FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025: Updated schedule, fixtures, results, points table, live streaming details

Indian women’s chess players get direct entry to round 2

Starting on 5th July, Saturday, the Las Vegas of the Black Sea is set to host the grand ceremony of the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025. The mesmerizing coastline of Georgia, Batumi is welcoming 107 participants from 46 federations across the globe. 

The total prize pool is valued at $691,250. Where the champion will take home $50,000, followed by the first runner-up receiving $35,000. And the third and fourth-place finishers will receive $25,000 and $20,000 respectively. The other players getting knocked out in the 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st round of the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025 will be rewarded $14,000, $9,500, $6,750, $5,000, and $3,750, respectively.

Meanwhile, 86 players will compete in round 1, the remaining 21 will enjoy a bye that advance them in round 2. Several players among the top-seeded players are highly prominent and considered top-contenders.

As the 2025 edition is set to air in a few hours with the grand opening ceremony, here are a few picks from India to keep a close eye on.

The four chess elite women’s players from India will be vying for glory, who have also secured a bye to progress in round 2. At the forefront stands 38-year-old Grandmaster Koneru Humpy with a rating of 2536, She received a bye in view of her being in the top-5 players of the FIDE Rating List of June 2025.

Now joining her in Round 2 is the ever-experienced 24-year-old Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli, with a rating of 2483, as she qualified as a National Federation Nominee.

Further, the young Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu, aged 24 joined the league with a rating of 2476, and gained direct entry into Round 2 through her strong FIDE rating. And now forming the rest of the quartet is the incredibly gifted International Master Divya Deshmukh, aged 19 with a rating of 2463, who earned herself a well-deserved bye by winning the World Junior Girls Chess Championship in 2024. 

Undoubtedly, the tournament is going to be really thrilling, to help you follow it better, here are the tournament details that you need to keep track of as the exciting event unfolds. 

When and where will FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025 be held?

The Fide Women’s Chess World Cup, 2025 is being held in Batumi, Georgia, from 6th of July, 2025 to 28th of July. July 5 will mark the opening ceremony of the tournament and on July 29th players will depart.

Who is the defending champion of the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup?

Spectators will look upon Aleksandra Goryachkina as the defending champion for the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup. As the 26-years-old, Russian Grandmaster title holder will enter the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup, 2025 from her formidable triumph after a thrilling tie-break match against Nurgyul Salimova in 2023 FIDE Women’s World Cup. Along with coveted a defending champion spot that year she cemented her victory that justifies her current standing #4.

FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025: Format

The FIDE Women’s World Cup in Chess follows the thrilling knockout system, with every round going into quite an important consideration. Where each round consists of two classical games and in the case of a tie, they would head for rapid tie-breaks, then blitz, and if still tied, an Armageddon game would be set to decide the winner.

Tournament’s unique format:

• Knockout System: In a knockout format, players face one another in matches, and the losers of each match are eliminated from the tournament. 

• The matches are being held in 7 rounds.

• Round 1 caters to 86 players, After that in Round 2, the 43 winners of Round 1 progresses and join forces with the 21 top-seeded players (who got a bye) to make a total of 64 players. Going ahead, in the following rounds, the number of players is halved, that is 32 in Round 3 and 16 in Quarter Finals, further 8 in Semi-finals and ultimately 4 in finals. The final four players then compete in both the final and the third-place match.

Where and how to watch Norway Chess 2025 live streaming and live telecast?

Being a knockout tournament, there is no traditional “points table” like in round-robin or Swiss-format events. Progress is being tracked via the live knockout bracket, which will continuously be updated as players advance or get eliminated.

Ways to follow up with the live Action: 

For quick updates, spectators can visit the official website, womenscup2025.fide.com, to keep track of  live board coverage and updated bracket information.

On the other hand, for detailed views and checkpoints, the tournament will be live-streamed on the FIDE official YouTube channel with expert commentary from Grandmaster Valeriane Gaprindashvili, Woman Grandmaster Almira Skripchenko from Round 2 onwards. And Woman Grandmaster Keti Tsatsalashvili for Round 1. 

Those seeking more options can opt for other chess news websites such as Chess.com, Chess24, and ChessBase, that feature live updates, match analysis, and news articles as the tournament unfolds.

Where to buy tickets for FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025?

Although the previous event of FIDE did offer different ticketing options for instance, day passes or VIP tickets or in-person viewing. However, this time ticket details for the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, are not advertised specifically. For attending the event live in-person, one should check the official site, womenscup2025.fide.com. 

FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025: Full List of Players

21 seeded players list: 

• Lei Tingjie
• Zhu Jiner
• Tan Zhongyi
• Koneru Humpy
• Muzychuk Anna
• Goryachkina Aleksandra
• Lagno Kateryna
• Dzagnidze Nana
• Muzychuk Mariya
• Dronavalli Harika
• Vaishali Rameshbabu
• Shuvalova Polina
• Kosteniuk Alexandra
• Osmak Yuliia
• Divya Deshmukh
• Batsiashvili Nino
• Kashlinskaya Alina
• Injac Teodora
• Lu Miaoyi
• Arabidze Meri
• Javakhishvili Lela

86 participants list: 

• Carissa Yip
• Stavroula Tsolakidou
• Bella Khotenashvili
• Valentina Gunina
• Anna Ushenina
• Anna Shukhman
• Song Yuxin
• Klaudia Kulon
• Deimantė Cornette
• Aleksandra Maltsevskaya
• Elina Danielian
• Antoaneta Stefanova
• Lilit Mkrtchian
• Irina Bulmaga
• Zsoka Gaal
• Mai Narva
• Alice Lee
• Vantika Agrawal
• Govhar Beydullayeva
• Nurgyul Salimova
• Zhai Mo
• Irina Krush
• Ulviyya Fataliyeva
• Marsel Efroimski
• Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova
• Oliwia Kiolbasa
• Sophie Milliet
• Khanim Balajayeva
• Pham Le Thao Nguyen
• Deysi Cori
• Padmini Rout
• Gulnar Mammadova
• Maili-Jade Ouellet
• Nandhidhaa P V
• Mungunzul Bat-Erdene
• Pauline Guichard
• Nadya Toncheva
• Meruert Kamalidenova
• Inna Gaponenko
• Afruza Khamdamova
• Ana Matnadze
• Amina Kairbekova
• Candela Francisco
• Gao Muziyan
• Mobina Alinasab
• Anastasia Kirtadze
• Fiorella Contreras Huaman
• Zala Urh
• Alicja Sliwicka
• Anastasia Avramidou
• Daria Charochkina
• Thalia Cervantes Landeiro
• Anahi Ortiz Verdezoto
• Anapaola Borda Rodas
• Li Yunshan
• Zhang Lanlin
• Wang Chuqiao
• Kesaria Mgeladze
• Elnaz Kaliakhmet
• Umida Omonova
• Julia Ryjanova
• Yerisbel Miranda Llanes
• Shrook Wafa
• Zhang Jilin
• Alserkal Rouda Essa
• Maria Jose Campos
• Shafira Devi Herfesa
• Anahita Zahedifar
• Lala Shohradova
• Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana
• Shahenda Wafa
• Priyanka K
• Erdenebayar Khuslen
• Ruelle Canino
• Jesse February
• Isabelle Yixuan Ning
• Esperanca Caxita
• Evi Yuliana
• Hannah Wilson
• Mohamed Zaki Jana
• Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa Azhar
• Nadezhda Antonova

FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025 full schedule and fixtures with timings (In IST)

• July 5, 2025 (Saturday) -Opening Ceremony – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 6 – July 8, 2025 (Sunday – Tuesday) – Round 1 (86 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 9 – July 11, 2025 (Wednesday – Friday) – Round 2 (64 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 12 – July 14, 2025 (Saturday – Monday) – Round 3 (32 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 15, 2025 (Tuesday) – Rest Day 
• July 16 – July 18, 2025 (Wednesday – Friday) – Round 4 (Quarter-Finals – 16 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 19 – July 21, 2025 (Saturday – Monday) – Round 5 (Semi-Finals – 8 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 22 – July 24, 2025 (Tuesday – Thursday) – Round 6 (4 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 25, 2025 (Friday) – Rest Day
• July 26 – July 28, 2025 (Saturday – Monday) – Final & 3rd Place Match (4 Players) – 16: 30 PM IST
• July 28, 2025 (Monday) – Closing Ceremony
• July 29, 2025 (Tuesday) – Departures

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