Chess Gambit 64

  Who would've expected this?  The Women's Chess World Cup final is set, and there's no Chinese player in sight! Yesterday, Divya Deshmukh eliminated Zhongyi Tan, and today, Humpy Koneru defeated Tingjie Lei in a tiebreaker. This means two Indian women will face off for first place, while two Chinese women will battle it out for third. We've already posted the decisive game on our website. ```

The Beautiful Dream Continues: Deshmukh Divya Reaches Women's Chess World Cup Final! The incredible run continues! 9-year-old Deshmukh Divya has defeated the favored Zhongyi Tan in the second game of their match today, securing her spot in the Women's Chess World Cup final. It truly seems that India is a "mine" of chess talent, producing exceptional players of both sexes. Today's game was an absolute rollercoaster—incredibly dramatic and full of swings. Divya held a material advantage for a long time, utilizing it well. However, at several points, she'd miss a winning move, and the position would revert to a draw. Then, her Chinese opponent would make a big mistake, handing the advantage back to Divya, only for it to slip away again. This back-and-forth must have had both coaches reaching for the valerian! 😂 Ultimately, the final mistake came from the Chinese player. Upon winning and clinching her spot in the final, the young Indian couldn't hold back her...

The first semifinal games of the Women's Chess World Cup concluded today, and both matches ended in draws. While there were no major upsets, it's worth noting that both Chinese players, despite having the advantage of playing white, were met with easy equalization by their Indian opponents. We've posted both games on our website, and we encourage you to analyze them yourselves! Women's Chess World Cup Semifinals: Game 1 Results: GM Tingjie Lei (2552) - GM Humpy Koneru (2543)  -  1/2-1/2 GM Zhongyi Tan (2546) - IM  Deshmukh Divya (2463)  -  1/2-1/2.

  The third participant in the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 semifinals has been decided! Tan Zhongyi secured her spot by defeating Rameshbabu Vaishali today. Congratulations to Zhongyi on a strong performance, especially with her win falling on International Chess Day! The fourth semifinalist will be determined tomorrow. The match between Deshmukh Divya - Harika Dronavalli is currently tied 1-1 and will proceed to a tiebreaker.

Tingjie Lei is playing some very nice chess. Today, she easily advanced to the semifinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 with a win in the second game of her match against Nana Dzagnidze. Be sure to check out this game; we're posting it on the website.

After winning yesterday's game, Humpy Koneru needed a draw to advance. Yuxin Song tried her best, but there was never a moment where a draw was possible on the board. Koneru thus won the match 1.5-0.5 and a dvanced to the semifinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 . Game Yuxin Song -  Humpy Koneru:

The FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 quarterfinals have concluded, and we have all the results for you! If you've been following our predictions, you'll see they were quite accurate. Get ready for more excitement tomorrow, as the second sets of the quarterfinals begin. The battles on the board are sure to be captivating! Koneru,H -  Song,Y  1-0 Dzagnidze,N -  Lei,T  0-1 Vaishali,R -  Tan,Z  1/2-1/2 Divya Deshmul -  Dronavalli,H  1/2-1/2

Tingjie Lei has won the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 quarterfinals! Her opponent, Georgia's Nana Dzagnidze , struggled to find the correct response after 24...Bxg3, allowing the Chinese player's attack to succeed. It appears Dzagnidze might have approached the game with too much caution. We're posting the full game on our website, and we encourage you to analyze it!

As we predicted, Humpy Koneru clinched the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 quarterfinal against China's Yuxin Song ! The Indian grandmaster seized an early advantage in the opening. While Black focused on capturing pawns, it came at the cost of a weakened king's position. We're posting the full game on our website – go check it out for yourself!

The FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 has reached the quarterfinals, with only eight top chess players remaining: four from India, three from China, and one from Georgia. The first games are set for tomorrow, and we're currently assessing the chances of each pairing: GM Nana  Dzagnidze 2505  -  GM T ingjie Lei 2552 Tingjie Lei , the number one seed, is having an excellent tournament, winning all her games so far in the regular season without needing tiebreaks. The Chinese player has won five games and only drawn one, making her appear to be the favorite in this match. Nana Dzagnidze, on the other hand, had a tough encounter with Valentina Gunina. However, it's important to remember that the Georgian is playing at home. IM Deshmukh  Divya  2463  -  GM  Harika Dronavalli 2483 The match between Deshmukh Divya vs Harika Dronavalli promises to be very interesting, as both players hail from the same country. While they are similarly strong, we're giving Desh...

And now we know! Rameshbabu Vaishali is the eighth and final player to qualify for the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 The Indian chess player secured her spot after six intense tiebreak games. We're posting the deciding game on the website. Complete results:

  Harika Dronavalli advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025. It wasn't easy, as she had to play four tiebreak games. Congratulations! We've posted the decisive game on our website.

Deshmukh Divya and Humpy Koneru have advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 after winning their tiebreak matches.  Both players secured victory in their first games and then drew the second to clinch their spots. Congratulations! Check out both winning games:

Apart from Lei Tingjie (see our entry:  Lei Tingjie advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 ), the following players also advanced to the quarterfinals: T an Zhongyi,  Dzagnidze Nana and  Song Yuxin .  A draw was enough for the two Chinese players to advance today, but Nana Dzagnidze had to win her game against Mariya Muzychuk. The Georgian player first won a pawn and then gradually strengthened her position to convert her advantage. We're posting this game on the website. 3 GM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2546 1 ½ 1½ 14 IM Osmak Yuliia UKR 2468 0 ½ ½ 9 GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2492 ½ 0 ½ 8 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2505 ½ 1 1½ 28 IM Song Yuxin CHN 2410 1 ½ 1½ 21 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2432 0 ½ ½

  FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 - 16.07.2025: GM Lei, Tingjie - 1:0 -  WIM Omonova, Umida IM Divya Deshmukh - 1:0 - GM  Zhu, Jiner GM Tan, Zhongyi - 1:0 -  IM Osmak, Yuliia GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra -  ½- ½ - G M Koneru, Humpy GM Lagno, Kateryna -  ½- ½ -  GM Dronavalli, Harika GM Muzychuk, Mariya -  ½- ½ -  GM Dzagnidze, Nana GM Vaishali, Rameshbabu -  ½- ½  IM Kamalidenova, Meruert IM Song, Yuxin - 1:0 -  IM Javakhishvili, Lela All games in the fourth round of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 have concluded. It could be called " China Day ," as all the games played by the Chinese players resulted in a draw. The remaining games were draws. We've included all the games from this round on this website; we encourage you to analyze them. Games [Event "Women's World Cup 2025"] [Site "Batumi, Georgia"] [Date "2025.07.01"] [Round "23.1"] [White "Lei, Tingjie"] [Black "Omonova, Umida"] [Result...

We're presenting the pairings for the 4th round of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025. A standout matchup is between Lei Tingjie (ELO=2552) and Omonova Umida (ELO=2211). Umida Omonova's advancement to this round is a significant surprise, and it will be interesting to see if she can challenge the titled Chinese Grandmaster.   FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 - 4th round pairing Round 4 (2025/07/26) 1 GM Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 81 WIM Omonova Umida UZB 2211 15 IM Divya Deshmukh IND 2463 2 GM Zhu Jiner CHN 2547 3 GM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2546 14 IM Osmak Yuliia UKR 2468 13 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra SUI 2474 4 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2543 7 GM Lagno Kateryna FID 2515 10 GM Dronavalli Harika IND 2483 9 GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2492 8 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2505 11 GM Vaishali Rameshbabu IND 2481 59 IM Kamalidenova Meruert KAZ 2330 28 IM Song Yuxin CHN 2410 21 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2432

The tie-breaks for the 3rd round of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 are over! We now have our 16 elite chess players ready for the next stage : GM  Lei Tingjie,  CHN  2552 WIM Omonova Umida  UZB  2211 GM Dzagnidze Nana  GEO  2505 GM Muzychuk Mariya  UKR  2492 GM Koneru Humpy  IND  2543 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra  SUI  2474 IM  Song Yuxin  CHN  2410 IM  Javakhishvili Lela  GEO  2432 GM  Zhu Jiner  CHN  2547 IM  Divya Deshmukh  IND  2463 GM  Lagno Kateryna  FID  2515 GM  Dronavalli Harika  IND  2483 GM  Tan Zhongyi  CHN  2546 IM  Osmak Yuliia  UKR  2468 IM  Kamalidenova Meruert  KAZ  2330 GM  Vaishali Rameshbabu IND 2481. There will now be a day off and the 4th round will be played on July 16. The games can be followed on Lichess .

China's Lei Tingjie defeated Antoaneta Stefanova 2-0 and advanced to the 4th round of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025. The top-seeded chess player from China won convincingly. We are posting both winning games on the website and encourage you to analyze them yourself. GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL (2399) -  GM Lei Tingjie CHN (2552) 0-2