Tbilisi to host inaugural leg of Women's Grand Prix 2024-25

by ChessBase India - 06/07/2024

The first leg of FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 will start in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It will take place from 14th to 25th August. Ten players will take part in a round-robin tournament. They are - GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR), GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR), GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO), IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (ESP), GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI), GM R Vaishali, IM Alina Kashlinskaya (POL), IM Lela Javakhishvili (GEO), IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) and IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE). The tournament venue will be Biltmore Tbilisi hotel, the first glass skyscraper in Georgia and the highest hotel in the Caucasus. Photo: FIDE

First leg starts next month

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

Tbilisi Women's Grand Prix 2024 participants

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 Muzychuk (UKR)

Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)

Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (ESP)

Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI)

R Vaishali (IND)

Alina Kashlinskaya (POL)

Lela Javakhishvili (GEO)

Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ)

Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE)

The tournament, a nine-game round-robin, will be held from August 14th to 25th 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

No.	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)	FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2023
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)