Russia Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina sealed the top spot after nail-biting finish to the third leg of Women’s Grand Prix due to a better tie-breaker score here on Wenesday.
All the top three contenders for first place drew their final round games, finishing on six points. After tiebreaks, Aleksandra Goryachkina was awarded first place, Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva was placed second and China’s Zhu Jiner third.
The tournament in New Delhi was the third in a series of four which make up the Women’s Grand Prix (WGP). Altogether 16 players are taking part in the series, with each participating in three of the four tournaments.
The two players who score the greatest number of cumulative points in the series shall qualify for the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2023-24. The next and final event in the Women’s Grand Prix cycle will be held in Cyprus between the 15th and 28th of May.
The Women’s Grand Prix Series 2022-23 comprises of 16 players, each of whom will compete in three of the four WGP tournaments. Each WGP tournament features a round-robin format with 12 players. Every player earns WGP points in each WGP tournament based on her position in the final standings. The WGP Series winner is the player with the most cumulative points earned in all three WGP tournaments she played.
The total prize fund for each one of the four events is €80,000, with another €80,000 being distributed among the top 8 finishers in the overall standings for the Grand Prix series. The two players with the highest cumulative points total in the WGP series advance to the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2023-24.
All India Chess Federation (AICF) President Sanjay Kapoor said, “It’s a great honour for India to host such a big event. This shows the position of the country in the chess world. I’m thankful to everyone involved who supported us to make this happen.
“I would also like to thank FIDE and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. And also credit must be given to the All India Chess Federation (AICF) for moving very fast and I am confident that the competition will be a great success.”
Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, said, “Our partnership with the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix exemplifies our commitment to promoting and discovering new talent and driving engagement in the legacy-rich sport of chess. I’m looking forward to seeing some of these players compete in the Global Chess League 2023 in June.”