In Chess, the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 will kick off today in Batumi, Georgia, featuring nine top Indian women players.

India will be represented by nine players in the tournament. Four players Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, and Divya Deshmukh are seeded directly into Round 2 based on their FIDE ratings.

 The other five Indian players starting from Round 1 are -Kiran Manisha Mohanty, Priyanka K, Vantika Agrawal, Padmini Rout, and Nandhidhaa P V. This tournament will serve as a qualifier for the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026.

The tournament consists of a knockout format across seven rounds. Each match consists of two classical games, followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaks if needed. The top three finishers will qualify for the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026, making this event a critical step toward the World Championship.