FIDE Women Grand Prix 2025 in Pune, India

The 5th leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-2025 series will take place in Pune, India, 13th-24th April, 2025. The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024–2025 is a series of six chess tournaments for top female players, running from August 14, 2024, to May 17, 2025. It’s the seventh cycle of the series, designed to promote women’s chess and determine two qualifiers for the Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026, where the winner will challenge for the Women’s World Chess Championship title. Grand Prix Pune Tournament information / Live games

The Women Grand Prix in Pune, India, follows the Women Grand Prix in Nicosisa. Aleksandra Goryachkina is in the lead with. Thanks to her first place in both the Shymkent and Monaco legs, along with an excellent shared 3rd in Cyprus, everything seems to point towards her qualification. She has already played her three events, and will not be present in Pune.

The second spot is up for grabs, with several players in reach. Five of them will be competing in Pune – Alina Kashlinskaya, Humpy Koneru, Batkhuyag Munguntuul, Zhu Jincer, and Harika Dronavalli. Full list of participants

The series spans six events across 2024 and 2025:

1. Tbilisi, Georgia (August 14–25, 2024):
   • Winner: Alina Kashlinskaya (wildcard)
   • Notable: Humpy Koneru and Nurgyul Salimova tied for second (5.5/9, 100 points each). Goryachkina scored 5/9 (70 points).
   • Participants: Included Koneru, Goryachkina, Salimova, Vaishali, Anna Muzychuk, Tan Zhongyi, Mariya Muzychuk, Batkhuyag, Kosteniuk, and Kashlinskaya.
2. Shymkent, Kazakhstan (October 29–November 9, 2024):
   • Winner: Aleksandra Goryachkina (6/9, 130 points).
   • Notable: Tan Zhongyi took second (5.5/9, 110 points). Kateryna Lagno and Vaishali tied for third (5/9, 90 points each).
   • Participants: Included Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi, Lagno, Vaishali, Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Elisabeth Paehtz, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, and Polina Shuvalova.
3. Monaco (February 18–28, 2025):
   • Winners: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Batkhuyag Munguntuul, and Humpy Koneru tied for first (5.5/9, 110 points each; Goryachkina won tiebreak).
   • Notable: Kateryna Lagno led early but finished fourth (5/9, 80 points) after losing to Khademalsharieh. Tan Zhongyi also scored 5/9 (80 points).
   • Participants: Goryachkina, Koneru, Lagno, Tan Zhongyi, Dronavalli, Batkhuyag, Assaubayeva, Kosteniuk, Paehtz, Khademalsharieh.
4. Nicosia, Cyprus (March 14–25, 2025):
   • Winner: Anna Muzychuk (6/9, 130 points).
   • Notable: Goryachkina and Tan Zhongyi tied for second (5.5/9, 110 points each). Zhu Jiner replaced Lei Tingjie.
   • Participants: Goryachkina, Anna Muzychuk, Tan Zhongyi, Zhu Jiner, Mariya Muzychuk, Salimova, Vaishali, Deshmukh, Stavroula Tsolakidou, Shuvalova.
5. Pune, India (April 13–24, 2025, starts tomorrow):
   • Participants: Humpy Koneru, Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Harika Dronavalli, Nurgyul Salimova, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Polina Shuvalova, Alina Kashlinskaya, Salome Melia.
   • Notable: Lagno and Khademalsharieh withdrew; replaced by Kashlinskaya and Shuvalova. No results yet, but Koneru and the Indian players are expected to leverage home advantage.
6. Grosslobming, Austria (May 6–17, 2025, upcoming):
   • Participants: Not fully confirmed, but likely includes Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi, Anna Muzychuk, and others based on rotation.
   • Notable: The final event will decide the second qualifier if Pune doesn’t settle it.