Tbilisi to host inaugural leg of 2024-2025 Women’s Grand Prix
The first leg of the 2024-2025 edition of the Women’s Grand Prix is set to start in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, this August Ten players will participate in the inaugural tournament, including former women’s world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk. Full list of players competing in Tbilisi: Anna MuzychukMariya MuzychukNana DzagnidzeSarasadat KhademalshariehAlexandra KosteniukR VaishaliAlina KashlinskayaLela JavakhishviliBibisara AssaubayevaStavroula Tsolakidou The tournament, a nine-game round-robin, will be held from August 14 to 25 at the luxurious Biltmore Tbilisi hotel, the first glass skyscraper in Georgia and the highest hotel in the Caucasus. The time control will be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. “We are looking forward to the first tournament in the new season of the Women’s Grand Prix. We think that Georgia is a wonderful starting point given the impact Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze – two former women’s world champions who are Georgian natives – had on the chess world,” said Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, Dana Reizniece-Ozola. “As we will have more tournaments and more players in the 2024-2025 season, this means more opportunities to increase the visibility of Women’s Chess and help get more women interested in the sport,” Reizniece-Ozola added. A new format, more tournaments, and an increased prize fund Since its launch in 2009, the Women’s Grand Prix series has grown to become one of the most popular and prestigious competitions in women’s chess. For this season, FIDE has made changes to the system – increasing the number of participants from 16 to 20, while the number of tournaments in the season has increased from four to six, with the overall prize fund also going up. Players in the 2024-2025 Women’s Grand Prix Season The list of players includes those who have qualified as well as wild cards. The list of qualifiers was announced at the end of April this year and includes: N Player Qualification Path 1 Lei Tingjie (China) FIDE Women’s World Championship Match 2023 participant 2 Kateryna Lagno (FIDE) FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Series 2022-23 3 Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE) FIDE Women’s World Cup 2023 4 Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria) 5 Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 6 Tan Zhongyi (China) 7 Vaishali R (India) FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 8 Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Mongolia) 9 Humpy Koneru (India) Standard Rating in the April 2024 FIDE Rating List 10 Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) 11 Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) 12 Harika Dronavalli (India) 13 Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland) Sarasadat Khademalsharieh replaced the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, who decided not to participate. Khademalsharieh was next in line to qualify by rating according to the April 2024 FIDE Rating List. Apart from the qualifiers, there are six wild-cards in the event, five of which have been named: Lela Javakhishvili (Tbilisi) Bibisara Assaubayeva (Shimkent) Elisabeth Paehtz (Monaco) Regina Pokorna (Austria) Stavroula Tsolakidou (Cyprus) The regulations for the 2024-2025 Women’s Grand Prix season can be found – here.
Winners crowned at World Cup Under 8-12
The inaugural World Cup Under 8, 10, and 12, held in Batumi, Georgia, has concluded. Despite the participants’ young age, it was an intense and exciting competition, with chess prodigies battling it out until the very last moments to secure their positions in the final standings. Hosted by Georgia’s premier seaside resort, Batumi, this unique-format tournament brought together 288 players hailing from 37 countries. The champions and top finishers were awarded trophies, medals, and diplomas and received Apple gadgets as special prizes. After ten days of exciting competition, the winners have been crowned! The final standings in each category are the following: Open U8 1 Ulan, Rizat KAZ 2 Li Aiden Linyuan USA 3 Sattwik Swain IND Open U10 1 Bolashakov, Nurali KAZ 2 Ling Chenxuan USA 3 Chakrabarty, Reyaansh AUS Open U12 1 Obidov, Biloliddin UZB 2 Qu Haoming CHN 3 Bulgak, Damir FID Girls U8 1 Kinzyabulatova, Reana FID 2 Xin, Stella USA 3 Chen Zhihan CHN Girls U10 1 Filippov, Milana KAZ 2 Yunker, Alisa Genrietta FID 3 Khusnitdinova, Husnorakhon UZB Girls U12 1 Xue Tianhao CHN 2 Pratitee, Bordoloi IND 3 Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini SRI Official website: wcc2024.fide.com Photos: Sophie Nikoladze and Tornike Tavadze