarro. After the opening, Divya appeared to hold a slight edge—thanks to open central files and better piece coordination—but the engine’s evaluation indicated only a minimal advantage. Harika responded well by trading off-key pieces and smoothly liquidating into an equal rook and minor piece endgame. The players agreed to a draw on move 31, a result that arguably favours Harika, who will enjoy the White pieces in the second game of the match. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu – GM Tan Zhongyi (0.5-0.5) The longest game of the afternoon saw a critical moment early on when Vaishali missed the chance to consolidate an extra pawn. The move 22.Qe2, played instead of the more promising 22.Ra3, allowed Tan Zhongyi to seize the initiative. As the game transitioned into the endgame, the Chinese Grandmaster successfully won the exchange for a pawn and pressed hard to convert her advantage into a full point. However, Vaishali defended with precision and resilience, ultimately securing a well-earned draw after seventy-three moves. Follow the games live and
FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025: Registration now open
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Turkish Chess Federation are pleased to announce the FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid & Blitz Championships 2025. The event will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 15 December (arrival) to 21 December (departure) 2025. There will be five age categories: under 9, under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 17 with separate open and girl’s events. Players placed 1st–3rd at the FIDE World School Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2024 are granted the personal right to participate in the corresponding (or higher) age category, provided they meet the age requirement as of 1 January 2025. FIDE member Federations should register their participants and may enter an unlimited number of players. The registration deadline: October 15, 2025 E-mail: youthrapidblitz@fide.com Invitation letter (PDF)
ChessFests across England this summer
ChessFest Trafalgar Square A huge thank you to everyone who came to Trafalgar Square on Sunday for ChessFest 2025. Over 20,000 visitors enjoyed a range of fun, family-friendly chess activities: Our troupe of actors put on four fabulous performances, re-enacting the famous Evergreen Game. Some of England’s top chess stars (Nikita Vitiugov, Mickey Adams, et al) took on all-comers in simultaneous games. Many thousands of blitz games were played in our Challenge the Master tent. England junior stars Bodhana Sivanandan and Supratit Banerjee defeated their counterparts from North America in a live match. Grandmasters Gawain Jones and Matthew Sadler delivered an amazing queen sacrifice to win a blindfold consultation game. CSC tutors delivered hundreds of free lessons to players of all standards in one of two teaching tents. A game of giant blitz chess between two masters turned out to be as much a test of physical speed and stamina as chess ability. FunMaster Mike and his team entertained all the ChessKids with two Puzzle Rush competitions. ChessFest Portishead New for 2025, ChessFest opened in the Somerset coastal town of Portishead on Saturday 12th July. ChessFest truly took over the whole town for the day: Zone 1 – Casual Chess at Aqua. Visitors enjoyed a game of chess with brunch and coffee in this great restaurant on Portishead Marina. The chess was still carrying on 3 hours after ChessFest had finished! Zone 2 – Elite Chess on Parish Wharf. International Master Chris Beaumont took on four players simultaneously while blindfolded! Zone 3 – Kids’ Zone outside Portishead Leisure Centre. ChessKid’s FunMaster Mike who ran activities for children of all ages. Zone 4 – Schools’ Competition at Portishead Primary School (9am-11am). Children from across the town took part in an outdoor tournament. Zone 5 – Ark of Angels in Jubilee Park. 32 adults and children took the place of chess pieces in two live performances. Special thanks go to the CSC Bristol team for an amazing inaugural event. We know they are already planning for next year! Still to come… ChessFest Liverpool ChessFest returns to Chavasse Park at Liverpool One for a fifth year on Sunday 20th July. Please join the event for: Free chess lessons for adults and children, delivered by CSC tutors Social games of chess on one of many boards across the park Giant chess games – a test of skill and stamina Simultaneous displays – take on a one of our visiting chess masters Blitz chess tournament – test your skills at speed chess Last year, over 1,000 people enjoyed a day of free, family-friendly fun at ChessFest Liverpool. We hope to see you there. Government announces funding for chess Just as our Trafalgar Square event was coming to a close, one of CSC’s highest profile ambassadors, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was announcing a huge boost to English chess: a £1,500,000 financial package aimed at “identifying, supporting, and elevating young people who have the potential to compete at the top level“. The Chancellor, herself a junior chess champion, is a regular attendee at our events, and recently came to see a school from her Leeds West constituency take part in a CSC tournament in London, taking on eight of the players simultaneously while she was there. This funding builds on a series of grants introduced under the previous government. On this week’s funding, Rishi Sunak commented, “Chess isn’t just a great game. It also builds the kind of skills young people need to thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive world.”We await more details of the new grants. Under the previous funding, 100 schools introduced chess lessons and chess clubs for their pupils, with 42 of these being delivered via CSC’s Schools Programme.