2019 Women’s Candidates Chess Tournament
Women’s World Championship title will take off in Kazan with a renewed Candidates Tournament. It will be the most competitive female event ever held with a record prize fund of Euro 200,000. The top eight players will compete to become Ju Wenjun’s challenger from 29th May to 19th June 2019.
Participants
The participants are Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine, 2563), Kateryna Lagno (Russia, 2554), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia, 2546), and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, 2539). The other four include Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, 2522), Tan Zhongyi (China, 2513), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2510), and Valentina Gunina (Russia, 2506).
Press Conference & Opening Ceremony
The pre-competition press-conference with organisers and participants will take place at AO Tatmedia (Dekabristov st. 2) at 3 pm on 30th May.
The opening ceremony will take place in the Kazan Palace Hotel, starting at 4:30 pm. An invitation will be required to attend. Members of the media will need their press credentials to get in.
The event is a double round round-robin – the players will play each other twice, once with White, and once with Black pieces.
Venue
The venue is the Nogai Hotel. Playing days: 31st May – 2nd June, 4-6, 8-10, 12-14, and 16-17. Tie-breaks (if needed) and the Closing Ceremony will take place on 18th June. All rounds begin at 3 pm local time.
Arkady Dvorkovich, President of FIDE, and Judit Polgar, who is the Honorary FIDE Vice-President attended a ceremony for the draw last month. These will be the pairings for the first round:
Valentina Gunina – Kateryna Lagno
Alexandra Kosteniuk – Alexandra Goryachkina
Nana Dzagnidze – Tan Zhongyi
Maria Muzychuk – Anna Muzychuk
Additional activities & live commentary
A special chess tent is on Bauman Street near the playing venue. GM Sergey Shipov will be commenting the games live for the Russian-speaking audience. On the rest days, the tent will be hosting various side activities. These include blitz tournaments, master classes, meeting with chess celebrities, and simultaneous displays by famous grandmasters.
GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and IM Elisabeth Paehtz will be commenting on the events for the English-speaking audience.
The winner of the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament qualifies for the World Championship Match against Ju Wenjun of China. Both players will compete for a total prize fund of Eruo 500,000, which is 150% per cent bigger than in the previous championship match.
The Republic of Tatarstan & Kazan
The Republic of Tatarstan is rightly considered to be one of the most active sporting regions of Russia. Kazan is the sports capital of Russia. Tatarstan hosts more than 800 competitions each year. These include all-Russian and international events in various sports disciplines.
The chess history of the Republic of Tatarstan is over 135 years old. The chess life revolves around the Republican Sports Olympic Reserve School, named after the great Tatarstani player Rashid Nezhmetdinov. He is the only player in the world to become an International Master in chess as well as USSR Master in Checkers.
Kazan has also hosted several chess events. In 1999 it hosted the Women’s World Championship Match between Alisa Galliamova and Xie Jun. In 2011 it then hosted the Candidates Matches.
Kazan then organised one of the legs of the Women’s Grand Prix in 2011. Next was the 2014 Russian Superfinals.
Organisers
The organisers are FIDE, Russian Chess Federation and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan. Others include the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan and the city administration of Kazan.
Sponsors
PJSC PhosAgro and Russian Railways are the sponsors the tournament.
Sponsor details
PJSC PhosAgro
PJSC PhosAgro is a traditional partner of the Russian Chess Federation. PhosAgro group is an absolute leader in the field of delivery all kinds of fertilisers in the Russian market. It is one of the three largest producers of phosphate-based fertilisers in the world. Their products are used by consumers in over 100 countries.
PJSC PhosAgro is a general partner of the Russian Chess Federation since 2010. Andrey A. Guryev, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC PhosAgro, is the RCF Vice-President and a member of the RCF Board of Trustees.
PhosAgro group is a strategic partner of FIDE in holding the Grand Prix Series as part of the World Championship Cycle 2019-2020.
PhosAgro sponsored the World Chess Championship Matches in Sochi, New York and London, the Candidates Tournament in Berlin, and the Moscow Grand Prix leg (2017).
Russian Railways
Russian Railways is one of the largest railway companies in the world. It moves enormous volumes of freight and passengers and has qualified specialists in all areas of railway transportation.
The company runs one of the largest transportation systems in the world. The operational length of the tracks is 85,500 km, and the range of electrified lines is 43,700 km.
Russian Railways provides over 45% of the total cargo turnover (including pipeline transportation) and about 25% of passenger traffic in the Russian Federation.
Links
Promotional video for the 2019 Women’s Candidates Tournament.
2019 Women’s Candidates Chess Tournament
Draw of Women’s Candidate Tournament.
