The FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2025 will take place in Linares, Spain, from November 17 to 24, 2025. The event will bring together the world’s top national women’s teams, as they compete for the prestigious title of World Team Champion. The World Women’s Team Chess Championship 2025 will be one of the first events to use the Fast Classic time control, which is also part of the Total World Chess Championship 2026. Michael Rahal says, “The Women’s World Team Chess Championship, scheduled for November in Linares, will be played at a 45′ + 30 second time control, and will compute for standard ratings.” The tournament is a major event in The Chess Calendar and the Women Chess Calendar
See: World Women’s Team Chess Championship 2025 participants
FIDE / Russia team in the competition
Volodimir Kovalchuk, Vice President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation informed about an appeal filed by the Ukrainian team and says, “The Ukrainian delegation has filed an appeal against the participation of the Russian women’s team in the World Chess Championship in Linares! Being here on site, we wrote the appeal and officially registered it! After all, this federation is illegally taking part here under the cover of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich!”
The Chess Federation Russia (CFR) does not want to pay attention to the protest of the Chess Federation of Ukraine with the requirement to exclude the Russian women’s team from the participants of the World Team Championship. This was stated Andrei Filatov for TASS. “How can I comment on this? There is a good saying that the caravan is coming. We do not want to pay attention to this,” Filatov said.
FIDE Legal Advisor Aleksandr Martynov provided Chess.com with a letter from IOC’s Sports Director Pierre Ducrey, addressed to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and signed on July 28, stating that the IOC “would not take a position” on the matter. Full text of the letter
More about the FIDE World Women Team Chess Championship 2025
The event is expected to attract many of the strongest women players in the world. On board one, China will be fielding Hou Yifan, widely regarded as one of the greatest female chess players in history and a central figure in modern women’s chess. Hou Yifan is a four-time Women’s World Champion (2010, 2011, 2013, 2016) and has represented Team China in numerous Olympiads and team competitions, contributing to several gold medal victories, including at the World Women’s Team Championships (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015).
This will be the second time Spain has hosted the event, following the successful 2021 edition in Sitges (Barcelona). The most recent championship was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 2023.
“We are delighted to bring the World Women’s Team Championship to Linares,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. “This city has a legendary connection with the game, and we are confident that it will provide a perfect stage for this major event in the women’s calendar.”
