TWIC is 30. First issue 17th September 1994.
6th Women's Grand Prix Doha 2011 (Opening Ceremony)
Doha Women's Grand Prix Opening Ceremony and Event Details
Mark Crowther - Tuesday 22nd February 2011
Opening ceremony for the Doha Women's Grand Prix. Photo © | http://qatar2011.fide.com
The 6th and final Doha Women's Grand Prix had its opening ceremony on Monday 21st February 2011. The first round takes place on Tuesday. Three players are in the running for the first place for the Grand Prix as a whole, Hou Yifan leads but she has finished and can't add to her score. A win here for Nana Dzagnidze will make her champion. Humpy Koneru can also win but needs to win the tournament and is reliant on Dzagnidze not finishing 2nd alone. Tatiana Kosintseva who has only played three events doesn't get the chance to fight for the title here. Presumably she replaced someone who competed in one of the first two Grand Prix. This article includes the standings after five rounds and a summary of the previous events.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes the opening speach. Photo © http://qatar2011.fide.com/.
The Opening Ceremony for the 6th and final leg of the FIDE Woman Grand Prix cycle had the opening ceremony on 21st February 2011.
Five former World Champions were present at the opening ceremony: Xu Yuhua, Maia Chiburdanidze, Nona Gaprindashvili, Antoaneta Stefanova and Zhu Chen. Photo © http://qatar2011.fide.com/.
It takes place in the Sharq Village and Spa in Doha, Qatar. Four former Women's World Champions: Xu Yuhua, Maia Chiburdanidze, Antoaneta Stefanova and Zhu Chen compete. A fifth champion the legendary Nona Gaprindashvili is the head of the appeals committee.
The winner the tournament will receive 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros and the overall winner of the series will win a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series.
Games start: Rounds 1-10 at 3:00 pm local time and round 11 at 12 pm local time. Rest day: February 27th (after round 6). Doha has the same time as Moscow, three hours ahead of UK time.
The official tournament web site: http://qatar2011.fide.com/
Pia Cramling at the Opening Ceremony. Photo © http://qatar2011.fide.com/.
Current Grand Prix Standings
World Chess Champion Hou, Yifan has set the target of 410 points but has finished having already played her alotted 4 tournaments. With 160 points available for the winner of the final event it means that the Grand Prix can be won by Hou, Nana Dzagnidze, or Humpy Koneru. The worst result of each player is disregarded in the standings.
| Rank | Name | FED | Istanbul | Nanjing | Nalchik | Jermuk | Ulaanbaatur | Total | Worst Res | GP Pts | Events Pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hou, Yifan | CHN | 120 | 130 | 70 | 160 | 480 | 70 | 410 | 4 | |
| 2 | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 130 | 100 | 160 | 390 | - | 390 | 3 | ||
| 3 | Kosintseva, Tatiana | RUS | 160 | 130 | 93.33 | 383.3 | - | 383.3 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 160 | 70 | 93.33 | 323.3 | - | 323.3 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Zhao, Xue | CHN | 90 | 110 | 40 | 93.33 | 333.3 | 40 | 293.3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | BUL | 45 | 93.33 | 130 | 268.3 | - | 268.3 | 3 | ||
| 7 | Xu, Yuhua | CHN | 160 | 30 | 60 | 250 | - | 250 | 3 | ||
| 8 | Danielian, Elina | ARM | 120 | 10 | 93.33 | 223.3 | - | 250 | 3 | ||
| 9 | Cramling, Pia | SWE | 65 | 100 | 55 | 220 | - | 220 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Mkrtchian, Lilit | ARM | 80 | 40 | 93.33 | 213.3 | - | 213.3 | 3 | ||
| 11 | Sebag, Marie | FRA | 80 | 80 | 30 | 190 | - | 190 | 3 | ||
| 12 | Shen, Yang | CHN | 25 | 60 | 55 | 45 | 185 | 25 | 160 | 4 | |
| 13 | Chiburdanidze, Maia | GEO | 45 | 40 | 70 | 155 | - | 155 | 3 | ||
| 14 | Zhu, Chen | QAT | 30 | 70 | 45 | 145 | - | 145 | 3 | ||
| 15 | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | MGL | 50 | 70 | 20 | 140 | - | 140 | 3 | ||
| 16 | Kovanova, Baira | RUS | 40 | 40 | 20 | 100 | - | 100 | 3 | ||
| 17 | Fierro Baquero, Martha L | ECU | 65 | 20 | 10 | 95 | - | 95 | 3 | ||
| 18 | Ju, Wenjun | CHN | 80 | 80 | - | 80 | 1 | ||||
| 19 | Yildiz, Betul Cemre | TUR | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 50 | 10 | 40 | 4 | |
| 20 | Mamedjarova, Zeinab | AZE | 25 | 25 | - | 25 | 1 | ||||
| 850 | 850 | 850 | 850 | 850 | 4250 |
A Group photo. Photo © http://qatar2011.fide.com/.
The FIDE Grand Prix website with all the event mini-sites is http://grandprix.fide.com/
The first Grand Prix took place in Istanbul 5th-20th March 2009. Top seed Humpy Koneru got off to the perfect start with a win alone with 8.5/11. She was half a point clear of Elina Danielian and Hou Yifan.
The second Grand Prix took place in Nanjing, China 27th September - 10th October 2009. Xu Yuhua took clear first place with 8/11 half a point clear of Nana Dzagnidze.
The 3rd Grand Prix took place in Nalchik, Russia 25th April - 8th May 2010 and saw Tatiana Kosintseva win with 9/11 a point and a half clear of Hou Yifan.
The 4th Grand Prix took place in Jermuk, Armenia 23rd June - 6th July 2010. Nana Dzagnidze won with 9/11 a point and a half clear of Tatiana Kosintseva.
The 5th Grand Prix took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 29th July - 12th August 2010. Hou Yifan won with 8/11 half a point clear of Antoaneta Stefanova.
The 6th Grand Prix was supposed to take place in Santiago in late 2010, Chile but feel through after an earthquake meant there were other priorities. Doha stepped in and the only question was to find a suitable place in the calendar early in 2011.
The draw. Photo © http://qatar2011.fide.com/.
TWIC coverage: Nanjing 2009 - Nalchik 2010 - Jermuk 2010 - Ulaanbaatar 2010 and now Doha
