Lichess is providing a live stream of the Women’s World Cup from the first quarter-final game on 19 July until the final tiebreaks on 28 July. Make sure to tune in to our Twitch or YouTube channels for live stream coverage with our host WIM Jesse February, joined by WCM Katharina Reinecke on most of the days, WCM Niushar Afshar on 23 & 24 July, and WIM Ellen Nilssen on 26 July. Every round starts at 11:00 UTC.
Tournament Information
OnTheQueenside, who covers women’s chess, has published a detailed overview of the 2025 Women’s World Cup, including background information on the event and its players and predictions of who will win. Check it out here.
Bracket
The single elimination bracket with the pairings for each round can be found here.
Annotations by WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea
WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea has annotated the following games from round 5 of the 2025 Women’s World Cup:
https://lichess.org/study/PmL7NbB1/o8Puckrn#0
https://lichess.org/study/PmL7NbB1/9ehd37bO#0
https://lichess.org/study/PmL7NbB1/VMU9eOge#0
Overview
GM Lei Tingjie won her match against GM Nana Dzagnidze 2-0, continuing her strong performance. Meanwhile, both GM Tan Zhongyi and GM Humpy Koneru were able to win their matches against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and IM Song Yuxin 1.5.-0.5, respectively. GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Divya Deshmukh played a close tiebreak match after having drawn two calm games in the classical. Divya was able to win the two rapid tiebreak games to advance to the semifinals.
Lei continues to dominate
GM Lei Tingjie has shown stellar form so far. With only a draw needed in the second game, Lei found a way to win, even though she had at some point blown away her advantage.
In game 1, GM Nana Dzagnidze’s unconventional Réti / English Opening was going well for a while, but it quickly went downhill. As early as move 8, 8. a3 was technically inaccurate, though GM Lei Tingjie failed to capitalize on the imprecision, when she could have played 8…d4. Later on, it was in fact Dzganidze who pushed d4 and had a solid center, netting her a big advantage. The position remained highly unclear, though, as Lei eschewed castling and Dzganidze happily pounced on the opportunity to prevent Black from castling by doubling the pawns on the kingside. That decision would come back to haunt her, though, as after a series of mistakes, Dzganidze found herself getting attacked on the g-file and eventually had to resign after losing a piece.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/TGrBvHg3/UIMDr7M3#0
GM Lei Tingjie vs. GM Nana Dzagnidze
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE
Of course, if one were to glance over at the engine evaluation, Lei was never really in trouble. Nevertheless, with castling on opposite sides of the board, the stability of the position could at any moment be put into question. Lei, however, was on top of all sorts of tactics and soon punched her ticket to the semifinals.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/E7i1SxIh/xxQEh4Zf#0
Divya’s close tiebreak
GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Divya Deshmukh played two very correct draws in the classical portion of their match, making their encounter the only one that headed into tiebreaks.
In game 1 of the tiebreaks, Divya changed her opening from that of the classical game, instead going for the combative Greco Gambit in the Italian Game. The game remained equal for a while, but it was Divya who had the better chances as she had an attack along the semi-open g-file. While the silicon monster finds a way to defend, it was clearly a tough ask for a human to be able to hold the position.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/bKI9BXwP/yiv32cxO#0
GM Harika Dronavalli vs. IM Divya Deshmukh
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE
Game 2 followed a different pattern. Harika, with her Catalan-esque opening, achieved a stable and long-term advantage in the form of the bishop pair, which she was able to put to good use. At many points in the game, White had the advantage. Indeed, toward the end of the game, it was Harika who was completely winning. However, after missing the correct and winning exchange, 63. Bf4!!, the position was again equal. Harika could have still tried to put pressure on Divya, who was in deep time trouble, but a blunder on move 68 in 68. Bxb5?? sealed Harika’s fate and allowed Divya to advance to the semifinals.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/n4CZ056s/nEYAQuhz#0
Vaishali’s missed opportunity
GM Vaishali Rameshbabu had some chances in her first game against GM Tan Zhongyi, as she was at one point two pawns up courtesy of her good play in the Italian Game. Tan, however, created vicious counterplay, and when Vaishali failed to react to Tan’s attack in the best way possible, her extra pawn was rendered ineffective. In fact, Vaishali eventually had to defend an exchange-down position. Granted, said position was objectively fine, but Vaishali certainly did not anticipate such a change of fortune after having had a reasonably large advantage in the middlegame.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/TGrBvHg3/VGms0Vih#0
GM Vaishali Rameshbabu vs. GM Tan Zhongyi
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE
Game 2 saw yet another victory for Catalan structures; the structure this time actually arose from one of the pawn-grabbing lines of the Semi-Slav Defense. The game remained stable for some time, but Tan’s bishops continued gaining potency, and soon Tan’s passed c-pawn looked very menacing. Vaishali did well to create counterplay, achieving a dynamically equal endgame, but the position remained tough for her to play, and she was again worse and, soon, completely lost.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/E7i1SxIh/Oj2qr0nk#0
Humpy plays with Romantic spirit
GM Humpy Koneru’s pawn sacrifice in the Catalan, which arose from the English Opening, could not have worked out better for her. With impressive king safety awareness, Humpy sacrificed another pawn on move 17 to once again undermine Black’s position. That decision once again proved to be in Humpy’s favor as IM Song Yuxin blundered with 18. O-O, allowing White’s pieces to infiltrate and win the exchange. Humpy, however, perhaps influenced by the Romantic school of chess, sacrificed the exchange back, allowing Song a defensive resource. Song did not find said defensive resource on move 26, though, and went on to lose the game.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/TGrBvHg3/v1EHWPNO#0
GM Humpy Koneru vs. IM Song Yuxin
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE
In game 2, Song showed tenacity in the face of adversity as she continued to push her advantage. Unfortunately for Song, Humpy was defending solidly, and Song’s tripled pawns on the f-file, which did make for a curious impression, ultimately could not help White achieve a winning position.
https://lichess.org/study/embed/E7i1SxIh/weWcPDEr#0
Puzzle Pack
Enjoy our collection of puzzles from the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025!
https://lichess.org/study/6lb13AlX