Aleksandra Goryachkina Wins FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament with Two Rounds to Go

Our congratulations!

The 12th round of the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament was played in Kazan on June 14.

Aleksandra Goryachkina made a draw with a former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi to win the tournament with two rounds to spare. The Russian player has qualified for the World Championship Match with Ju Wenjun (China), where both players will compete for a total prize fund of €500,000, which is 150% percent bigger than in the previous championship match.

RCF President Andrey Filatov: "I congratulate Aleksandra Goryachkina and all the Russian chess fans on her fantastic performance in Kazan! A very solid and ahead-of-time victory at such a strong tournament is a great success! Moreover, it is a good jumpstart for Aleksandra on her way to the most important event in the life of every chess player - the World Championship Match. We will help Aleksandra get ready for the crown match and we believe in her success."

In other games, Kateryna Lagno lost to Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze beat Alexandra Kosteniuk, while Valentina Gunina defeated Mariya Muzychuk. 



Standings after round 12:

1. Aleksandra Goryachkina - 9
2. Anna Muzychuk - 6.5
3. Kateryna Lagno - 6
4-7. Mariya Muzychuk, Тan Zhongyi, Nana Dzagnidze, Valentina Gunina - 5.5
8. Alexandra Kosteniuk - 4.5

June 15th is the tournament's free day. 

Round 13 pairings:

V. Gunina – A. Muzychuk, A. Kosteniuk – M. Muzychuk, A. Goryachkina – N. Dzagnidze, K. Lagno – Tan Zhongyi.

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The venue is Nogai Hotel (16B, Profsojuznaja St., Kazan). All rounds begin at 3 pm local time.

Total prize fund is €200,000.

The organizers are FIDE, Russian Chess Federation, Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, and city administration of Kazan.

The tournament is sponsored by PJSC PhosAgro and Russian Railways.

Tournament page

Official website

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili