Women’s Grand Prix in Nicosia

The fourth and final event of the 2022-2023 Women’s Grand Prix Series will kick off tomorrow afternoon in Cyprus. Along with the 15,000 euros first prize, there is much more at stake: the overall winner of the series will take home an extra 20,000 euros and the first two players in the final standings will achieve direct qualification to the 2023-2024 FIDE Women’s Candidates.

Located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is the third-largest and third-most populous island and one of the major tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. The capital Nicosia, with an estimated 115,000 habitants, has established itself as the island's financial capital and its main international business centre.

The event will be held under the auspices of the Cyprus Chess Federation and supported by the Limassol-based Freedom Finance Europe, the European subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp.

The tournament will be played at the Hilton Hotel in Cyprus' capital, Nicosia. Featuring 12 ballrooms and state-of-the-art technology meeting rooms, totalling 1,800 square meters of space for events, the venue is a very suitable option for both leisure and business visitors. Spectators are welcome to attend and live GM online commentary will also be provided.

According to the rules of the series, twelve of the sixteen qualified players participate in each of the four WGP events feature. Due to withdrawals, there have been three replacements in Cyprus: Bella Khotenashvili and Gunay Mammadzada replace Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, while Oliwia Kiolbasa replaces Alina Kashlinskaya.

Title	Name	FED	Rating
GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2571
GM	Lagno, Kateryna	FID	2558
GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	SUI	2535
GM	Tan, Zhongyi	CHN	2517
GM	Dzagnidze, Nana	GEO	2513
GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2501
IM	Shuvalova, Polina	FID	2484
GM	Khotenashvili, Bella	GEO	2478
IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2464
IM	Mammadzada, Gunay	AZE	2449
IM	Kiolbasa, Oliwia	POL	2422
WGM	Wagner, Dinara	GER	2417

After three of the four events, Zhu Jiner currently leads the standings with a total score of 308 points. However, having already played her three events, she will not be scoring in Cyprus.

With 160 points for a win in any event, several other players have a good chance of catching her and even taking over, winning one of the two coveted spots for the Candidates.

Goryachkina, Kosteniuk and Lagno are the three prime candidates to fight for these spots but mathematically even Assaubayeva and Dzagnidze should have an outside chance, based on a perfect performance.

The first round is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, May 16th at 3 PM. This afternoon a press conference will take place at the venue with the presence of Arkady Dvorkovich (FIDE President), Criton Tornaritis (President of the Cyprus Chess Federation) and Timur Turlov (founder of Freedom Finance). The official opening ceremony will follow, and the evening will end with the players’ and official technical meeting.