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.
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.
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 watch the action with expert commentary provided by GM Valeriane Gaprindashvili and IM Almira Skripchenko on the FIDE YouTube channel.
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Batumi, Georgia)
Photos: Anna Shtourman
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.
