Aleksandra Goryachkina: I am in Fighting Mood Going into Match

Press conference with the challenger took place in Moscow.

On December 24, a press conference featuring the candidate for the women's world chess crown Aleksandra Goryachkina, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, and CFR Executive Director Mark Glukhovsky took place in the press center of the TASS Agency in Moscow. The press conference was dedicated mostly to the FIDE Women’s World Championship Match between the reigning world champion Ju Wenjun (China) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) organized on January 3-26, 2020, in Shanghai and Vladivostok. 

Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina: "My mood before the Match is quite fighting, I am getting ready for it in Moscow these days. I will reveal my team only after the Match. I would like to thank the Chess Federation of Russia for the support and help during the preparation period. I think I have worked efficiently all this time and I feel confident. I believe I did everything I could do and that will be enough. In general, my preparation is completed. 

As for playing in China, I have never had problems with acclimatization that's why we decided to celebrate the Happy New Year in Moscow and then go to China". 

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: "Any world championship match is the event of the highest importance, a culmination of the cycle, in which the strongest chess players take part. We expect a highly competitive duel in China and Russia. We considered holding the Match in two countries to be the best variant. The interest towards the Match is very strong in both countries, but despite this agiotage, we will make our best to guard the players against the rush". 

CFR Executive Director Mark Glukhovsky: "Women's world championship matches have an exciting history but it had been a struggle between the Soviet chess players for a long time. These days, there are four main chess countries in the women's competitions: China, Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. We can witness great progress in India as well. After Alexandra Kosteniuk's winning the chess crown in 2008, the Russian chess players had chances to bring it back, but they lost in finals. Aleksandra Goryachkina confidently won the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament with two rounds to spare, which is a great achievement. We are looking forward to this Match. 

I would like to note that the Sima-land company is not only the partner of the FIDE Candidates Tournament but also supports Aleksandra Goryachkina in her preparation for the Match, and we are very happy about it. This tradition is only arising in women's chess, so Aleksandra has become one of the pioneers of it".  

 
 
The first part of the Match will be played in Shanghai (January 4-12) and the second in Vladivostok (January 15-25). The venue in the “Russian part” will be the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University on the Russky Island. 

The opening ceremony of the Match will take place in InterContinental Shanghai Jing’An Hotel on January 4. 

The Match consists of 12 games. The time control for each game 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. The player who scores 6.5 points or more wins the Match. If the score after twelve games is equal, the tie-break is played.

The match days: 

Shanghai: January 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12.
Vladivostok: January 16-17, 19-20, and 22-23. The tie-break (if needed) will be played on January 24. 

The closing ceremony will be held on January 24 or 25 (depending on the tie-break). If the winner is decided in less than 12 games, the Match is over and the Organizer re-schedules the closing ceremony for an earlier date; then the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the last game or one day thereafter.

The prize fund provided by the Organizer is a minimum of EUR 500,000 net of any applicable local taxes. The prize fund is divided as follows: 60% to the winner and 40% to the runner-up if the Match ends within 12 games. In case the World Women’s Champion title is decided in the tie-break, the winner receives 55% and the runner-up receives 45% of the prize fund.
 
Organizers: International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Chinese Chess Association, Chess Federation of Russia (CFR), and the Government of the Primorsky region.  

Partners. The Match is supported by Gazprom. General partner of the CFR is PhosAgro. Partners are Gidrostroy, SILA International Lawyers, and the Far Eastern Federal University.

Tournament page

Photos by Vladimir Barsky