The FIDE Women’s World Cup chess tournament, which started in Batumi (Georgia), has gathered the 107 strongest female chess players on the planet from the 46 different federations, including for the first time in history a representative from Turkmenistan – 19-year-old national team leader and Woman FIDE Master Lala Shohradova (FIDE rating – 2135), as reported turkmenistan.gov.tm.
Shohradova earned the right to participate in this prestigious competition and thus open a new chapter in Turkmen chess history thanks to the successful performance of the Turkmen women’s team at the 45th World Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest (Hungary), where our chess players took first place in team category C.
Unlike many chess tournaments, the World Cup is held under the Olympic system (elimination) and lasts 7 rounds. Each round consists of two classical games (90 minutes + 30 minutes after move 40 with an additional 30 seconds per move). If the score is tied, a tiebreak is held: rapid games (15 minutes + 10 seconds per move), then blitz games (5+3 and 3+2) until a winner is determined.
In the first round, our compatriot, seeded 90th, was paired by draw against Indian International Master Vantika Agrawal (23 years old, rating – 2388, seeded 39th in the tournament).
The World Cup winner will receive a prize of 50,000 dollars from the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the finalist 35,000 dollars, and the bronze medalist 25,000 dollars.
The event will be played from 6-28 July at the Grand Bellagio Batumi Convention Hotel.
