There could be a case made for the fact that winning the World Cup is perhaps as tough as winning a World Championship in chess. Ask Magnus Carlsen or even Viswanathan Anand, and they might agree. The ruthless knockout format, with no room for error, the exhausting length of the event, and tiebreaks in shorter time controls make it one of the most demanding competitions.
Carlsen had to wait over a decade for his only World Cup gold after winning his maiden World Championship in 2013. Anand, the inaugural two-time champion (albeit in a different format that combined group stages and knockouts) in 2000 and 2002, never reached the semifinals under the current format. Armenian-American Levon Aronian stands as the lone exception — a two-time World Cup winner and considered as one of the strongest players never to claim the World Championship.
Which is why India’s Koneru Humpy storming into the semifinals of the ongoing FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, with an emphatic run is a splendid achievement. After securing a decisive 1-0 lead over China’s Yuxin Song on Saturday, the Indian Grandmaster comfortably drew the second-leg match, becoming the first Indian woman to reach the World Cup’s final four.
Her qualification also guarantees India a coveted spot in the Candidates tournament. With compatriots Divya Deshmukh and Harika Dronavalli — engaged in an all-Indian quarterfinal clash — placed in different brackets, India is assured of two semifinalists. Even in the worst-case scenario, if both lose their respective semifinals, they will face off for third place and the final Candidates spot.
Complete control
The FIDE Women’s World Cup is the most crucial event in the World Championship cycle, offering three qualifying spots for Candidates. The Women’s Grand Prix Series 2024-25 and the Grand Swiss provide two spots each, while the last is reserved for the highest-placed player in the ‘FIDE Women’s Events 2025-26’ series. The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, in this case, China’s Ju Wenjun.
Humpy had complete control in the game against Yuxin right from the get-go. In the Chigorin Variation of the Queen’s Pawn Game, she allowed the Chinese player to go two pawns up early on before clearing her path with sharp tactical exchanges.
She began by trading minor pieces, eliminating the bishop pair before swapping off the knights. Despite Yuxin’s two extra pawns, her position remained cramped, while Humpy enjoyed greater space for her active queen and a menacing rook battery. It didn’t take long for Humpy to regain a pawn, then another, before simplifying into a drawn endgame by exchanging queens. With nothing left to play for, Yuxin conceded the draw via three-fold repetition.
Story continues below this ad
Next, Humpy faces China’s Lei Tingjie, who cruised past Georgia’s Nana Dzagnidze with a clinical 2-0 quarterfinal victory. Lei has been in imperious form, scoring 8.5/9 with a rating performance of over 2800. The semifinal will be a clash of titans with India’s top-ranked player taking on the newly minted World No. 2, whose win on Sunday helped her dethrone the reigning World Champion Wenjun.
The all-Indian quarterfinal between Divya Deshmukh and Harika Dronavalli is headed to tiebreaks after the pair played another prudent draw in their second classical game. Much like Saturday’s 31-move encounter, both players avoided significant risks on Sunday, though their 60-move duel lasted nearly twice as long before ending in an agreed draw, clearly conserving energy for the decisive tiebreaks.
The all-Indian quarterfinal between Divya Deshmukh and Harika Dronavalli is headed to tiebreaks. (Anosov Andrei/FIDE)
The winner will face China’s Tan Zhongyi, who eliminated India’s R. Vaishali from the tournament. Playing Black in a Semi-Slav Defense against Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali never looked comfortable. The Indian had initially blitzed through her opening moves to gain a time advantage, but soon fell behind on the clock. After early exchanges, Tan’s perseverance to push for a win became evident. When the position was simplified to queen, rook pair and dark-squared bishops for both players, Vaishali found herself under intense pressure as Tan’s c- and e-file pawns advanced relentlessly.
Though Vaishali fought valiantly until the end, her stubborn resistance ultimately crumbled against the Chinese veteran’s precision. This result sets up two Indo-Chinese semifinal clashes in the World Cup with Humpy vs Lei and the winner of Divya/Harika vs Tan.
Story continues below this ad
Tan also added a unique record of qualifying in the semifinals in all World Cups. Earlier, in both the 2021 and 2023 editions, Tan lost her semifinal games. In 2021, she beat Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk 1.5-0.5 to eventually finish third but lost to the same opponent 0.5-1.5 in 2023 to finish just outside the podium.
