FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2019–2021 explained

The 2019–2021 edition of the FIDE Grand Prix was a series of four chess tournaments exclusively for women which determined two players to play in the Women's Candidates Tournament 2022. The winner of the Candidates Tournament will play a 12-game match against the world champion in the Women's World Chess Championship 2022.^[1]

This is the fifth cycle of the tournament series. The number one woman player, Hou Yifan, who won the first three editions of the Grand Prix, was unable to play due to studies at Oxford University.

Players

16 players were published by FIDE in July 2019.^[2]

Invitee	Country	Elo (July 2019)
		2595
		2564
		2558
		2551
		2549
		2547
		2517
		2511
		2497
		2492
		2492
		2485
		2479
		2474
		2473
		2451
Zhansaya Abdumalik^R		2458
Dinara Saduakassova^R		2474
Irina Bulmaga^R		2435
Gunay Mammadzada^R		2427

^R Due to travel restrictions on Chinese citizens due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Zhao Xue was unable to participate in the Lausanne leg of the Grand Prix. She was replaced by Zhansaya Abdumalik.^[3] For the Gibraltar WGP, Koneru, Ju, Zhao and Sebag were replaced by Zhansaya Abdumalik, Dinara Saduakassova, Irina Bulmaga and Gunay Mammadzada.^[4] These replacement players were not eligible for the Candidates spots.

Schedule and results

No.	Host city	Date	Winner	Points (Win/draw/loss)
1	Skolkovo, Russia	10–23 September 2019	Humpy Koneru	8/11 (+5=6-0)
2		2–15 December 2019		7/11 (+5=4-2) 7/11 (+4=6-1) 7/11 (+5=4-2)
3	Lausanne, Switzerland	1–14 March 2020	Nana Dzagnidze Aleksandra Goryachkina	7/11 (+4=6-1) 7/11 (+3=8-0)
4	Gibraltar	22 May – 2 June 2021	Zhansaya Abdumalik	8.5/11 (+6=5-0)

The fourth stage of the Grand Prix, initially planned from 2 to 15 May 2020 in Sardinia, was postponed by FIDE due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. FIDE announced that the fourth stop of the Women Grand Prix was to be held in Gibraltar on January 17–29, 2021,^[5] but it was then postponed again^[6] to 22 May to 2 June 2021.^[7]

Grand Prix standings

160 Grand Prix points were awarded for 1st, 130 for 2nd, 110 for 3rd and then in steps of 10 from 90 for 4th to 10 for 12th place. If players ended up tied on points, points for those places were shared equally.

As Goryachkina was already qualified for the Candidates Tournament, the third place qualified instead of her. The replacements (in italics) were not eligible to qualify for the Candidates.

Rank	Player	Skolkovo	Monaco	Lausanne	Gibraltar	data-sort-type="number"	Total
1		120	133⅓	145		398⅓
2		160	133⅓			293⅓
3		90	90		100	280
4				110	160	270
5			35	145	75	255
6			60	60	130	250
7			80	85	60	225
8		45	133⅓	15		193⅓
9		60	60	60		180
9		45		85	50	180
11		75	20		75	170
12		120		35		155
13		75	10		35	120
13		25		60	35	120
15		10	60	35		105
16					100	100
17		25		15		40
18			35			35
19					20	20
20					10	10

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/regulations_WGP_2019_20.pdf
2. https://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/11755-fide-womens-grand-prix-series-2019-2020.html IDE Women's Grand Prix Series 2019-2020
3. Web site: Zhansaya Abdumalik will replace Zhao Xue at WGP in Lausanne. www.fide.com. en. 2020-02-25.
4. Web site: Women's Grand Prix Gibraltar: Pairings announced. 2020-12-18. www.fide.com. en.
5. Web site: Gibraltar to host the final stage of the Women's FIDE Grand Prix. 2020-10-22. www.fide.com. en.
6. Web site: FIDE Women's FIDE Grand Prix rescheduled.
7. Web site: FIDE Women's Grand Prix Gibraltar: New dates announced.