The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 was a series of five chess tournaments exclusively for women, which determined one player to play in the Women's World Chess Championship Match 2018, a 10-game match against the knockout world champion.
This was the fourth cycle of the tournament series. Top ranked player was Hou Yifan, who won the previous three editions of the Grand Prix, but had withdrawn participation after playing in the first tournament. The overall Grand Prix was won by Chinese player Ju Wenjun, who overtook Koneru Humpy at the last tournament.[1] Koneru Humpy thereby finished overall runner-up for the fourth time.
Format
Originally the Grand Prix was scheduled as a 4-event tour.[2][3][4] However, at the March 2016 FIDE Presidential Board meeting, a fifth event was then added, which replaced the Women's Knockout championship.[5] Sixteen women were selected to compete in these tournaments,[4] though with the expansion the total became twenty, along with extras to replace the withdrawn Hou Yifan. Each player agrees to a contract to participate in exactly three of these tournaments. The players must rank their preference of tournaments once the final list of host cities is announced and the dates are allocated to each host city.
Each tournament is a 12-player, single round-robin tournament. In each round players score 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 for a loss. Grand Prix points were then allocated according to each player's standing in the tournament: 160 grand prix points for first place, 130 for second place, 110 for third place, and then 90 down to 10 points by increments of 10. In case of a tie in points the Grand Prix points are shared evenly by the tied players.
Players only count their three best tournament results. The player with the most Grand Prix points is the winner. FIDE reserved the right to change locations and dates and increase the tournaments to six (6) and players to eighteen (18), each player in four (4) tournaments.[6] Eventually they expanded the Grand Prix but not in the contractual manner specified, deciding to add a fifth stop at their Moscow presidential meeting (March 2016), with approximately 20 players in all taking part, keeping 3 tournaments per player.[5]
Players and qualification
Players invited base on qualifying criteria were:[2]
- The four semi-finalists of the Women's World Chess Championship 2015:
- The six highest ranked players (averaged over a year):
- Two FIDE presidential nominees[7]
- Five organizer nominees:
- Other players appearing in tournaments:
- Two players appearing only one tournament:
In May, 2016, Hou Yifan announced that she was dropping out of the Women's Grand Prix because she disagrees with the process of determining the Women's World Champion. FIDE has kept every second Women's World Championship as a 64-player knockout tournament since 2010, which Hou characterized as a "lottery." The winner of the knockout is the Women's World Champion, and then plays the overall winner of the Grand Prix. Hou believes that as the current World Champion she should defend her title against a challenger (as the Men's World Championship is decided), rather than playing in qualifying tournaments and then having to play against the winner of the knockout tournament. Alternatively, under the current setup, if she wins both the knockout tournament and the Grand Prix, she would have to play the woman who took second place in the Grand Prix for the title. In the 2013-2014 cycle, Hou was unable to play in the knockout tournament because she had already committed to play in another venue when the knockout tournament was scheduled; therefore, she lost her title to Mariya Muzychuk temporarily and regained it in a match in 2016 (delayed from 2015). Hou also said she will not be playing in the knockout tournament in this cycle.[10]
Prize money and Grand Prix points
The prize money for the single tournaments and the overall series stayed the same as the previous year, that is €60,000 per single Grand Prix and €90,000 for the overall Grand Prix finish.[2]
| Place | Single Grand Prix event | Overall standings | Grand Prix points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €10,000 | €25,000 | 160 |
| 2 | €8,250 | €20,000 | 130 |
| 3 | €6,750 | €15,000 | 110 |
| 4 | €5,750 | €10,000 | 90 |
| 5 | €5,000 | €7,500 | 80 |
| 6 | €4,500 | €5,500 | 70 |
| 7 | €4,250 | €4,000 | 60 |
| 8 | €4,000 | €3,000 | 50 |
| 9 | €3,250 | – | 40 |
| 10 | €3,000 | – | 30 |
| 11 | €2,750 | – | 20 |
| 12 | €2,500 | – | 10 |
Tiebreaks
With the objective of determining a clear, single winner to play in the Challenger Match and in the case of the top two or more players having equal cumulative points, the following criteria (in descending order) will be utilized to decide the overall winner:
- Number of actual game result points scored in the three tournaments.
- Number of first places (in case of a tie – points given accordingly).
- Number of second places (in case of a tie – points given accordingly).
- Number of wins.
- Drawing of lots.
Schedule
Like the men's Grand Prix, the number of tournaments were reduced, here from six to five.[2]
| No. | Host city | Date | Winner | Points (Win/draw/loss) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | 2–16 October 2015 |  Hou Yifan (CHN) | 9/11 (+8=2-1) |
| 2 | Tehran, Iran | 10–24 February 2016 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 7.5/11 (+4=7-0) |
| 3 | Batumi, Georgia | 19 April – 3 May 2016 |  Valentina Gunina (RUS) | 7.5/11 (+6=3-2) |
| 4 | Chengdu, China | 1 – 15 July 2016 |  Harika Dronavalli (IND) Koneru Humpy (IND) | 7/11 (+3=8-0) 7/11 (+5=4-2) |
| 5 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | 18 November – 2 December 2016 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 7.5/11 (+5=5-1) |
Events crosstables
Monaco 2015
1st stage, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2–16 October 2015[11] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Rating Change H2H Victories SB TPR GP 1 Hou Yifan (CHN)2671 * 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 9 +11 0 8 45.00 2766 160 2 
Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)2528 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 7 +13 1 4 36.00 2619 120 3 Koneru Humpy (IND)2578 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 7 +5 0 6 36.00 2614 120 4 
Pia Cramling (SWE)2513 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 6 +17 ½ 3 29.00 2554 85 5 Natalija Pogonina (RUS)2445 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 6 6 ½ 3 28.25 2560 85 6 Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS)2525 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ -1 1 4 26.75 2517 65 7 
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL)2500 0 0 1 0 1 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ +3 0 2 27.25 2519 65 8 
Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)2573 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 * 1 ½ ½ 1 5 -14 0 4 21.25 2476 50 9 
Almira Skripchenko (FRA)2441 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 4½ +3 1½ 2 20.25 2459 30 10 Natalia Zhukova (UKR)2485 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 4½ -5 1 1 22.25 2455 30 11 Anna Muzychuk (UKR)2549 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ 4½ -15 ½ 1 26.50 2450 30 12 
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI)2402 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1½ -22 0 0 8.00 2219 10
Tehran 2016
2nd stage, Tehran, Iran, 10–24 February 2016[12] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Rating Change H2H Victories SB TPR GP 1 Ju Wenjun (CHN)2558 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 7½ +11 0 4 39.25 2631 160 2 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI)2403 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7 +31 1 4 36.00 2614 120 3 Zhao Xue (CHN)2506 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 7 +15 0 5 35.00 2605 120 4 Natalia Pogonina (RUS)2454 ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 0 1 6½ +18 1 5 34.00 2573 85 5 Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)2529 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 6½ +6 0 5 31.50 2566 85 6 Koneru Humpy (IND)2583 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6 -8 0 3 30.50 2532 70 7 Natalia Zhukova (UKR)2484 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ * ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 5½ +3 0 3 30.50 2505 60 8 Valentina Gunina (RUS)2496 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 4½ -9 ½ 2 22.00 2504 45 9 Harika Dronavalli (IND)2511 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 4½ -11 ½ 1 22.50 2438 45 10 Pia Cramling (SWE)2529 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ 0 4 -18 0 2 22.50 2400 30 11 Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL)2509 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 3½ -21 ½ 1 18.75 2370 15 12 Nino Batsiashvili (GEO)2485 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * 3½ -17 ½ 1 17.50 2372 15
- Sarasadat Khademalsharieh achieved a 9-game GM norm, her first one.
Batumi 2016
3rd stage, Batumi, Georgia, 19 April – 3 May 2016[13] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Rating Change H2H Victories SB TPR GP 1 Valentina Gunina (RUS)2497 * 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ 7½ +21 0 6 40.25 2634 160 2 Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS)2557 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 6½ +1 0 4 33.75 2560 130 3 Nino Batsiashvili (GEO)2476 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 6 +9 1 3 33.00 2539 100 4 Anna Muzychuk (UKR)2555 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 6 -4 0 3 31.25 2532 100 5 Zhao Xue (CHN)2504 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 5½ -1 2 4 27.75 2500 70 6 Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)2535 1 0 1 ½ 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ -6 ½ 3 31.00 2497 70 7 Almira Skripchenko (FRA)2453 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ +8 ½ 2 29.00 2505 70 8 Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)2561 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ 1 0 ½ 5 -15 1½ 2 27.00 2459 40 9 Lela Javakhishvili (GEO)2489 0 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 5 -3 1 3 25.50 2466 40 10 Olga Girya (RUS)2442 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 5 +5 ½ 3 27.75 2470 40 11 
Elina Danielian (ARM)2445 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 * ½ 4½ -1 0 2 24.25 2441 20 12 Bela Khotenashvili (GEO)2493 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 4 -14 0 0 23.00 2399 10
Chengdu 2016
4th stage, Chengdu, China, 1–15 July 2016[14] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Rating Change H2H Victories SB TPR GP 1 Harika Dronavalli (IND)2526 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 7 +13 1 3 37.50 2612 145 2 Koneru Humpy (IND)2575 0 * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 7 +5 0 5 36.00 2607 145 3 Ju Wenjun (CHN)2578 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 -6 1½ 2 32.00 2541 93⅓ 4 Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL)2512 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 6 +5 1 2 31.75 2547 93⅓ 5 Anna Muzychuk (UKR)2545 ½ 1 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6 -1 ½ 2 33.25 2544 93⅓ 6 Bela Khotenashvili (GEO)2454 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 5½ +9 1½ 2 29.25 2516 60 7 Zhao Xue (CHN)2510 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ +0 1 2 28.50 2511 60 8 Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)2545 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 5½ -6 ½ 2 27.75 2508 60 9 Lela Javakhishvili (GEO)2487 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 5 -1 1 1 26.50 2477 35 10 Olga Girya (RUS)2444 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 5 +6 0 1 27.25 2481 35 11 Tan Zhongyi (CHN)2495 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 4 -12 0 0 21.25 2411 20 12 Pia Cramling (SWE)2463 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 3½ -12 0 0 20.00 2383 10
Khanty-Mansiysk 2016
5th stage, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, 18 November – 2 December 2016[15] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Rating Change H2H Victories SB TPR GP 1 Ju Wenjun (CHN)2580 * 1 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 + 7½ +2 0 4 160 2 Nino Batsiashvili (GEO)2489 0 * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 6½ +10 0 5 130 3 Valentina Gunina (RUS)2525 0 1 * 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ 1 1 6 -2 2½ 5 82 4 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI)2435 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6 +14 2½ 2 82 5 Harika Dronavalli (IND)2543 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 6 -4 2 2 82 6 Olga Girya (RUS)2450 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 6 +11 1½ 3 82 7 Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS)2555 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6 -6 1½ 3 82 8 Natalia Zhukova (UKR)2448 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ +7 0 2 50 9 Bela Khotenashvili (GEO)2426 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 5 +5 0 2 40 10 Natalia Pogonina (RUS)2492 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 4½ -10 ½ 0 25 11 Lela Javakhishvili (GEO)2461 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 4½ -6 ½ 1 25 12 Almira Skripchenko (FRA)2455 - 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 2½ -21 0 0 10
Grand Prix standings
At the third tournament it was mentioned top ranked Hou Yifan had withdrawn from the Grand-Prix. Koneru Humpy was leading the table after four tournaments. After winning in the tenth round of the last tournament, Ju Wenjun secured the overall Grand Prix win.
| Rank | Player | Sep.2015 Rating[16] | Monte Carlo | Tehran | Batumi | Chengdu | Khanty- Mansiysk | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 2542 | 160 | 93⅓ | 160 | 413⅓ | ||
| 2 | Koneru Humpy (IND) | 2578 | 120 | 70 | 145 | 335 | ||
| 3 | Valentina Gunina (RUS) | 2529 | 45 | 160 | 82 | 287 | ||
| 4 | Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) | 2530 | 65 | 130 | 82 | 277 | ||
| 5 | Harika Dronavalli (IND) | 2508 | 45 | 145 | 82 | 272 | ||
| 6 | Zhao Xue (CHN) | 2524 | 120 | 70 | 60 | 250 | ||
| 7 | Nino Batsiashvili (GEO) | 2500 | 15 | 100 | 130 | 245 | ||
| 8 | Anna Muzychuk (UKR) | 2549 | 30 | 100 | 93⅓ | 223⅓ | ||
| 9 | Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) | 2528 | 120 | 40 | 60 | 220 | ||
| 10 | Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (IRI) | 2397 | 10 | 120 | 82 | 212 | ||
| 11 | Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) | 2573 | 50 | 85 | 70 | 205 | ||
| 12 | Natalia Pogonina (RUS) | 2445 | 85 | 85 | 25 | 195 | ||
| 13 | Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) | 2500 | 65 | 15 | 93⅓ | 173⅓ | ||
| 14 | Hou Yifan (CHN) | 2671 | 160 | 160 | ||||
| 15 | Olga Girya (RUS) | 2483 | 40 | 35 | 82 | 157 | ||
| 16 | Natalia Zhukova (UKR) | 2482 | 30 | 60 | 50 | 140 | ||
| 17 | Pia Cramling (SWE) | 2513 | 85 | 30 | 10 | 125 | ||
| 18 | Almira Skripchenko (FRA) | 2441 | 30 | 70 | 10 | 110 | ||
| 19 | Bela Khotenashvili (GEO) | 2502 | 10 | 60 | 40 | 110 | ||
| 20 | Lela Javakhishvili (GEO) | 2463 | 40 | 35 | 25 | 100 | ||
| 21 | Elina Danielian (ARM) | 2474 | 20 | 20 | ||||
| 21 | Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2492 | 20 | 20 | ||||
See also
- FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14, the previous cycle
References
- ↑ "Ju Wenjun is triumphant in Khanty-Mansiysk". FIDE. 1 December 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015-2016 announced". chessdom.com. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ Regulations (FIDE)
- 1 2 Announcement (FIDE)
- 1 2 FIDE Presidential Board Meeting (March 2016)
- ↑ Regulations (PDF)
- ↑ "International Chess Federation - FIDE".
- 1 2 Monaco Grand Prix
- 1 2 Iran Women's Grand Prix Participants
- ↑ "Why Hou Yifan has dropped out of the cycle". chessbase.com. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ↑ Monaco Grand Prix: Official site
- ↑ Tashkent Grand Prix: Official site
- ↑ Batumi Grand Prix: Official site
- ↑ Chengdu Grand Prix: Official site
- ↑ Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix: Official site
- ↑ "Top 100 Women September 2015 FIDE Top players archive".
External links
- Official websites: Monaco, Tehran, Batumi, Chengdu, Khanty-Mansiysk
- FIDE Women's Grand Prix Regulations
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| Knock-out format | |
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