Top seeds Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi also get off to a good start
The competition just got tougher! With the 21 top seeds officially joining the competition the battle for the Candidates is heating up.
None less than 64 of the best female players from around the world started their clocks at 3pm local hour for the second round of the World Cup knockout – it can’t be a coincidence that the chessboard also has 64 squares!
In less than three weeks, only two will remain, with one of them following the steps of GM’s Kosteniuk (winner in 2021) and Goryachkina (2023) – and FIDE’s media team will be here all the way to keep you in the loop!
Even at this early stage of the tournament, there is no easy match-up for anyone. Many games ended in hard-fought draws, albeit none of them before move thirty – the rule threshold.
Most top seeds start on the right foot
Top seed and former World Championship finalist, GM Lei Tingjie, wanted nothing of the sort. After missing the previous two World Cups, she has a clear objective here to play well and qualify for the Candidates.
Her fine performance in the first game of her match against 2025 American Continental Champion, WGM Candela Be Francisco Guecamburu looks like an excellent step in the right direction. After the game, Lei joined us in the media center to give us her thoughts.
Some other top seeds getting off to a good start this afternoon are GM Tan Zhongyi, GM Humpy Koneru, GM Nana Dzagnidze, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, IM Polina Shuvalova, IM Yuliia Osmak, IM Divya Deshmukh and IM Teodora Injac.
The surprise of the day
WGM Meruert Kamalidenova is a fantastic player. Silver with Kazakhstan in the 2024 Budapest Olympiad, several times National and Asian youth champion, former World Junior Champion, Kamalidenova is a star athlete in the making.
This afternoon she pulled off a brilliant first game win against one of the best female players in history, and current World Cup trophy holder, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina.
After three previous losses and one draw, Kamalidenova was over the moon with the result and happily joined FIDE Press Officer IM Michael Rahal in the media center to give us her thoughts on the game.
Two other relative surprise results of the day were FM Anastasia Avramidou holding GM Kateryna Lagno to a draw with Black along with WGM Thalia Cervantes also achieving a draw with Black against GM Mariya Muzychuk.
TACTIC OF THE DAY
It’s hard to call a result “surprising” when the rating difference is less than 50 points, but of course GM Anna Ushenina is a former Women’s World Champion with a rating peak of over 2500.
Up to move thirty both players were performing at an extraordinarily high level with no inaccuracies but going into time trouble mistakes gradually started to creep in.
At the key moment, Ushenina went for a pawn-grab with 33…Nxf2? against which Vantika uncorked a devilish tactic. Starting with 34.Qd8+ Kg7 35.Ne6+! fxe6 (35…Kh6 36.Qh4 mate) and now 36.Qc7+! forcing resignation. After the exchange, a new queen will appear on the board very soon.
WIM Charlize van Zyl, FIDE’s star interviewer, caught up with Vantika just before she left the venue.
BLUNDER OF THE DAY
The all-American game between GM Irina Krush and IM Carissa Yip was a match to watch. Yip surprised her experienced opponent in the opening with the Dutch defence – at least which was the vibe that Charlize and I felt when we saw the move being played on the board.
Irina picked up the advantage early on and even sacrificed the exchange in an attempt to win. Things were looking very good but, with both players under severe time trouble, disaster struck for her.
With just three moves to go to reach the time control, Irina played 38.Nh4??, resigning immediately after 38…Qxc2.
Instead, 38.Qxf5 Rxf5 39.Nd4! would have left Krush with excellent drawing chances.
After retreating to her room for a well-deserved rest, Carissa was kind enough to return to the venue to talk to Charlize.
The second game of round two will be played tomorrow at 3pm in the Grand Bellagio Hotel and Convention Centre.
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Batumi, Georgia)
Photos: Anna Shtourman and Polina Bovina
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.
