The second FIDE Council Meeting of 2025 took place on July 18, alongside the ongoing FIDE Women’s World Cup. Held in an online format, the meeting addressed a range of important topics, including development projects, budget matters, the FIDE calendar, fair-play measures, and the approval of new player titles.
New Grandmasters approved
One of the key highlights of the meeting was the approval of 10 new Grandmasters. Among them is 21-year-old Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, who becomes the second Kazakhstani woman and the 43rd female player in history to earn the prestigious GM title.
The full list of newly approved Grandmasters:
* Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 13708694)
* Leonardo Costa (GER, 16213955)
* Julian Kramer (GER, 12921742)
* Edgar Mamedov (KAZ, 13739980)
* Christopher Noe (GER, 24692018)
* Tao Pang (CHN, 8609950)
* L R Srihari (IND, 46617116)
* Milosz Szpar (POL, 1184989)
* Artem Uskov (FID, 34254854)
* Matthew J. Wadsworth (ENG, 415804)
Key event dates confirmed
The Council confirmed the dates for several major upcoming events on the FIDE calendar:
* FIDE World Cup 2025 – October–November 2025, India
* Women’s World Team Championship 2025 – November 2025, Linares, Spain
* 2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities – October 2025, Kazakhstan
Participation of neutral team at Women’s World Team Championship
In line with FIDE’s policy of following IOC guidance and in accordance with practices adopted by several international sports federations — such as World Aquatics, the International Fencing Federation, and the International Gymnastics Federation — the Council approved the participation of a team of athletes of Russian nationality in the 2025 Women’s World Team Championship under the FIDE flag, subject to obtaining a non-objection letter from the IOC.
This decision builds upon the precedent set by the January 2025 FIDE resolution, which allowed neutral teams of vulnerable groups (youth and players with disabilities) to participate in team competitions. All such entries are required to compete without national symbols, in full alignment with IOC policy.
A complete list of decisions from the FIDE Council Meeting will be published in due course.