Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix final standings:
Alexandra Kosteniuk wins the final leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Grand Prix and qualifies for the Super Final match against Anna Ushenina.
Kosteniuk dictated the proceedings in the final match against Humpy Koneru. She took the lead in the 5+1 minute games, however, Koneru bounced back in 3+1. The former world champion won the final game of this portion to enter the bullet stage with a minimal lead 4.5-3.5. Alexandra won two bullet games, sealed the victory (7-5) and claimed 12 GP points.
In the match for third place, Hou Yifan defeated Sarasadat Khademalsharieh 7,5-3,5.
WSCC Grand Prix Leg 4 - Round of 16
The current leader Anna Ushenina (22 GP points) and the runner-up Kateryna Lagno (20) sit out the fourth event, meaning that two spots in the Super Final are still up for grabs – at least four other participants have chances to qualify. Even Ushenina is not guaranteed a slot in the Super Final yet.
Since the winner of the tournament gets 12 GP points and the runner-up - 8, Kosteniuk, Hou Yifan, and Khademalsharieh seek to win the final leg. For Gunina, winning her first match and claiming 2 GP points may be enough, while advancing to the semis will secure her a place in the Super Final.
WSCC Grand Prix - Standings after Leg 3
Kateryna Lagno became the winner of the third leg of the Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix.
In the final match against Hou Yifan, she took an early lead crushing her opponent 3-0 in 5+1 blitz. In 3+1, players exchanged blows and entered the bullet portion with 5-2 in favor of Lagno. The match seemed done and dusted but apparently, it was too early to jump to conclusions as Hou Yifan staged an incredible comeback winning three 1+1 games in a row and leveling the score!
The tiebreak of two bullet games followed, with the first ending in a draw. The dramatic culmination of the match came in the second game when Hou Yifan, an exchange up, made a fatal mouse slip that cost her a rook, a game, and a match! Hou Yifan reacted with dignity, smiling at her mistake and resigning right away.
In the match for third place, Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh 7-4.
Kateryna Lagno got 12 GP points for her first place, finishing the GP campaign with 20 points on a shared (with Valentina Gunina) second place right behind the leader Ushenina (22 points).
WSCC Grand Prix Leg 3 - Round of 16
Standings after WSCC Grand Prix Leg 2
Valentina Gunina emerged as the winner of the second leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix and picked up 12 GP points. In the final match, she took revenge on Anna Ushenina, to whom she had lost the previous Leg 1 final match. Ushenina earned 8 points for her runner-up finish and tied for the overall lead in the series with Gunina.
Going into the bullet portion of the final match against Ushenina, Gunina who was playing at a higher tempo, had the lead 4.5-3.5. Most likely the Russian GM was quite optimistic about her chances as she is known for her prowess in the fastest time controls.
The Ukrainian GM was close to bouncing back in the first bullet game as was up an exchange but missed a perpetual check. In the next game, Anna went from bad to worse as she blundered a queen. Valentina extended the lead to 6-4 with just 4 minutes to go. A smashing attack by Gunina in the next game pretty much decided the match in her favor as there was no comeback from 4-7. However, Ushenina scored a consolation goal in the last game to finish it on 5-7.
In the match for third place, Kateryna Lagno did not give any chance to Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and collected 6 GP points. For her efforts, Sarasadat received 5 GP points.
WSCC Grand Prix Leg 2 Pairings (Round of 16)
Standings after WSCC Grand Prix Leg 1
Grand Prix, First Leg
GM Anna Ushenina wins the first Grand Prix of the Women's Speed Chess Championship. In the final, she defeated Valentina Gunina 7-4. For her efforts, Ushenina gets 12 GP points & 3,000 USD.
"It's a really interesting tournament and a very hard one because everyone is very strong. I enjoyed being part of it," said Anna Ushenina in a post-match interview.
The runner up Gunina gets 8 GP points and 2,000 USD. Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Vaishali R 7-4 in the match for third place and claims the bronze medal, 6 GP points, and 1,000 USD.
Three more legs are to be played in the Speed Chess GP, the next one starts on July 1.
Leaderboard after the first of Grand Prix tournaments:
| GM Anna Ushenina | UKR | 12 GP points |
| GM Valentina Gunina | RUS | 8 GP points |
| GM Alexandra Kosteniuk | RUS | 6 GP points |
| WIM Vaishali Rameshbabu | IND | 5 GP points |
| GM Katerina Lagno | RUS | 2 GP points |
| GM Ju Wenjun | CHN | 2 GP points |
| WIM Munkhzul Turmunkh | MGL | 2 GP points |
| WGM Le Thao Nguyen Pham | VIE | 2 GP points |
Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Valentina Gunina (Russia) became the finalists of the first Grand Prix leg of the Women's Speed Chess Championship by FIDE and Chess.com Ushenina beat young Indian WGM Vaishali Rameshbabu 5.5-4.5 in a very close match coming from behind and taking an upper hand in the bullet portion.
In the second all-Rusian semifinal, Gunina eliminated her compatriot GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 9-3. Valentina was on fire today despite being very tired from playing every day during the last week, as she confessed in a post-match interview. Unlike Kosteniuk, who was a seeded player, Valentina had to qualify for the Grand Prix and she did it only at the fifth attempt.
The Russian GM will have a chance to recharge her batteries as there is a free day tomorrow before the final on Sunday. You can watch it live on our youtube.com/fidechannel and support your favorite player.
Valentina Gunina and Alexandra Kosteniuk will meet on Friday in an all-Russian semifinal of Leg 1 of the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix. In the other semifinal, GM Anna Ushenina is squaring off against WGM Vaishali Rameshbabu.
Kosteniuk did not leave a chance to WGM Le Thao Nguyen Pham beating her 7-3, whereas a rising Indian star Vaishali R scored a convincing victory over WIM Munkhzul Turmunkh 7.5-3.5.
It was not a good day for the current women's world blitz champion Kateryna Lagno as she lost to Ushenina 4-6. However, it is not particularly surprising as Ushenina herself is a former women's world champion and a prominent blitz specialist.
The match between Gunina and Ju Wenjun turned into a real thriller. Valentina, loved by fans for her tricky and unpredictable style, started with losing three games in a row. Suddenly, Ju Wenjun began experiencing connection problems that resulted in a loss by forfeit. It is unclear how much this outcome influenced the psychological state of the opponents but the tables turned around as Gunina regained her confidence and came from behind to win 7.5-3.5.
In the coming days, the tournament will continue with the semifinals and final. A total of four Grand Prix legs will be played June 24-July 19.
Kateryna Lagno, Anna Ushenina, Ju Wenjun, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Turmunkh Munkhzul, Vaishali R, Valentina Gunina, and Alexandra Kosteniuk make it to the quarters of the first leg. The round of 16 produced several unexpected results as three high-rated players Anna Muzychuk (fourth-seed), Humpy Koneru (sixth-seed), and Antoaneta Stefonova were eliminated by Turmunkh Munkhzul, Pham Le Thao Nguyen and Waishali R respectively.
Grand Prix Leg 1, Day 1 Results
Grand Prix Schedule (X - not playing)
All matches in each Grand Prix leg are divided into three segments:
30-minute segment of matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move
30-minute segment of matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move
10-minute segment of matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move
In each Grand Prix leg, every player scores GP cumulative points according to her position in the final standings (for details, please check full tournament regulations). The two players who score the most number of GP cumulative points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for WSCC Super Final.
Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner.
The first two stages of Women's Speed Chess Championship, titled Swiss tournaments and playoff qualifiers are in the books. Twelve players from ten countries made it past the qualification filter and punched the tickets to Grand Prix:
Some qualifiers used several shots to make it to the Grand Prix stage. Valentina Gunina was particularly persistent and her determination finally paid off as she hitched the Grand Prix train on the final day.
The qualifiers will join nine seeded players:
Full list of Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix participants:
Hou Yifan (China)
Humpy Koneru (India)
Ju Wenjun (China)
Kateryna Lagno (Russia)
Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)
Irina Krush (USA)
Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan)
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran)
Kaiyu Ning (China, qualified via playoff)
Anna Ushenina (Ukraine, qualified via playoff)
Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Vietnam, qualified via playoff)
Turmunkh Munkhzul (Mongolia, qualified via playoff)
Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan, qualified via playoff)
Harika Dronavalli (India, qualified via playoff)
Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan, qualified via playoff)
Olga Girya (Russia, qualified via playoff)
Vaishali Rameshbabu (India, qualified via playoff)
Deysi Cori (Peru, qualified via playoff)
Tatev Abrahamyan (USA, qualified via playoff)
Valentina Gunina (Russia, qualified via playoff)
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
We would like to inform you that there have been some changes to the schedule of the Women's Speed Championship that kicks off tomorrow, June 18th:
The first three Swiss tournaments will begin at 7 am PDT / 2 pm GMT, as it was initially planned.
However, the last three Swiss tournaments will begin at 9 am PDT / 4 pm GMT, to propitiate the participation of players from the American Continent.
We apologize for the inconvenience that these changes may cause you, but we believe that this new schedule is more balanced and fair to players from all time zones. For reference, you can find a detailed schedule below.
As for the registration: please note that players can register by navigating to the upcoming tournaments tab located at Chess.com/live up to one hour before each qualifier begins. All participants must have their full legal name in their profile or will be removed from the competition.
Contact points:
The Chief Arbiter for this competition will be Tshepiso Lopang: tlopang2000@yahoo.com
For questions related to Chess.com, please don't hesitate to contact Nick Barton: nick@chess.com.
For any other inquiries, you can contact the FIDE office at office@fide.com.
The International Chess Federation and Chess.com announce the Women's Speed Chess Championship, an online competition to be held between June 18th and July 20th.
The event will consist of four stages:
(A) Titled Swiss Tournaments
(B) Play-Off Qualifiers
(C) Grand Prix
(D) WSCC Super Final
First stage: Titled Swiss Tournaments
The first stage will comprise a total of six Swiss tournaments open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/IM/GM), to be played between June 18 and June 23 (7 AM PDT). These Swiss chess events will be played under different time controls:
I & IV are 9-round events with a time control of 5 minutes + 1 second per move
II & V are 13-round events with a time control of 3 minutes + 1 second per move.
III & VI are 21-round events with a time control of 1 minute + 1 second per move.
The eight first players of each Titled Swiss Tournament (A) will qualify for a Play-Off Qualifier (B). Any player is allowed to play an unlimited number of Titled Swiss Tournaments until she qualifies for the Grand Prix.
Second Stage: Play-Off Qualifiers
The eight players qualified from each one of the Titled Swiss Tournaments (from I to VI) play a respective 2-round Play-Off Qualifier held the same day, right after the respective Swiss tournament.
These playoffs will be played under the same time-control than the Swiss tournament that preceded them:
I & IV are 2-game matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move.
II & V are 2-game matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move.
III & VI are 2-game matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move.
In the case of a tie, an Armageddon game is played. Two finalists of each Play-Off Qualifier advance to the next stage.
Third Stage: Grand Prix
The Grand Prix will consist of four legs, with a total of 21 participants: the 12 players who qualified through the Swiss and Playoffs, plus 9 players seeded. These 9 players will be nominated by FIDE and Chess.com, with the final list being announced by June 16th.
Each of the 21 players participates in three out of four Grand Prix legs. One wild card nominated by the FIDE President is invited to take part in one of the Grand Prix legs.
Each Grand Prix leg is 16-players Play-Off and will last five days (including one rest day after the semi-finals). The dates will be June 24-28, July 01-05, July 08-12, and July 15-19, with games starting at 5:30 AM PDT (12:30 PM GMT).
All matches in each Grand Prix leg are divided into three segments:
30-minute segment of matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move
30-minute segment of matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move
10-minute segment of matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move
In each Grand Prix leg, every player scores GP cumulative points according to her position in the final standings (for details, please check full tournament regulations). The two players who score the most number of GP cumulative points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for WSCC Super Final.
Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of 10,300 USD, with 3,000 going to the winner.
WSCC Super Final
The two best players of Grand Prix will play the Women's Speed Chess Championship Super Final match on the International Chess Day, July 20th.
The match will be divided into three segments:
90-minute segment of matches with time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move.
60-minute segment of matches with time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move.
30-minute segment of matches with time control 1 minute + 1 second per move.
Games that start but "run over" the overall countdown clock count towards the final score. The player who accumulates the most cumulative points wins the match.
There is a prize fund of 10.000 USD, with 6,500 going to the winner, and 3,500 to the runner up. These amounts are free of taxes.
Regulations for Women's Speed Chess Championship 2020 (pdf)
