The first game of the first round of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup was played this afternoon at the outstanding Grand Bellagio Batumi Convention & Casino Hotel.
Located on the new boulevard, the playing venue is just under four minutes walking distance from the beach. Both players and accompanying persons can enjoy all the amenities of a five-star hotel.
At 3:00 pm sharp, the Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim introduced Georgian Federation President AkakiIashvili and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who performed the ceremonial first move on board number one.
Dvorkovich opted for 1.Nf3 and IM Carissa Yip, playing with White, chose to leave it on the board in her game against WFM Hannah Wilson.
The rest of the games started immediately, but something was off. A quick scan of the room made it quite apparent that one of the 86 players was missing. Most of the players had arrived more than fifteen minutes before the round, to avoid delays with the fair-play scanning.
IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (pictured below) waited patiently and finally her opponent, JanaMohamed Zaki, appeared through the door, just under the 15-minute time limit permitted to avoid forfeit. Apparently, she had taken the wrong elevator and lost her way.
Although she made it on time to play her first-round game, according to the tournament regulations she will be fined with a hefty 300 USD, which will be deducted from her prize money.
It’s important to take into account that the top twenty-one seeds of the will join the forty-three winners of round one for the next pairing, in three days’ time.
Some of them have arrived sooner than expected: among others, I spotted 2021 cup winner Alexandra Kosteniuk, India’s Olympiad winner Vaishali and two of the three top Chinese players (Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie) in the dining area.
Game of the day
The first game to finish was probably one of the best of the round. French IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette played a fantastic model Sicilian with White against WIM Ahmed Wadifa. She was kind enough to pop-in to the media centre to explain what she was thinking about during the game.
While I was preparing the interview, I remembered a classical Smyslov game (Smyslov – Rudakovsky, 1945; left diagram) that I have used in lessons many times. The resemblance is uncanny!
As is customary in knockout-format tournaments, where chess players of unequal level face off in the early rounds, there have been a few striking surprises and upsets. Nonetheless, most of the favourites cruised through with no major difficulties.
On board one, IM Carissa Yip played with an outstanding 96% accuracy to secure her first win—just shy of IM Stavroula Tsolakidou’s 97% on board two!
Other contenders to pull ahead in their matches with ease were GM Bella Khotenashvili, GM Anna Ushenina and 16-year-old WGM Anna Shukhman (pictured below).
The current World Junior Girls champion took down her opponent from the Philippines, WFM Ruelle Canino in a complex Ragozin, and then came along to the media centre to be interviews by yours truly, and showcase her tactical skills on the digital board.
Check out the interview on YouTube and marvel at the youngster’s huge chess talent!
Other favourites had to work hard to reap the award. Both IM Klaudia Kulon and former Women’s World Champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova were playing great for most of the game, but a small mistake in the ending could have cost them half a point if their opponents had found some unexpected fortresses.
Upsetsand comebacks
Being that today was only the first game of the two-game match, everyone has a chance to make a comeback tomorrow, forcing a tiebreak that will take place the day after.
On board four, CM Isabelle Yixuan Ning (pictured above) was out-rated by more than 400 points! Even so, she played a solid game with no mistakes and was able to hold her opponent, GM Valentina Gunina, to a draw.
Further down on board eighteen, WFM Lala Shohradova, rated 2149, also played very solidly, clocking in a 98% accuracy score, and will force her opponent IM Vantika Agrawal to try and advance with the white pieces tomorrow.
GM Irina Krush (pictured below), WGM Govhar Beydullayeva, IM Olivia Kiolbasa, IM Sophie Milliet and IM Marsel Efroimski were also all rating favourites that were only able to get a draw and must wait for the second game to try to impose their theoretical superiority.
Finally, towards the lower part of the tree bracket, ratings and playing strength are much closer – and therefore to use the word “surprise” is not really a thing. In any case, IM Ann Matnadze Bujiashvili (now Spanish but originally from Telavi, Georgia) will need to win tomorrow to tie her match against local prodigy WFM Anastasia Kirtadze.
Tied to the same fate and Peruvian IM Cori Deysi, who will play White against WIM Wang Chuqiao and needs to win, and IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham, who will need to bounce back from her defeat with White against local WFM Kesaria Mgeladze.
The second game of the first round will begin tomorrow July 7th at 15.00 and can be followed live on our YouTube channel with expert commentary. Join us there!
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Batumi, Georgia)
Photos: Anna Shtourman and Andrei Anosov
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 World Cup website.
