Best of 2015: Best female player

To vote you need to login with your ChessBase Account. The final result of the vote will be revealed in a week but during the next days more polls about various aspects of chess will follow. However, now it's your turn to vote for the "Player of the Year 2015". Here are the candidates:

Hou Yifan: the former Women's World Champion from China is the world's number 1 female player. She played (and hold her own) aginst the top elite in Wijk aan Zee, at the Dortmund Sparkassen tournament and the World Cup. She is steadily heading towards the 2700 barrier. Next year she will face Mariya Muzychuk and play for the title of Women's World Champion.

Koneru Humpy: The number 2 female player has not been particularly active this year. But she made it to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Championship and finished second at the Grand Prix in Monaco.

Mariya Muzychuk: The current Women's World Champion is currently number 3 on the women's ranking list. She had a very successful year, winning the Women's World Championship and gaining 34 Elo-points over the year.

Alexandra Kosteniuk: She is currently number 4 in the world and the Women's World Champion in rapid play.

Ju Wenjun: China's number two is currently number 5 in the world.
Ju played in the Gibraltar Open, the Women's World Championship and a number of events
in China, but in 2015 has been less active than in previous years.

Anna Muzychuk is currently number 6 in the world. She played in the strong open
in Gibraltar, and lost in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Championship against Pia Cramling.

Nana Dzagnidze: The Georgian player is currently number 7 in the world. She mainly played in team events this year. 

Pia Cramling: is currently number 10 in
the world. The Swedish veteran played a lot of open tournaments this year and did fairly well.
She also qualified for the semifinals of the Women's World Championship.

Antoaneta Stefanova: the Bulgarian is currently the world's number 11. She played a lot this year,
including the strong open tournaments in Gibraltar and Qatar.

Harika Dronavalli is currently number 12 in the world. The Indian qualified for the semifinals of the
Women's World Championship where she lost narrowly against Mariya Muzychuk. She also
successfully participated in a number of strong open tournaments such
as Gibraltar, Abu Dhabi, the Isle of Man open and Qatar.

Zhao Xue: the Chinese number 3 is currently number 13 in world. She won the
New Zealand Open and made it to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Championship.

Alexandra Goryachkina: the Russian Champion is currently number 16
in the world, the number 1 on the girls ranking list, and this year she has won an amazing 50
points to break the 2500 Elo-barrier.

Natalia Zhukova: the Ukrainian is currently number 20 in the world. She won the European Women's Championship.

Nino Batsiashvili: the Georgian Champion is currently number 21 in the world.
She drew Carlsen in Qatar and won over 30 Elo points this year. She won
silver at the European Women's Championship.

Natalia Pogonina: the Russian is currently number 34 in the world. She lost in the finals
of the Women's World Championship against Mariya Mzuzychuk.

Photos by Amruta Mokal, Alina l'Ami, André Schulz and Pascal Simon

Current Elo standings: 2700chess.com