All four 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup round-four tiebreaks were won by Indian players. GMs Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy were the first to book Quarterfinals spots, defeating GMs Zhu Jiner and Alexandra Kosteniuk respectively 1.5-0.5 in the 15-minute games. GM Harika Dronavalli then beat GM Kateryna Lagno in 10-minute games, before GM Vaishali Rameshbabu completed a day of wild swings by finally overcoming IM Meruert Kamalidenova in five-minute chess.
Game one of the Quarterfinals is on Saturday, July 19, starting at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.
Women’s World Cup Round 4 Results
| Fed | Player | Rtg | – | Fed | Player | Rtg | G1 | G2 | TB |
| GM LEI TINGJIE | 2552 | – | WIM Umida Omonova | 2211 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| GM Mariya Muzychuk | 2492 | – | GM NANA DZAGNIDZE | 2505 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| GM Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2474 | – | GM KONERU HUMPY | 2543 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 | ||
| IM SONG YUXIN | 2410 | – | IM Lela Javakhishvili | 2432 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| GM VAISHALI RAMESHBABU | 2481 | – | IM Meruert Kamalidenova | 2330 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 3.5-2.5 | ||
| GM TAN ZHONGYI | 2546 | – | IM Yuliia Osmak | 2468 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| GM Kateryna Lagno | 2515 | – | GM HARIKA DRONAVALLI | 2483 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 1.5-2.5 | ||
| IM DIVYA DESHMUKH | 2463 | – | GM Zhu Jiner | 2547 | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1.5-0.5 |
Divya, Humpy Wrap Up Victory In 15-Minute Games
Divya knocked out the number-two seed Zhu in two games, and when asked if she’d expected things to go so well replied:
No, but at the same time yes, because this is the result I wanted, and after yesterday it was a bit tough, because I had a great position out of the opening and I just played horribly. It was kind of like I was my own enemy, so I’m glad that I overcame that today!
It was a day of nerve-wracking games where the outcome turned on the smallest details, and we saw that in the first game which Divya won in what should have been an equal heavy-piece endgame. A couple of inaccuracies, however, and it was over.
Zhu had already come back from behind once in the match, but playing the Nimzowitsch Defense (1.e4 Nc6!?) didn’t work to bamboozle Divya, who was the only player to have an ebbing and flowing advantage throughout the second game. At the end she was winning, but decided to take the draw she needed to clinch a place in the Quarterfinals.
As Divya waited for the arbiter to confirm the draw, she looked overcome with emotion.
19-year-old 🇮🇳Divya Deshmukh can’t believe she’s through to the Quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup! https://t.co/yrAtYH0sCO pic.twitter.com/foDPKJFXiG
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 18, 2025
The other player to clinch her match in the 15-minute games was Humpy, who owed her success to a wild first clash.
She admitted, “I was completely lucky to win the first game,” as she lost her way and had to jettison a piece. “It’s completely winning for her, but Black just needs to find the most accurate moves,” said Humpy. Kosteniuk couldn’t, and lost a pawn, then eventually a piece, as she fell to defeat.
In the second game Kosteniuk for one fleeting move had a chance for a significant advantage, but when that was missed it was all about Humpy, who was easily winning toward the end but said she “went for all the possible solid moves” to secure a draw.
Harika Hits Back To Beat Lagno In 10-Minute Games
This match, between the 7th and 10th seeds, was every bit as tight as could be expected, though it seemed as though it was going to go the favorite’s way as Lagno squeezed out a win in the first game.
“I can’t go back with this bad game, so I just kept fighting”, said Harika, but in the second game she got nothing out of the opening. Her tournament fate seemed to be decided when she played 45.Qf3? and realized too late it was a losing move.
When Lagno missed the win, however, Harika saw she had a chance, commenting, “That’s when I got confidence that O.K., I got my hope back!”
One bad move by Lagno near the end of the game and Harika took the match to 10-minute games.
The first 10-minute game was an up-and-down draw, before one rash queen move cost Lagno the match in the next. Harika felt both players were relying on their intuition a little too much: “I played in a flow and played 32.Bd4?. In the same way, she played 34…d4+! and quickly, emotionally, she just went for 35…Qc3??.”
Harika will play Divya in the Quarterfinals, guaranteeing an Indian semifinalist, while the final Indian star to win was Vaishali.
Vaishali Overcomes Kamalidenova In Rollercoaster 5-Minute Game
“I’m quite relieved, it could have been either way!” said Vaishali after winning the day’s longest clash.
She had to do it the hard way, since 19-year-old 59th seed Kamalidenova suddenly emerged with a completely won position in the first game and made no mistake converting. Then in the second game the Kazakh star reached an endgame a pawn up that she only needed to draw. Vaishali admitted she was on the point of giving up hope, but somehow, and at times with huge help from her opponent, she went on to win on demand!
After that escape Vaishali was on a roll and went on to win our Game of the Day, a powerful display with the black pieces that has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
The match was far from over, however, since Kamalidenova counterattacked in similar style in the next 10-minute game to take the clash to blitz.
After four decisive games in a row, there was finally a more or less quiet draw, before the final game was an absolute rollercoaster. Vaishali summed up:
Especially in the last game I think I should be lost at some point. She had the strong knight on f4 and both of us were on seconds and I just kept playing moves. I don’t know what happened… It was a crazy day!
Only a mistake on move 56 finally condemned Kamalidenova to a World Cup exit.
Vaishali will now take on GM Tan Zhongyi, Humpy faces 28th seed IM Song Yuxin, Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze takes on Chinese top seed GM Lei Tingjie and, as already mentioned, we have the all-Indian battle Divya vs. Harika.
Women’s World Cup Quarterfinal Pairings
| Fed | Seed | Player | Rtg | – | Fed | Seed | Player | Rating |
| 8 | GM Nana Dzagnidze | 2505 | – | 1 | GM Lei Tingjie | 2552 | ||
| 4 | GM Koneru Humpy | 2543 | – | 28 | IM Song Yuxin | 2410 | ||
| 11 | GM Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2481 | – | 3 | GM Tan Zhongyi | 2546 | ||
| 15 | IM Divya Deshmukh | 2463 | – | 10 | GM Harika Dronavalli | 2483 |
There’s no rest day, with the action beginning Saturday.
How to watch?
The 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup takes place at the Grand Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Batumi, Georgia. It is a 107-player tournament with a single-elimination knockout format and a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move from the first move. Each round consists of two games at the classical time control followed by a tiebreak in faster time controls in case the scores are tied.
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