First Round of FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament Played in Kazan

All games are drawn.

The initial round of the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament was played in Kazan on May 31. The first President of the Republic of Tatarstan and the State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev made the first symbolic move in the game A. Kosteniuk – A. Goryachkina.

The Russian derbies V. Gunina – K. Lagno and A. Kosteniuk – A. Goryachkina happened to be the toughest ones but both of them eventually were drawn. The games M. Muzychuk – A. Muzychuk and N. Dzagnidze – Tan Zhongyi ended peacefully.



Round 2 pairings:

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

The venue is Nogai Hotel (16B, Profsojuznaja St., Kazan).

All rounds begin at 3 pm local time.

The winner of the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament qualifies 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.

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 Kublashvli