As the 2024/2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series draws to a close, three players remain in contention for the overall title. The final, sixth leg begins in Austria on May 6
In August 2024, the first stage of the six-leg FIDE Women’s Grand Prix (WGP) series began in Tbilisi, Georgia. There was perhaps no more fitting place to launch a top-level women’s chess event than in the country that has long dominated the sport. For decades, Georgian chess players—whether competing under the Soviet flag or their own—have stood among the world’s best, revered as national heroes at home.
Since the breakthrough of Nona Gaprindashvili—one of the greatest women players of all time—in the 1970s, women’s chess has steadily progressed. The creation of the Grand Prix in 2009 marked a major shift—an organized series offering consistent opportunity. In recent years, FIDE has moved closer toward a structured approach in promoting women in the sport. What was once an exception is now a system, and the biggest expression of that is the Grand Prix series where the best and most talented women players are asserting their presence.
With six international stops across the globe, boasting €600,000 in prizes and offering a path to the Women’s Candidates for the top two qualifiers, the Grand Prix is a serious contest but also a quiet revolution – giving a spotlight to the women’s role in the game.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich reflected on the progress: “Supporting women’s chess has gone from securing survival and a right to exist in the male dominated world, to making it into a strategy which is improving over time. The Women’s Grand Prix is one of the focal points of FIDE’s work and I’m pleased that in the forthcoming sixth and final leg of the event, we will mark another important milestone for women’s chess by concluding another successful series.”
What’s at stake in Austria and who will be playing
The sixth and final stage of the 2024/2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix will take place in Grosslobming, Austria. It is here where the champion of the series will be decided, but also – who will be the top two players qualifying for the Women’s Candidates in 2026.
So far, Aleksandra Goryachkina is in the lead with 308.34 points. While her chances to qualify for the 2026 Candidates are very big, the crown in the WGP series and the Candidates spot are not a done deal for her. As Goryachkina will not be playing in this final stage, two other players have a chance to overtake her (if they win top places): China’s Zhu Jiner and Anna Muzychuk from Ukraine.
Zhu has the best chance to overtake Goryachkina for first place. With 235 points, the Chinese player is currently 73.34 points behind. This means she would need to finish among the top three to secure the 2024/2025 WGP title.
The challenge is significantly tougher for Anna Muzychuk, who trails Goryachkina by 119.17 points. To win the WGP, she must finish in sole first place in Austria and earn 130 points. Mathematically, this is possible – but it takes more than math to clinch a victory in an event like this!
With the field including three former World Champions – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tan Zhongyi and Mariya Muzychuk – this will be a tough tournament to do well in, let alone take sole first place.
Ten players are taking part in the tournament in Austria, with the list as follows:
The road to Austria: Key results from the previous five stages of the WGP
The road to Austria was anything but easy. In the five events that proceeded, the players faced a tough field split between the strongest and most experienced women players in the world on one side, and the up-and-coming rising stars on the other.
Each player is eligible to compete in three of the six events. With some players withdrawing or unable to attend, Wildcards were given to participants in some events.
In the first leg, in Tbilisi (August 2024), Alina Kashlinskaya (playing for Poland) won the tournament with six points. She came into the tournament as one of the two replacements, after Lagno and Khademalsharieh withdrew. With half a point ahead of the runner-up Bibisara Assaubayeva, Kashlinskaya – accompanied by her baby son at the event, still a rare sight at elite tournaments – took 130 points and was the first one to take the lead in the 2024/2025 WGP Series.
The second leg was staged in Shymkent in Kazakhstan in October 2024. Former World Champion contender Aleksandra Goryachkina staged a spectacular performance: she completely dominated the event and secured victory with a round to spare. Tan Zhongyi (who was at that point preparing for the Women’s World Championship Match in 2025), finished in second place, half a point behind.
Goryachkina then also won the third event in the series – staged in Monaco in February. Although not as dominant as in Kazakhstan, she emerged on top of a three-way tie for first place, with Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Koneru Humpy. This propelled Goryachkina to the sole lead in the WGP.
In the fourth tournament, in Cyprus in March, Anna Muzychuk tied for first place with Zhu Jiner, with both ending on 6/9. The two finished a full point ahead of Goryachkina, who had another great performance. While Goryachkina secured a towering lead – with 308.34 points, Zhu and Muzychuk now joined the race for the top.
Finally, this April in the fifth leg held in Pune (India), it was the native Koneru Humpy who emerged at the top, edging out Zhu on tiebreaks after both finished with seven points. This pushed Koneru to the second place in the WGP overall standings, with 279.17 points, having played three events. For runner-up Zhu this was her second WGP in the series and with 279.17 points, she has the strongest chances of all to overtake Goryachkina if she performs well in the WGP in Austria.
About the Women’s Grand Prix series
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix (WGP) Series 2024–25 stands as a premier series in the international women’s chess calendar. In its seventh season, it serves as one of the crucial pathways to the Women’s Candidates.
The event comprises six tournaments, hosted in different countries: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Monaco, Cyprus, India and Austria.
The scoring system is conceptualized in a way that favors not just tournament victories, but consistency across events. Each player has a right to play in three out of the six events in the series.
The event is part of FIDE’s World Championship cycle, and the top two players in the WGP will qualify for the 2026 Women’s Candidates tournament. The winner of the Candidates will become the challenger to the current Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, who successfully defended her title against Tan Zhongyi in their 2025 match.
About the Women’s Grand Prix tournament in Austria:
The tournament is taking place in Grosslobming, Styria.
Dates: May 5–15 (games begin on May 6)
Regulations: Ten players play a round robin tournament (9 rounds). The time control shall be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.
Prize fund: €120,000 distributed among 10 participants based on placement (see Regulations)
For more information about the event, visit: https://womengrandprix.fide.com/
Press Officer: Milan Dinic (milan.dinic@fide.com)
