12 matches go to tiebreaks in spherical two of the 2025 FIDE Ladies’s World Cup. In a preventing second sport of classical chess, we noticed six win on demand. Notably, 2023 World Cup winner GM Aleksandra Goryachkina staved off elimination for at the very least one other day by defeating Kazakh IM Meruert Kamalidenova, the youthful participant who upset her in sport one. The upset of the day was 14-year-old WFM Elnaz Kaliakhmet (2218), one other younger Kazakh participant, defeating and eliminating Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili (2462).
Spherical two tiebreaks are on Friday, July 11, beginning at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.
Goryachkina, Amongst Others, Wins On Demand
We noticed no fewer than six gamers win on demand to succeed in tiebreaks on Friday. They had been:
For the longest time, Goryachkina’s sport in opposition to Kamalidenova was one of many least fascinating—a dry endgame—but additionally one of the necessary. Would we see the 2023 Ladies’s World Cup winner get eradicated in her very first match? Her Kazakh opponent staved off hazard and reached what, in concept, needs to be a cushty place even with two knights in opposition to two bishops.
Defending Ladies’s World Cup Champion Aleksandra Goryachkina is on the point of an early exit, as she has no benefit in a must-win sport vs. Meruert Kamalidenova! https://t.co/sFsVwTTQg7 pic.twitter.com/hOxyno9h8b
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 10, 2025
We noticed many gamers pull water from stone, however Goryachkina’s was most likely the perfect instance of actually pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Deep within the rook endgame, Kamalidenova made her first and final critical mistake of the sport, on transfer 52, and chess proved once more to be an unforgiving sport. Goryachkina transformed the additional pawn with flawless approach.
After blundering the day prior to this, Ushenina recovered by profitable a posh endgame with rooks and opposite-colored bishops, pushing her h-pawn to victory.
Tokhirjonova, however, got here again from a dropping place and used her king as an attacking piece within the middlegame to win on demand. 31…Qd5?? 32.Kf2!! will need to have been an superior transfer to make, placing that king to work! It was a much-needed victory in opposition to the formidable Chinese language prodigy Lu, who at 15 years outdated is at her peak ranking of 2452.
Track received two pawns in a pointy Sicilian middlegame after which transformed within the knight endgame as properly.
As we noticed in Kamalidenova’s sport, one mistake was the distinction between match victory and an unwelcome path to tiebreaks for Mkrtchian—and survival for Maltsevskaya. The race was clear: a-pawn in opposition to c-pawn, and the queen needed to make method for the white passer. Sadly, 29.Qb6? was the flawed queen transfer, whereas 29.Qb7! would have stored the race even.
The excellent news for everyone concerned is that no person’s eradicated regardless of dropping a sport. On Friday, nonetheless, it will likely be the top of the road for 5 of those gamers.
Yip Sacs Piece vs. Krush, Earns Relaxation Day With 2-0 Sweep
A number of gamers transfer to spherical three with the added bonus of a relaxation day, with out tiebreaks, tomorrow. The gamers who received with 2-0 sweeps had been:
After profitable in sport one, Yip wanted a draw with the white items in opposition to Krush to advance, so her alternative of the Alapin Sicilian was an comprehensible, if not predictable, one. Black had perhaps some slight stress within the late middlegame, but it surely was Yip who appropriately evaluated a knight sacrifice that nonetheless led to equality. With long-term stress in opposition to the king, she even managed to win our Sport of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao beneath.
One other American and Yip’s good buddy, Lee, was eradicated after dropping a second sport in opposition to Shukhman, who discovered an early, profitable mixture with Black within the Catalan Opening.
Dzagnidze, after warding off an unsound assault from her opponent who needed to win, put away Charochkina with a ravishing (although short-term) queen sacrifice:
In a way more difficult tactical sequence, Shuvalova received once more in opposition to Mammadova when a draw would have sufficed. 26.Rxa5 was the start of an extended line the place White even briefly sacrificed a chunk, however received it again on the finish of the road with curiosity.
Shuvalova, in her interview, stated that she has by the second sport settled into the event: “First sport was a bit nervous for me. She had some possibilities within the sport… [but] at the moment was extra calm sport for me. I feel when she performed Bb5 transfer Ra5 I am already good, however earlier than it it perhaps was an equal place, however my match state of affairs was okay with a draw.”
She additionally stated she feels on the high of her sport now: “Some years in the past I had the identical ranking, nearly 2500, however I feel that my degree of play now could be a bit higher than it was earlier than.” She defined that when she was younger, she was a swashbuckler who did not look after attracts, whereas now, “with the time you’re studying to play extra wisdomly, I feel, to play extra chess stuff than simply throwing items.”
As for her relaxation day, she appears to be like ahead to seeing greater than the McDonald’s restaurant!
” I noticed [only] McDonald’s right here and nothing extra,” says Shuvalova, who appears to be like ahead to seeing extra of Batumi on her relaxation day tomorrow, after profitable her match! pic.twitter.com/BXNenHA6cY
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 10, 2025
Osmak declined a draw, which might have clinched the match, and squeezed out a win from an equal endgame in opposition to the rising Chinese language participant Wang. In her interview she hinted on the affect of GM Magnus Carlsen: “I like very a lot the fashion of play of Magnus Carlsen, and I studied numerous endgames of him and generally once I play endgame I pose myself, like what’s going to Magnus play in my place?”
…. what’s going to Magnus play in my place?
—Yuliia Osmak
One other Kazakh Teenager Stuns Grandmaster
IM Lela Javakhishvili, GM Koneru Humpy, and IM Divya Deshmukh received in sport one and held onto attracts within the second sport to advance. In the meantime, we noticed a listing of gamers with the other outcome, profitable in sport two after drawing yesterday and thus dodging tiebreaks:
Kaliakhmet already proved herself to be a menace in sport one when she achieved a profitable place, however Batsiashvili managed to carry a attract a two-pawns-down endgame with opposite-color bishops. The end in sport two might have been to some extent self-sabotage by the Georgian grandmaster, who pushed too arduous in an equal endgame.
By the point she began to err, she was already overextended and the place was arduous to play, even when the pc factors out it’s nonetheless a draw. 46.f5? was an comprehensible mistake, however she had another likelihood to avoid wasting the sport if she discovered the miraculous 47.g6! a transfer later (she had quarter-hour). After that, although, the youthful participant by no means gave an opportunity.
Whereas the 2023 winner has stayed afloat for an additional day, the runner-up was eradicated in sport two. Khotenashvili managed to squeeze out an endgame with the 2 bishops in opposition to the “very strong participant” Salimova. She summed it up: “I feel at the moment it was equal for a very long time however on the finish she made some errors and with two bishops I acquired a bonus and I received.”
She additionally spoke about stamina on this practically month-long occasion: “It’s extremely troublesome, I might say, you want numerous vitality on the finish of the event, so I am focusing to play every sport. I am not predicting something forward.” Like Dzagnidze two rounds in the past, she additionally spoke concerning the significance of the event in her nation: “It is essential for us to arrange such a high-level event. I feel for the younger technology it is an excellent expertise, so for me, okay, taking part in within the house nation is, I feel, extra stress, however I am completely satisfied that I am right here.”
… taking part in within the house nation is, I feel, extra stress, however I am completely satisfied that I am right here.
—Bella Khotenashvili
We noticed a pleasant attacking sport from Bulmaga (taking part in her third World Cup), and in her interview she offered evaluation of it after, with the notes included beneath. She and her opponent are good pals, as she shared, and stated, “It is each a troublesome factor and perhaps some advantageous factor that we all know one another, however I informed her that the perfect factor is that one of many pals will undergo, . So this time it was me.”
I informed her that the perfect factor is that one of many pals will undergo.
—Irina Bulmaga
Harika, in opposition to her countrywoman, confirmed {that a} robust assault is feasible even after the trade of queens, with her evaluation from the interview included within the notes beneath. Even when the engine marks the queen commerce as a mistake, Harika identified that for a human the protection is extraordinarily troublesome, as we see:
Darkish Horse Omonova Amongst A number of Underdogs Goes Into 2nd Set Of Tiebreaks
The next gamers made two attracts within the classical video games and are off to tiebreaks tomorrow:
Underdogs Omonova, Cervantes, Priyanka, and Avramidou beat higher-rated opponents in tiebreaks after spherical one, so we’ll see if they will repeat the feat in a good stronger match.
We end with a fairly missed tactic that occurred in Stefanova vs. Danielian (25.Bxf5 Nxf5 26.Ne6!), one that might have ended the sport on the spot and saved Danielian a whole day of chess. Each gamers had been in extreme time hassle when the next errors occurred.
With that, we’re off to the second set of tiebreaks, with 12 gamers slated to be eradicated and one other 12 to advance.
How one can watch?
The 2025 FIDE Ladies’s World Cup takes place on the Grand Bellagio Resort & On line casino in Batumi, Georgia. It’s a 107-player event with a single-elimination knockout format and a classical time management of 90 minutes for the primary 40 strikes and half-hour for the remainder of the sport, plus a 30-second increment per transfer from the primary transfer. Every spherical consists of two video games on the classical time management adopted by a tiebreak in quicker time controls in case the scores are tied.
Earlier protection:
