The final tournament of the 2024/2025 Women’s Grand Prix opened in Grosslobming with polka music, Austrian wine, and players dressed in traditional clothing.
It is not often that an elite chess tournament takes place in the grounds of a small castle and that the opening ceremony starts with a brass band, fine wine and players wearing local traditional dresses. But in Grosslobming, Austria, the final leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix began with exactly that.
Michael Stöttinger, the mastermind of the event and the president of the Austrian Chess Federation, was determined to have an opening that reflected the precision and flair often associated with the German-speaking country: creative, measured, well-planned and meticulously executed.
As guests toasted “Prost!” the Kleinlobming Music Association struck up polkas and Styrian folk songs. The southern state of Styria, often called Austria’s “Green Heart,” stretches from the Alps to the sunlit hills near the Slovenian border and is famed for its crisp white wines.
“This is a great event for Austria and for women’s chess, and we are delighted to be the hosts. This is the first major event we’re organising as we want to bring chess closer to the Austrian public and do more to promote the game,” Michael Stöttinger said.
He also made a point about the link between promoting chess in general and women’s chess in particular: “If you make an advertisement for women’s chess, it’s like making an advertisement for Coca-Cola Light. You always transport open chess [into it]. This was also one of the reasons why we asked to organise a women’s chess event, and I’m very grateful to FIDE for their trust”.
Speaking on behalf of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the delegate and Chair of the Appeals Committee Sava Stoisavljevic (pictured below, second from the right) welcomed the players and reflected on the 2024/25 Grand Prix season:
“As one of several women in senior positions within FIDE, I am pleased to see the organisation recognising the importance of women’s chess and offering greater support and visibility to women players. But – speaking also as a woman – I know there is still work to be done. Over the past ten months, the Women’s Grand Prix has travelled the world, promoting chess but also highlighting the vital role women play in our sport. From Georgia to Kazakhstan, Monaco, Cyprus and India, the presence and performance of these players have powerfully underscored their impact at the highest levels of chess”.
The tournament is being held in the southern Austrian municipality of Grosslobming, on the grounds of a 19th-century manor near the Red Bull Ring Formula One circuit.
The final, sixth leg of the Women’s Grand Prix will determine not only the winner of the series but also the top two qualifiers for the 2026 Women’s Candidates.
The first round starts on Tuesday, May 6 at 3 PM local time.
Round 1 pairings:
Lela Javakhishvili – Nana Dzagnidze
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Nurgyul Salimova
Mariya Muzychuk – Anna Muzychuk
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi
Olga Badelka – Alexandra Kosteniuk
Written by Milan Dinic
Photos: Przemysław Nikiel
About the tournament:
The tournament in Grosslobming is the final in a series of six tournaments in the 2024/2025 Women’s Grand Prix cycle.
Format: Ten players play a round-robin tournament (9 rounds). The time control is 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: womengrandprix.fide.com/
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 Candidates.
The event comprises six tournaments, hosted in different countries: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Monaco, Cyprus, India and Austria.
The scoring system is conceptualised in a way that favours 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 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.
