Women's World Championship in Nalchik

WORLD WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP 2008

The city of Nalchik is situated at an altitude of 550 meters (1,804 ft) in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. It covers an area of 131 square kilometers (50.6 sq mi). Population: 275,000. The city is named after the Nalchik River, on the shores of which it is located. The word "Nalchik" literally means "small horseshoe" in Kabardian – it is a diminutive of nal, the Turkic and Turkish word for "horseshoe". Nalchik was chosen the "second cleanest city of Russia" in 2003.

There is a lot of chess activity in the above region. We have marked off twenty-two hotspots on the map, which you can find by moving your map over it. Each is linked to a memorable event or story linked to the town. Some are hot. Can you find them all?

The FIDE Presidential Board has approved the list of qualifiers and the schedule of the World Women's Championship 2008, which has a prize fund of US $450,000. All qualifiers are requested to download, sign and send their Undertaking to the FIDE Secretariat in Athens, via fax: (+30) 2109212859 or email by the deadline of 17 June 2008.

The Qualifiers

The following is a list of all 64 players sorted according to their rating – with one exception: GM Yuhua Xu, the reigning Women's World Champion, appears as number 1 on the list, although according to her rating she would normally be number 15.

Pairings of Round 1

• Participants by Rating in PDF format.

Schedule

Useful links

• List of players to the World Women's Championship 2008
• Player's Undertaking (for participants)
• Complete regulations of the World Women's Championship
• View map and photos of Nalchik (situated 1,431 km south of Moscow)
• Timetable of airplanes and trains to Nalchik.
• Hotel prices of the official Intour Hotel "Sindica":

Each price is per hotel room, which is paid without prejudice to the number of pax (not more than 2 persons in a room). This applies to all hotel rooms. Breakfast is not included into the room price and has to be paid separately (300 rubles = $12.81 or € 8.15). Approximate prices for meals in the restaurant of the Syndica Intour-Hotel: lunch from 400 rubles; dinner from 450 rubles. All payments must be made in local currency (foreign exchange is available in banks near the hotel). Credit cards are NOT accepted.

The contact person in respect of the room reservation and accommodation of participants of the Women's World Chess Championship is Ms Amina Lyueva.

• Contact tel. number of Intour-Hotel "Sindica": +7 8662 492677
• Fax:+7 8662 720045
• Mobile: +7 960 429 54 15
• The web-site of the hotel: www.kbinturist.ru
• Email: sindica@list.ru (this e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it).

The local Organising Committe can be contacted via the office of the Chairman of Kabardino-Balkaria State Committee on Physical Culture and Sport, Mr. Aslan Afaunov - email \n minsport@list.ru (this e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it). and tel. numbers (+7 8662) 402325 or 403912.

• Full information on the FIDE site