Vaishali will make her FIDE Women's GP debut at Astana, Kazakhstan

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/09/2022

The first leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2022-23 will start at Astana, Kazakhstan from Sunday 18th September 2022. IM Vaishali R will be the sole Indian participant in the fray. She will replace Koneru Humpy only in this particular leg. The 12-player round robin event will feature GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, GM Kateryna Lagno, IM Alina Kashlinskaya, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva, GM Tan Zhongyi, WGM Dinara Wagner, IM Elisabeth Paehtz, WGM Zhu Jiner, GM Zhansaya Abdumalik, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, IM Vaishali R and IM Polina Shuvalova. Only the top two finishers of FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2022-23 will qualify in the FIDE Women's Candidates 2023-24. Photo: FIDE

Astana Grand Prix starts tomorrow

The first event of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-23 series will start on 18th September in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Astana GP 2022 players line-up | Photo: FIDE

Fielding 16 of the world’s top female players, the Grand Prix will spread out between four different events (Kazakhstan, Germany, India and Poland will be the organizing countries) and each player must participate in three out of the four tournaments.

Astana is a futuristic city in the middle of the vast steppe. With an estimated population of 1,136,008, it is the second-largest city in the country, after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. Nowadays, it’s one of the most modern cities in Central Asia.

The event will be held at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) while the players, accompanying persons and officials will stay at the Hilton Astana hotel, perched on the edge of the 2017 Exhibition Centre.