Batumi will host the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 from the 5th to the 29th of July. Chess legends, seasoned professionals and emerging talents will play for the $50.000 first prize, in addition to three qualifying spots for the Candidates.
Starting next Saturday, July 5th, the 2022 best “secret” European destination and the second most important city in Georgia, will be the venue of the new edition of the FIDE Women’s World Cup, one of the most important tournaments on the international chess calendar.
Georgia has a rich history and strong tradition in women’s chess, producing legendary players and consistently achieving high-level results.
Home to chess legends like Nona Gaprindashvili, the first woman to be awarded the title of Grandmaster, and Maia Chiburdanidze, who became the youngest Women’s World Champion at the time, Georgia has a proud tradition of women excelling in the game, with a strong national team and international success. Known among many other things for its beautiful Black Sea coastline, Batumi, host of the 2018 Chess Olympiad, will gather the world’s top female chess players in a battle for glory.
As FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky noted, “The Georgian Chess Federation doesn’t just talk about supporting women’s chess – they deliver, time and again. By bringing the FIDE Women’s World Cup to Batumi, they once again demonstrate their deep commitment at the highest level. We are happy to continue this strong cooperation and grateful for their unwavering dedication to our sport.”
Located just 3km from the airport, the five-star Grand Bellagio Convention & Casino Hotel will host the competition. The venue is already operating with full force and activity – more than 300 players from nearly 40 countries are currently contesting the FIDE World Cup U-8, U-10, U-12!
Structure and prizes: what are they playing for?
As if the total prize fund of $691,250 USD, with $50,000 going to the winner, wasn’t enough to whet the players’ appetites, the FIDE World Cup also awards three spots to the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament to be held in the first half of 2026, setting the stage for the next World Championship cycle.
The knock-out tournament will be played along seven rounds – all rounds shall be played with two classical game matches, plus a tiebreak when necessary. Unlike previous editions, the tournament will not be held in parallel with the FIDE World Cup 2025, scheduled for November.
Who to look out for?
A total of 107 of the best players in the world, playing from 46 different federations, are set to participate in the event, including seventeen of the current top twenty!
Bearing in mind that it’s a knockout tournament and that the twenty strongest players are all situated in a range of barely 100 rating points (it’s anyone’s game!), here are a few picks to watch out for, including seasoned professionals and young prospects!
Lei Tingjie (2552), Zhu Jiner (2547) and Tan Zhongyi (2546) – the Chinese squad of GM’s top the first three spots in the starting list, a force to be reckoned with. Any one of them has the strength and experience to go deep in the event. Tan Zhongyi, who previously finished third in Sochi 2021 and fourth in Baku 2023, is excited about the event on and off the board. “Batumi is a beautiful city, and before diving into the hectic World Cup journey, I plan to thoroughly enjoy the local scenery. I’m really looking forward to visiting Batumi!” she shared.
Nurgyul Salimova, the 2023 Baku silver medalist, is another rising star to keep an eye on. Reflecting on her journey, she says, “Baku was a big moment for me. Now, I am focused on Batumi and ready for the challenge!”
Humpy Koneru – rated 2543, seed number four, she recently took first in the Pune Grand Prix. The Indian team won the 2024 Budapest Olympic gold – will Koneru, Harika, Vaishali or Divya be able to keep up the good form in Batumi?
Aleksandra Goryachkina – currently rated 2533, the fourth-highest rated women of all time, will be looking to defend her Baku 2023 title.
Alexandra Kosteniuk – rated 2474, Kosteniuk sports an amazing career full of important triumphs, including the Sochi 2021 Women’s World Cup
Anna Muzychuk – rated 2535, the older of the two Muzychuk sisters is on a roll in 2025, winning two Women’s Grand Prix events (Austria and Cyprus) in addition to the recent Norway Chess Women’s tournament.
Carissa Yip – rated 2431, the 21-year-old U.S. number one player has just taken down the 2025 Cairns Cup, completing a GM norm and winning $65,000 USD!
Divya Deshmukh – rated 2463, 19-year-old Divya has already won three Olympic gold medals and recently defeated world number one Hou Yifan in the World Rapid Team Championship!
Additionally, all the Georgian top contenders – Dzagnidze, Batsiashvili, Arabidze, Javakhishvili and Khotenashvili – will have a serious chance at a deep run. Playing on home turf, they will definitely be cheered on by all the local fans.
The full starting rank can be found here
Interesting first round clashes
86 of the 107 players will kick off the tournament on round one, while the top 21 main seeds will enjoy a bye, joining the winners directly in the second round.
The rating gap between players in the first round is quite large – few serious upsets are to be expected. However, every event produces a few surprises, in which the underdog overpowers the favourite, but it’s very hard to pinpoint on which boards that might happen.
Nonetheless, due to the special format of the tournament, the closest first round pairings occur on the last board. Dare I say that most of the upsets will occur on boards 30 to 43.
Check out the Round One pairings here
How to follow the event?
The tournament will be streamed live on FIDE’s YouTube channel with expert commentary by GM Valeriane Gaprindashvili, WGM Almira Skripchenko (from round 2 onwards), and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili (for round one). Almira shared her excitement: “As a commentator, the Women’s World Cup is a very special event for me, its unfolding intensity is truly captivating! I will be there for every single move, right until the very end, living vicariously and leaving with the winners.”
Official website: womenscup2025.fide.com/
