The 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup begins in Batumi, Georgia, this weekend for the beginning of a three-week long marathon, with the final scheduled to be played between July 26 and July 28.
107 of the world's top women's chess players will fight it out for the crown, and eventually, the top three will qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament, the winner of which will face world champion Ju Wenjun in the next Women's World Championship match.
Here's everything you need to know about the Women's World Cup:
Who's the defending champion?
Alexandra Goryachkina, the sixth seed here in Batumi, won the last World Cup, which was held in 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nurgyul Salimova, who's the 41st seed here, finished second, with Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi in third and fourth respectively.
How many Indians are in the field?
Nine Indians are in the fray here in Batumi. Koneru Humpy is seeded fourth, while there are three more who will get byes in Round 1 - Harika Dronavalli (seeded 10th), Vaishali Rameshbabu (seeded 11th), and Divya Deshmukh (seeded 15th).
The other Indians in the field are Vantika Agrawal (seeded 39th) Padmini Rout (seeded 52nd), PV Nandhidhaa (seeded 55th), Priyanka K (seeded 93rd), and Kiran Manisha Mohanty (seeded 101st). In the last women's World Cup in 2023, Harika had the best finish among the Indians, having made it to the quarterfinal, where she lost to eventual champion Goryachkina.
What's at stake?
'World Cup winner' is a prestigious title in itself, but apart from that, it's the three Candidates spots which will be most sought after. Following the World Cup, there will be only three more spots left for the Candidates.
If Zhu Jiner or Goryachkina finish in the top three of this World Cup, then that Candidates spot will go to the player who finishes fourth at the World Cup. Additionally, there's also a US$50,000 prize at stake for the World Cup winner, in a prize pool of US$691,250.
Who are the favourites?
The top three seeds are all Chinese - Lei Tingjie, Zhu Jiner, and Tan Zhongyi. World champion Wenjun withdrew from the World Cup. In addition, Goryachkina has been in good form, having already qualified for the Candidates through the FIDE Women's Grand Prix. Humpy has played some strong tournaments recently, and she will be in the hunt too, as will Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk, who won the women's Norway Chess tournament back at the end of May.
How does the draw look for the Indians?
Divya Deshmukh will face a big challenge in the fourth round, should she get there, up against the Chinese second seed Tan Zhongyi, who lost the World Championship match earlier this year to Wenjun. Also in the fourth round could be a matchup between Vaishali and defending champion Goryachkina. Humpy is likely to face Switzerland's Alexandra Kosteniuk in the fourth round, while Harika is projected to face Kateryna Lagno.
What's the format?
The World Cup will be played in the knockout format, with six rounds before the final. With 107 players in the field, it was decided that the top 21 seeds will get a bye in the first round.
♟️�� Every move you make breaks the old rules. This is not just a game - this is your arena!
Here's what you need to know about the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025:
�� Dates: July 6-28
�� Location: Batumi, Georgia ����
�� Players: 107
�� Prize fund: USD 691,250#WomenInChess... pic.twitter.com/imrpJToRlX- International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 1, 2025
It is a classical chess event, with each player having 90 minutes to begin with on their clock, plus a 30-minute increment on move 40, plus a 30-second increment per move from move 1.
In each round, players will play each other twice, once with each colour. If the match is tied after two classical games, the first set of tie-breaks will be two games under rapid time controls, with each player having 25 minutes to begin with, plus a 10-second increment per move. If the match is tied even after the two rapid games, there will be two more rapid games, with each player having 10 minutes to begin with, plus a 10-second increment per move. If the match continues to be tied, there will be two blitz games, with each player having 5 minutes to begin with, plus a 3-second increment per move.
If the match is still tied, a single blitz game, with each player having 3 minutes to begin with plus a 2-second increment per move, will be played to decide the match. The players will determine who plays with what colour, through a draw of lots. In case of a draw, the players will switch colours and play again, until a decisive result is obtained.
The FIDE Women's World Cup will be live streamed on FIDE's official YouTube channel.