FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14


The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 is a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The winner of the Grand Prix was decided in the last stage in Sharjah, UAE, when rating favorite and reigning world champion Hou Yifan overtook second seeded Koneru Humpy to win her third straight Grand Prix cycle. For the third time running, Koneru Humpy finished runner-up to Hou Yifan.
With the overall win Hou Yifan earned the right to play the Women's World Chess Championship 2016 in a ten-game match.

Format

Eighteen women players were to be selected to compete in these tournaments. Each player agrees and will contract to participate in exactly four of these tournaments. 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 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 grand prix points for first place, 130 for second place, 110 for third place, and then 90 down to 10 points by steps of 10. In case of a tie in points the grand prix points are shared evenly by the tied players.
Players only counted their best three tournament results. The player with the most grand prix points is the winner.

Players and qualification

Players invited bases on qualifying criteria were:
  1. Anna Ushenina
  2. Antoaneta Stefanova
  3. Ju Wenjun
  4. Dronavalli Harika
  1. Hou Yifan
  2. Koneru Humpy
  3. Anna Muzychuk
  4. Zhao Xue
  5. Nana Dzagnidze
  6. Kateryna Lahno
  1. Alexandra Kosteniuk
  2. Elina Danielian
  3. Nafisa Muminova
  4. Olga Girya
  5. Bela Khotenashvili
  6. Batchimeg Tuvshintugs
  1. Nadezhda Kosintseva
  2. Viktorija Čmilytė
  1. Tatiana Kosintseva

    Prize money and Grand Prix points

The prize money has been increased from €40,000 to €60,000 per single Grand Prix and from €60,000 to €90,000 for the overall Grand Prix finishes.
PlaceSingle Grand Prix eventOverall standingsGrand Prix points
1€10,000€25,000160
2€8,250€20,000130
3€6,750€15,000110
4€5,750€10,00090
5€5,000€7,50080
6€4,500€5,50070
7€4,250€4,00060
8€4,000€3,00050
9€3,25040
10€3,00030
11€2,75020
12€2,50010

Tie breaks

With the objective of determining a clear, single winner to play in the Challenger Match and in the case that two or more players have equal cumulative points at the top, the following criteria will be utilized to decide the overall winner:
  1. Fourth result not already taken in the top three results.
  2. Number of actual game result points scored in the four tournaments.
  3. Number of first places.
  4. Number of second places.
  5. Number of wins.
  6. Drawing of lots.

    Schedule

The fifth stage was moved from Tiblisi to Lopota. The sixth stage was moved from Erdenet, Mongolia to Sharjah, UAE, the world's largest chess club. A move apparently due to illness in the Mongolian organising committee.
The six tournaments were:
No.Host cityDateWinnerPoints
1Geneva, Switzerland2–16 May 20138/11
2Dilijan, Armenia15–29 June 20138/11
3Tashkent, Uzbekistan17 September – 1 October 20138/11
4Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia8–22 April 20148.5/11
5Lopota Resort, Georgia18 June – 2 July 20149/11
6Sharjah, United Arab Emirates24 August – 7 September 2014 and
8.5/11

Events crosstables

Geneva 2013

Bela Khotenashvili won the first Grand Prix in Geneva and also won her third Grandmaster norm.

Dilijan 2013

Tashkent 2013

Khanty-Mansiyk 2014

Olga Girya achieved a GM norm at the tournament.

Lopota 2014

Ju Wenjun achieved another GM norm which makes it her final GM norm.

Sharjah 2014

Batchimeg Tuvshintugs achieved a 9-game GM norm, her first one.

Grand Prix standings

The lowest of four results is in italics and not taken into the total result. Khotenashvili took the lead after stage one, then Koneru Humpy went into the lead by winning two stages in a row. Hou Yifan then overtook the lead of Koneru Humpy at the last stage.
The top two places are the same as in the two previous Grand Prix cycles.
PlayerJuly 2014
Rating
GenevaDilijanTashkentKhanty-MansiyskLopotaSharjahPlayedBest 3
12629451601601454465
2261316016050604380
3253875701201454340
4256113012085504335
5254110012065904310
6251816010120204300
7254060120853265
8251360857587.54247.5
9248875804587.54242.5
1024761009015404230
11254285453087.54217.5
1225334555110504215
1224931030551304215
1424583040120504210
152488603065754200
16234620601587.54167.5
17233220301020470
1825253030260
19246130130
20230010110
20244610110

;Notes