FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16

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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 Top ranked player was Hou Yifan, who won the previous three editions of the Grand Prix, but had withdrawn participation after playing in the first tournament.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

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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to compete in these tournaments,[4] though with the expansion the total became twenty, along with extras to replace the withdrawn Hou Yifan.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

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Players invited base on qualifying criteria were:[2]

  1. Ukraine Mariya Muzychuk
  2. Russia Natalia Pogonina
  3. Sweden Pia Cramling
  4. India Harika Dronavalli
  • The six highest ranked players (averaged over a year):
  1. China Hou Yifan
  2. India Koneru Humpy
  3. Georgia (country) Nana Dzagnidze
  4. China Ju Wenjun
  5. Ukraine Anna Muzychuk
  6. Russia Valentina Gunina
  • Two FIDE presidential nominees[7]
  1. Bulgaria Antoaneta Stefanova
  2. Russia Alexandra Kosteniuk
  • Five organizer nominees:
  1. France Almira Skripchenko[8]
  2. Iran Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
  3. Georgia (country) Nino Batsiashvili[9]
  4. China Zhao Xue[9]
  5. Russia Olga Girya
  • Other players appearing in tournaments:
  1. Ukraine Natalia Zhukova[8]
  2. Georgia (country) Lela Javakhishvili
  3. Georgia (country) Bela Khotenashvili
  • Two players appearing only one tournament:
  1. Armenia Elina Danielian
  2. China Tan Zhongyi

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

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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

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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:

  1. Number of actual game result points scored in the three tournaments.
  2. Number of first places (in case of a tie – points given accordingly).
  3. Number of second places (in case of a tie – points given accordingly).
  4. Number of wins.
  5. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

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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

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Monaco 2015

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "Ju Wenjun is triumphant in Khanty-Mansiysk". FIDE. 1 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015-2016 announced". chessdom.com. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. ^ Regulations (FIDE)
  4. ^ a b Announcement (FIDE)
  5. ^ a b FIDE Presidential Board Meeting (March 2016)
  6. ^ Regulations (PDF)
  7. ^ "International Chess Federation - FIDE".
  8. ^ a b Monaco Grand Prix
  9. ^ a b Iran Women's Grand Prix Participants
  10. ^ "Why Hou Yifan has dropped out of the cycle". chessbase.com. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  11. ^ Monaco Grand Prix: Official site
  12. ^ "Tashkent Grand Prix: Official site". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  13. ^ Batumi Grand Prix: Official site
  14. ^ Chengdu Grand Prix: Official site
  15. ^ Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix: Official site
  16. ^ "Top 100 Women September 2015 FIDE Top players archive".
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