The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2011. The winner of the Grand Prix (the one with most Grand Prix points) was to challenge Hou Yifan—the 2010 world champion— in the third quarter of 2011. As Hou Yifan also won the Grand Prix, Koneru Humpy as the runner-up qualified for the championship match.[1][2][3]
The final tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Santiago de Chile starting on October 23, 2010. However, due to problems with financing, the host was replaced and the final tournament was then played in Doha, Qatar.[4]
Format edit
Eighteen of the top female players in the world were to be selected to compete in these tournaments. Each player would contract to participate in exactly 4 of these tournaments. Players must rank their preference of tournaments once the final list of host cities was announced and the dates allocated to each host city.[5]
Each tournament was staged as a 12-player, single round-robin tournament. In each round players scored 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 points for first place, 130 for second place, 110 for third place, and then 90 down to 10 points for places four to twelve (decreasing by 10 points for each place). Grand Prix points were split between players on equal tournament points.
Players only counted their best three tournament results in the overall standings. The player with the most total grand prix points for those three tournaments was the winner.
Players and qualification edit
The 18 players qualified were:[6][7]
- The top four from the World Championship 2008:
- Alexandra Kosteniuk (declined to participate), Hou Yifan, Pia Cramling, and Koneru Humpy.
- The six highest rated players (average of October 2007 and October 2008 lists) not already qualified:
- Judit Polgár (declined), Susan Polgar (declined), Xie Jun (declined), Zhao Xue, Marie Sebag, and Zhu Chen.
- Two players nominated by the FIDE president:
- One nominee from each of the six host cities:
- Betul Cemre Yildiz (Istanbul), Shen Yang (Nanjing), Zeinab Mamedyarova, Lilit Mkrtchian (Jermuk), Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Ulaanbaataar), and Martha Fierro (Santiago).
The four players who declined to participate were replaced by the following reserves (on rating): Antoaneta Stefanova, Tatiana Kosintseva, Maia Chiburdanidze, and Xu Yuhua. Although Santiago was replaced as host city by Doha, their nominee Fierro was allowed to stay in the series.
Mamedyarova was excluded from the series after the first tournament in Istanbul and replaced by Baira Kovanova due to change of host city to Nalchik. Kosintseva was unable to play in Nanjing and reserve Ju Wenjun took her place in that tournament.
Tie-breaks edit
With the objective of determining a clear, single winner to play in the championship match in the case that two or more players had equal cumulative points at the top, the following criteria (in descending order) would be utilized to decide the overall winner:
- The fourth result not already in the top three performances
- The number of actual game points scored in the four tournaments
- The number of first-place finishes
- The number of second-place finishes
- The number of won games
- Drawing of lots
Prize money and Grand Prix points edit
The prize fund was €40,000 per Grand Prix event and €60,000 for the overall Grand Prix placement.[8]
| Place | Single Grand Prix event | Overall standings | Grand Prix points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €6,500 | €15,000 | 160 |
| 2 | €4,750 | €10,000 | 130 |
| 3 | €4,000 | €8,000 | 110 |
| 4 | €3,750 | €7,000 | 90 |
| 5 | €3,500 | €6,000 | 80 |
| 6 | €3,250 | €5,000 | 70 |
| 7 | €3,000 | €4,000 | 60 |
| 8 | €2,750 | €3,000 | 50 |
| 9 | €2,500 | €2,000 | 40 |
| 10 | €2,250 | – | 30 |
| 11 | €2,000 | – | 20 |
| 12 | €1,750 | – | 10 |
Schedule and results edit
| No. | Host city | Date | Winner | Points (Win/draw/loss) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istanbul, Turkey | 7–19 March 2009 |  Koneru Humpy (India) |
8.5/11 (+7=3-1) |
| 2 | Nanjing, China | 28 September – 10 October 2009 |  Xu Yuhua (China) |
8/11 (+7=2-2) |
| 3 | Nalchik, Russia | 26 April – 7 May 2010 |  Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia) |
9/11 (+7=4-0) |
| 4 | Jermuk, Armenia | 24 June – 5 July 2010 |  Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) |
9/11 (+7=4-0) |
| 5 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | 30 July – 11 August 2010 | Hou Yifan (China) |
8/11 (+5=6-0) |
| 6 | Doha, Qatar | 23 February – 5 March 2011 | Koneru Humpy (India) Elina Danielian (Armenia) |
8/11 (+6=4-1) 8/11 (+7=2-2) |
Events crosstables edit
Istanbul, March 2009 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 
Koneru Humpy2621 - 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 8½ 2 
Elina Danielian2496 0 - ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 8 40.25 3 
Hou Yifan2571 1 ½ - 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8 39.75 4 Zhao Xue2508 ½ 0 1 - 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7½ 5 
Marie Sebag2529 0 0 ½ 1 - ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6 6 
Pia Cramling2548 0 ½ 0 0 ½ - 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 5½ 22.75 7 
Martha Fierro2403 0 0 0 0 0 1 - ½ 1 1 1 1 5½ 20.00 8 
Antoaneta Stefanova2557 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ - ½ ½ 1 1 5 20.75 9 
Maia Chiburdanidze2516 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ - 1 1 1 5 20.25 10 Shen Yang2448 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 - 0 0 2½ 17.75 11 
Zeinab Mamedyarova2362 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 - ½ 2½ 10.25 12 
Betul Cemre Yildiz2214 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ - 2
Nanjing, September–October 2009 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 Xu Yuhua2485 - 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8 2 Nana Dzagnidze2535 1 - ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 7½ 3 Zhao Xue2542 ½ ½ - 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 4 Marie Sebag2519 ½ 1 0 - ½ 1 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 6½ 33.25 5 Lilit Mkrtchian2468 0 ½ 1 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 30.75 6 Ju Wenjun2443 0 0 1 0 ½ - 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 29.50 7 Shen Yang2453 0 1 0 1 ½ 0 - ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 6 8 
Batkhuyag Munguntuul2418 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ - ½ 0 1 1 5½ 20.75 9 
Baira Kovanova2408 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ - 0 ½ 1 5 10 
Zhu Chen2488 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 - ½ 1 4½ 11 Martha Fierro2386 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ - 0 2 12 Betul Cemre Yildiz2224 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1
Nalchik, April 2010 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 Tatiana Kosintseva2536 - 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 9 2 Hou Yifan2585 0 - 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7½ 3 Nana Dzagnidze2535 0 1 - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 33.25 4 Pia Cramling2535 0 ½ ½ - ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 32.25 5 Koneru Humpy2595 ½ ½ ½ ½ - 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 5½ 26.75 6 Zhu Chen2488 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 - 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 5½ 26.75 7 Batkhuyag Munguntuul2418 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 - 0 1 0 ½ 1 5½ 25.75 8 Zhao Xue2542 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 - 0 0 0 1 5 26.75 9 Lilit Mkrtchian2468 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 - 1 1 ½ 5 24.00 10 Baira Kovanova2408 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 - 1 1 5 20.00 11 Betul Cemre Yildiz2224 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 - ½ 2½ 12 Elina Danielian2489 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ - 1½
Jermuk, June–July 2010 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 Nana Dzagnidze2535 - 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9 2 Tatiana Kosintseva2536 0 - 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7½ 3 Elina Danielian2489 0 1 - ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 6½ 32.25 4 Lilit Mkrtchian2468 0 ½ ½ - 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 6½ 30.50 5 Antoaneta Stefanova2527 0 ½ 1 0 - 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 6½ 30.00 6 Hou Yifan2585 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 - 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 6 7 Pia Cramling2535 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 - ½ 0 ½ 1 1 5½ 27.25 8 Shen Yang2453 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ - ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 25.25 9 Maia Chiburdanidze2506 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ - 1 ½ 1 4½ 10 Xu Yuhua2485 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 - 1 0 4 11 Baira Kovanova2408 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 - 1 3 12 Martha Fierro2386 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1½
Ulaanbaatar, July–August 2010 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 Hou Yifan2585 - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 8 2 Antoaneta Stefanova2527 ½ - 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7½ 3 Koneru Humpy2595 ½ 1 - 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 6½ 36.00 4 Zhao Xue2542 ½ 1 1 - 0 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 6½ 34.75 5 Tatiana Kosintseva2536 ½ 0 ½ 1 - ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 6½ 32.50 6 Maia Chiburdanidze2506 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ - 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 6 7 Xu Yuhua2485 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 - ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 8 Shen Yang2453 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 0 1 5 26.00 9 Zhu Chen2488 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ - 1 1 0 5 25.75 10 Marie Sebag2519 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 - 1 ½ 4 11 Batkhuyag Munguntuul2418 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 3½ 12 Betul Cemre Yildiz2224 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 - 2
Doha, February–March 2011 Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Score Tie break 1 Koneru Humpy2595 - 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8 41.75 2 Elina Danielian2489 0 - 1 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 8 40.25 3 Marie Sebag2519 ½ 0 - 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 7 4 Pia Cramling2535 ½ 1 0 - 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 5½ 30.50 5 Nana Dzagnidze2536 1 0 0 0 - ½ 1 1 1 0 1 0 5½ 29.25 6 Maia Chiburdanidze2506 0 0 ½ ½ ½ - 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 5½ 26.75 7 Batkhuyag Munguntuul2418 0 0 1 1 0 1 - 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 5 25.75 8 Xu Yuhua2485 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 0 1 1 ½ 5 24.75 9 Lilit Mkrtchian2468 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 - ½ 0 1 4½ 23.50 10 Martha Fierro2386 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ - ½ 1 4½ 21.00 11 Antoaneta Stefanova2527 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ - 0 4 12 Zhu Chen2488 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 - 3½
Grand Prix standings edit
The Grand Prix was won by Hou Yifan, but as she was already qualified for the championship match as title holder, runner-up Koneru Humpy qualified as challenger. Her tied first place in Doha was just enough to overtake Nana Dzagnidze and secure second place in the overall standings.
| Player | Istanbul | Nanjing | Nalchik | Jermuk | Ulaanbaatar | Doha | Played | Best 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hou Yifan (CHN) |
120 | – | 130 | (70) | 160 | – | 4 | 410 |
| 2 | Koneru Humpy (IND) |
160 | – | (70) | – | 93⅓ | 145 | 4 | 398⅓ |
| 3 | Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) |
– | 130 | 100 | 160 | – | (80) | 4 | 390 |
| 4 | Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS) |
– | – | 160 | 130 | 93⅓ | – | 3 | 383⅓ |
| 5 | Elina Danielian (ARM) |
120 | – | (10) | 93⅓ | – | 145 | 4 | 358⅓ |
| 6 | Zhao Xue (CHN) |
90 | 110 | (40) | – | 93⅓ | – | 4 | 293⅓ |
| 7 | Xu Yuhua (CHN) |
– | 160 | – | (30) | 60 | 55 | 4 | 275 |
| 8 |  Marie Sebag (FRA) |
80 | 80 | – | – | (30) | 110 | 4 | 270 |
| 9 |  Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) |
45 | – | – | 93⅓ | 130 | (20) | 4 | 268⅓ |
| 10 |  Pia Cramling (SWE) |
65 | – | 100 | (55) | – | 80 | 4 | 245 |
| 11 | Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM) |
– | 80 | 40 | 93⅓ | – | (35) | 4 | 213⅓ |
| 12 | Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO) |
45 | – | – | (40) | 70 | 80 | 4 | 195 |
| 13 |  Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) |
– | 50 | 70 | – | (20) | 55 | 4 | 175 |
| 14 | Shen Yang (CHN) |
(25) | 60 | – | 55 | 45 | – | 4 | 160 |
| 15 |  Zhu Chen (QAT) |
– | 30 | 70 | – | 45 | (10) | 4 | 145 |
| 16 |  Martha Fierro (ECU) |
65 | 20 | – | (10) | – | 35 | 4 | 120 |
| 17 | Baira Kovanova (RUS) |
– | 40 | 40 | 20 | – | – | 3 | 100 |
| 18 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) |
– | 80 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 80 |
| 19 |  Betul Cemre Yildiz (TUR) |
10 | 10 | 20 | – | (10) | – | 4 | 40 |
| 20 |  Zeinab Mamedyarova (AZE) |
25 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 25 |
See also edit
- FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12, the next series
- FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, the men's equivalent
References edit
- ^ ChessBase (March 5, 2011). "Humpy pulls it off – wins Doha GM and qualifies".
- ^ chessvibes.com (March 6, 2011). "Koneru shares first with Danielian in Doha, qualifies for title match". Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
- ^ chess.co.uk (March 5, 2011). "Koneru ties for first with Danielian in Doha and qualifies for World Title Match". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012.
- ^ qatar2011.fide.com
- ^ "Regulations and Bidding Procedure for the Women's Grand-Prix 2009-2010". International Chess Federation - FIDE. Archived from the original on 23 Feb 2017.
- ^ "Women GP Regulations - Women GP - Istanbul".
- ^ "2009-2010 FIDE Women's Grand Prix : World Chess Championship (Women)".
- ^ Regulations for the 2009–2010 Women's FIDE Grand-Prix