This is the third edition of the FIDE Women’s World Cup. The first one was in Sochi in 2021 and was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk. The second one was in Baku in 2023 and was won by Aleksandra Goryachkina. Now both of them will participate in the FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup 2025 in Batumi together with a strong field of world’s best players.

Players qualified for the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025

Women’s World Championship 2025 (1 player)
1. Muzychuk, Mariya (UKR) (Update: replaces Ju Wenjun)

Women’s World Cup 2023 (4 players)
2. Goryachkina, Aleksandra (FIDE) – semi finalist
3. Salimova, Nurgyul (BUL) – semi finalist
4. Muzychuk, Anna (UKR) – semi finalist
5. Tan Zhongyi (CHN) – semi finalist

World Junior Girls Championship 2024 (1 player)
6. Deshmukh, Divya (IND) – champion

Rating in June 25 FIDE Rating List (5 players)
7. – Lei, Tingjie (CHN)
8. – Zhu, Jiner (CHN)
9. – Koneru, Humpy (IND)
10. – Vaishali R (IND) (replaces Assaubayeva, Bibisara)
11. – Dzagnidze, Nana (GEO) (replaces Hou Yifan)

Qualifiers from the Continental events (54 players)

Africa
12. February, Jesse Nikki (RSA) – Championship 24
13. Wafa, Shrook (EGY) – Championship 25
14. Nassr, Lina (ALG) – Championship 25

Americas
15. Thalia Cervantes Landeiro (USA) – (replaces Tang, Zoey (USA) who replaces Pourkashiyan, Atousa) (info)
16.  Francisco Guecamburu, Candela Be (ARG) –  Championship 25
17. Yip, Carissa (USA) – Zone 2.1
18. Lee, Alice (USA) – Zone 2.1
19. Ouellet, Maili-Jade (CAN) – Zone 2.2
20. Miranda, Tania (MEX) – Zone 2.3.1
21. Miranda, Yerisbel (CUB) – Zone 2.3.2
22. Wilson, Hannah (BAR) – Zone 2.3.3
23. Cori, Deisy (PER) –  Zone 2.4
24. Borda, Ana Paola (ARG) – Zone 2.5

Asia
25. Song Yuxin (CHN) – Championship 25
26. Mungunzul Bat-Erdene (MGL) – Championship 25
27. Zahedifar, Anahita (IRI) – Zone 3.1
28. Ahmed, Wadifa (BAN) – Zone 3.2
29. Herfesa, Shafira Devi (INA) – Zone 3.3
30. Khamdamova, Afruza (UZB) – Zone 3.4
31. Kaliakhmet, Elnaz (KAZ) – Zone 3.4
32. Kamalidenova, Meruert (KAZ) – Zone 3.4
33. Gao Muziyan (CHN) – Zone 3.5
34. Zhang Lanlin (CHN) – Zone 3.5
35. Zhai Mo (CHN) – Zone 3.5
36. Wang Chiqiao (CHN) – Zone 3.5
37. Ryjanova, Julia (AUS) – Zone 3.6
38. Nandhidhaa P V (IND) –  Zone 3.7
39. Priyanka K (IND) –  Zone 3.7
40. Padmini Rout (IND) –  Zone 3.7
41. Kiran Manisha Mohanty (IND) –  Zone 3.7
42. Lagno, Kateryna (FIDE) – Zone 3.8
43. Charochkina, Daria (FIDE) – Zone 3.8
44. Shuvalova, Polina (FIDE) – Zone 3.8

Europe
45. Fataliyeva, Ulviyya (AZE) – Championship 24
46. Osmak, Yuliia (UKR) – Championship 24 (replaces Buksa, Nataliya) (info)
47. Javakhishvili, Lela (GEO) – Championship 24
48. Batsiashvili, Nino (GEO) – Championship 24
49. Bulmaga, Irina (BUL) – Championship 24
50. Beydullayeva, Govhar (AZE) – Championship 24
51. Toncheva, Nadya (BUL) – Championship 24
52. Tsolakidou, Stavroula (GRE) – Championship 24
53. Mkrtchian, Lilit (ARM) – Championship 24
54. Sliwicka, Alicja (POL) – Championship 24
55. Injac, Teodora (SRB) –  Championship 25
56. Narva, Mai (EST) –  Championship 25
57. Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra (POL) –  Championship 25
58. Ushenina, Anna (UKR) –  Championship 25
59. Daulyte-Cornette, Deimante (LTU) –  Championship 25
60. Mammadova, Gulnar (AZE) –  Championship 25
61. Milliet, Sophie (FRA) –  Championship 25
62. Kiolbasa, Oliwia (POL) –  Championship 25
63. Kulon, Klaudia (POL) –  Championship 25
64. Urh, Zala (SLO) –  Championship 25
65. Khotenashvili, Bella (GEO) –  Championship 25

Nominees of National Federations (to be announced by June 10) (35 players)
66. Caxita, Esperanca (ANG) – Angola
67. Campos, Maria Jose (ARG) – Argentina
68. Danielian, Elina (ARM) – Armenia
69. Zhang, Jilin (AUS) – Australia
70. Baladjayeva, Xanim (AZE) – Azerbaijan
71. Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL) – Bulgaria
72. Li, Yunshan (CAN) – Canada
73. Lu, Miaoyi (CHN) – China
74. Wafa, Shahenda (EGY) – Egypt
75. Guichard, Pauline (FRA) – France
76. Mgeladze, Kesaria (GEO) – Georgia
77. Avramidou, Anastasia (GRE) – Greece
78. Hong Kong – listed as FIDE President Nominee
79. Gaal, Zsoka (HUN) – Hungary
80. Dronavali, Harika (IND) – India
81. Yuliana, Evi (INA) – Indonesia
82. Alinasab, Mobina (IRI) – Iran
83. Efroimski, Marsel (ISR) – Israel
84. Kairbekova Amina (KAZ) – Kazakhstan
85. Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa (MAS) – Malaysia
86. Khuslen, Erdenebayar (MGL) – Mongolia
87. Ning, Isabelle Yixuan (NZL) – New Zealand
88. Contreras Huaman, Fiorella (PER) – Peru
89. Canino, Ruelle (PHI) – Philippines
90. Kashlinskaya, Alina (POL) – Poland
91. Matnadze Bujiashvili, Ann (ESP) – Spain (replaces Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat) (info)
92. Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini (SRI) – Sri Lanka
93. Kosteniuk, Alexandra (SUI) – Switzerland
94. Antonova, Nadezhda (TJK) – Tajikistan
95. Shohradova, Lala (TKM) – Turkmenistan
96. Gaponenko, Inna (UKR) – Ukraine
97. Rouda Essa, Alserkal (UAE) – United Arab Emirates
98. Krush, Irina (USA) – United States of America
99. Omonova, Umida (UZB) – Uzbekistan
100. Pham, Le Thao Nguyen (VIE) – Vietman

Nominees of the FIDE President (2 players)
101. Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim (UZB)
102. Vantika Agrawal (IND)
103* Shukhman, Anna (FID) (after a mini match)

Nominee of the Organiser (1 player)
103. Kirtadze, Anastasia (GEO)

Continental spots (4 players)
104. Mohamed Zaki Jana (EGY) – Africa
105. Ortiz Verdezoto, Anahi (ECU) – Americas
106. Gunina, Valentina (FIDE) – Asia
107. Arabidze, Meri (GEO) – Europe

Schedule of the FIDE Women’s World Cup

Each round will last three days: two for classical time limit games and a third, if necessary, for tie-breaks. Rounds 1 to 3 will run from July 6 to 14; July 9 will be a rest day; Rounds 4 to 6 will run from July 16 to 24; July 25 will be a rest day; and the final and third-place match will run from July 26 to 28.

Rules of the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025

Each round consists of classical time limit games on the first two days, plus tie-breaks on the third day if required. The time limits will be as follows

• Two classical time limit games: 90 minutes, plus a 30-minute increment on move 40, plus a 30-second increment per move from move 1, per player.
• If the match is tied after the classical games, players will play two rapid chess games, with 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match is still tied, players then will play two more rapid chess games, with 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match is still tied, players then will play two blitz games, with 5 minutes plus a 3-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match is still tied, a single blitz game, with 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment per move, will be played to decide the match. A drawing of lots will determine which player plays white. If drawn, the players will switch colors and play again, until a decisive result is obtained.

Shortly before the start of the first round, ECU Secretary General Mr. Theodoros Tzorbatsoglou joined the ECU live studio and addressed all the players.

Read more: ECU Secretary General: we should be proud of Women chess players

264 players from 35 European federations registered for the event, but only 240 competed in Round 1. The 24 top seeds qualified directly for the Round 2. Five (5) Players withdrew from the tournament, most of them for health reasons.

35 of 115 Round1 matches ended with an equal 1-1 result after two classical games. Tie-break rapid games were decisive for 23 players, while 12 Armageddon games decided the rest of the qualifiers for the 2nd round.

21 favorites of the first round (according to FIDE rating) suffered upsets and won’t continue the race for 36 FIDE World Chess Cup spots.

Pairings of the Round 1 brought the encounter of two Spanish compatriots: GM Alvar Alonso Rosell and FM Gabriel Quispe Arteaga. Since they supposed to meet Online from the same hall, the two Spanish players agreed to play the over-the-board match and only moves were transmitted live.

R1 games: European Hybrid Qualification Chess Tournament R1 games – replay

LIVE games: European Hybrid Qualification Chess Tournament LIVE

17 years old FM Frederik Svane (GER, 2438) surprised experienced GM Moiseenko Alexander (UKR, 2620). After a tied result in the classical part of the match, Svane took a 1.5-0.5 rapid victory over Moiseenko to advance in the competition.

Croatian representative GM Bosiocic Marin (CRO, 2607) suffered an Armageddon loss with Black pieces against 17 years old Bulgarian Stoyanov Tsvetan (BUL, 2376).

Two Greek representatives experienced a similar scenario. Mastrovasilis Athanasios (GRE, 2521) played against the 15 years old Roebers Eline (NED, 2066). After the equal result in classical and rapid matches, the drawing of lots decided that Mastrovasilis takes black pieces in Armaggedon. Even though he needed only a draw against the much lower rated boy, Mastrovasilis lost the game.

GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios (GRE, 2609) lost the classical match against 15 years old FM Sokolovsky Yahli (ISR, 2431) with a final 0.5-1.5 result in favor of the youngster.

GM Jesper Thybo Sondergaard (DEN, 2568) and GM Mornoni Luca Jr (ITA, 2546) also suffered a defeat in an Armageddon game, both playing as Black. Jesper Thybo lost to IM Ozen Deniz (TUR, 2397), while IM Mihajlov Sebastian (NOR, 2384) took a victory against Moroni.

IM Caspi Israel (ISR, 2492) was victorious against GM Van Den Doel Erik (NED, 2601) in an intense rapid match with 1.5-0.5 result and advanced to the 2nd round.

Rapid games were decisive for GM Kiril Georgiev (MKD, 2589), GM Kunin Vitaly (GER, 2567), GM Acs Peter (HUN, 2565) and GM Vlad-Cristian Jianu (ROU, 2527), as they were defeated by underdogs.

GM Hakobyan Aram (ARM, 2598), Bindrich Falko (GER, 2584), GM Goganov Aleksey (RUS, 2582), GM Mihok Oliver (HUN, 2547), GM Sumets Andrey (UKR, 2546), GM Korpa Bence (HUN, 2536), GM Bogosavljevic Boban (SRB, 2521) and Shengelia David (AUT, 2521) finished the competition after the two classical games.

All the games were broadcasted live through the ECU Twitch channel, together with live commentaries by WGM Keti Tsatsalasvili and GM Marcin Tazbir.

The tournament is played as a Hybrid event, which means that all the federations have specially designated and approved venues. Venues are supervised by local arbiters and cameras.

In total, 82 arbiters are included in the European Hybrid Qualification Chess Tournament. Technical problems were not reported from any venue.

Photo gallery of the venues – European Hybrid Qualification Chess Tournament

The 2021 FIDE Women’s World Cup will be played in 7 rounds, knock-out system, with 103 players and a prize pool of 676,000 dollars. 
Most of the participants are already known with Canada (Zone 3.2) as the only remaining federation to run qualifiers in early June.

List of participants:

1. GM Ju Wenjun (a qualifier from the Women’s World Championship 2018)
2. GM Kateryna Lagno (a qualifier from the Women’s World Championship 2018)
3. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (a qualifier from Women’s the World Championship 2018)
4. GM Mariya Muzychuk (a qualifier from the Women’s World Championship 2018)
5. WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (U20 World Girls Chess Champion 2018)
6. WGM Polina Shuvalova (U20 World Girls Chess Champion 2019)
7. GM Hou Yifan (qualified by rating)
8. GM Humpy Koneru (qualified by rating)
9. GM Anna Muzychuk (qualified by rating)
10. GM Harika Dronavalli (qualified by rating)
11. GM Tan Zhongyi (qualified by rating)
12. WGM Shrook Wafa (Africa Continental 2019 qualifier)
13. WIM Sabrina Latreche (Africa Continental 2019 qualifier)
14. WIM Ayah Moaatez (Africa Continental 2019 qualifier)
15. WGM Daysi Cori (Americas Continental 2018 qualifier)
16. WIM Ouellet Maili-Jade (Americas Continental 2019 qualifier)
17. WGM Jennifer Yu (a qualifier from the USA – Women Zonal 2.1 Championship)
18. WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (a qualifier from the USA – Women Zonal 2.1 Championship)
19. WIM Yerisbel Miranda (a qualifier from Women Zonal 2.3 Championship)
20. WIM Anahi Ortiz Verdezoto (a qualifier from Women Zonal 2.4 Championship)
21. WIM Gabriela Vargas (a qualifier from Women Zonal 2.5 Championship)
22. IM Padmini Rout (Asia Continental 2018 qualifier)
23. IM Dinara Sadukassova (Asia Continental 2019 qualifier)
24. IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.1 Championship)
25. WIM Sultana Sharmin Shirin (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.2 Championship)
26. IM Medina Aulia Varda (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.3 Championship)
27. WIM Yakubbaeva Nilufar (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.4 Championship)
28. WGM Zhu Jiner (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.5 Championship)
29. WGM Huang Qian (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.5 Championship)
30. WGM Zhai Mo (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.5 Championship)
31. GM Lei Tingjie (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.5 Championship)
32. WGM Julia Ryjanova (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.6 Championship)
33. IM Kulkarni Bhakti (a qualifier from Women Zonal 3.5 Championship)
34. GM Valentina Gunina (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
35. GM Nana Dzagnidze (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
36. GM Anna Ushenina (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
37. IM Ekaterina Atalik (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
38. GM Antoaneta Stefanova (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
39. IM Elisabeth Paehtz (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
40. WGM Klaudia Kulon (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
41. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
42. IM Gunay Mammadzada (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
43. IM Iulia Osmak (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
44. IM Lela Javakhishvili (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
45. IM Karina Szczepkowska (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
46. GM Marie Sebag (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
47. WGM Laura Unuk (European Women’s Championship 2018 qualifier)
48. IM Alina Kashlinskaya (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
49. IM Inna Gaponenko (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
50. WGM Pauline Guichard (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
51. WGM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
52. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
53. WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
54. GM Pia Cramling (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
55. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
56. GM Monika Socko (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
57. WGM Anastasya Paramzina (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
58. WGM Marina Brunello (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
59. WGM Turkan Mamedjarova (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
60. IM Nurgyul Salimova (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)
61. WGM Dina Belenkaya (European Women’s Championship 2019 qualifier)

The participation list of the Women’s World Cup 2021 shall be completed by June 5th after the selection of 39 players from 39 different federations. Federations were given the right to nominate any player from their rating list, according to the average rating of their five highest-rated women players in the December 2020 FIDE rating list.