Alexandra Kosteniuk Advances to Semifinal of Fourth GP Leg of Women's Speed Chess Championship

Her opponent will be Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.

The quarterfinal matches of the fourth GP leg of the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship were played on July 16.   

Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Dronavalli Harika 9-3, Valentina Gunina lost to Humpy Koneru 5-6, Hou Yifan bested Zhansaya Abdumalik 7.5-2.5, while Sarasadat Khademalsharieh beat Anna Muzychuk 7.5-3.5.

Semifinal pairings: 

Hou Yifan - Humpy Koneru
Alexandra Kosteniuk - Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.

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The Grand Prix consists of four legs with a total of 21 participants. Each of the 21 players participates in three of the four legs. 

Each leg is a 16-player knockout and will last five days (including one rest day after the semi-finals). The dates are June 24-28, July 1-5, July 8-12, and July 15-19.

All matches in each Grand Prix leg are divided into three segments:

30-minute segment of matches with the time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move
30-minute segment of matches with the time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move
10-minute segment of matches with the time control 1 minute + 1 second per move.

In each leg, every player scores cumulative Grand Prix points according to her position in the final standings. The two players, who score the highest points in all three legs, qualify for the Super Final.