FIDE Women's World Cup: Vantika, Padmini advance to Round 2

India's Vantika Agrawal, Padmini Rout, and PV Nandhidhaa registered victories in their respective games to advance to the second round of the 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Monday.

Agrawal, who had played out a draw with the black pieces the day prior, took down Turkmenistan's Lala Shohradova comfortably in just 27 moves to secure her spot in the second round of the knockout competition.

Meanwhile, Rout registered a second successive win in the first round as she beat China's Lanlin Zhang with an exchange sacrifice to sail through.

Nandhidhaa PV, on the other hand, was made to work hard. The Indian was in an inferior position at some point but a one-move blunder from opponent Anahi Ortiz meant that Nandhidhaa cashed in, registering two victories in the first round to advance further in the tournament.

Nandhidhaa will next face the experienced Harika Dronavalli in the second round, setting stage for at least one Indian crashing out of the competition.

Priyanka forces tiebreak

Elsewhere, Priyanka K registered a must win victory over Hungary's Gaal Zsoka to force a tiebreak in the first round.

Priyanka, who had lost the first game with the black pieces, fought back in the second game to register a win in the 34 moves in the second game.

The win helped Priyanka level the scores at 1-1 in the first round and force a tiebreak against Zsoka.

Kiran Mohanty crashes out

Meanwhile, Kiran Mohanty became the only Indian to crash out in first round of the 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup as she settled for a draw with the white pieces on Monday.

Mohanty, having lost the first game with the black pieces, was also in a must win situation against Song Yuxin.

The Indian was never really able to create chances against a solid defensive setup from her opponent and eventually settled for a 30-move draw after a three-fold repetition.