Women's Candidates Tournament 2024

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Women's Candidates Tournament 2024
TanZhongyi23.jpg
Tan Zhongyi, the winner of the tournament, will advance to the Women's World Chess Championship 2025 match.
Tournament information
Sport Chess
Location Toronto, Canada
Dates3 April–22 April 2024
Administrator FIDE
Tournament
format(s)
Double round-robin tournament
Participants8 from 5 nations
Final positions
Champion Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tan Zhongyi
←  2022–23

The FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2024 was an eight-player chess tournament held to determine the challenger for the Women's World Chess Championship 2025. It was held from 3 April to 22 April 2024 in Toronto, Canada, alongside the Candidates Tournament 2024. [1] [2]

Contents

It was a double round-robin tournament. [3] Tan Zhongyi won the tournament and will play in the Women's World Chess Championship match in 2025 against the current Women's World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun.

Qualification

The eight players who qualified [4] are:

Qualification methodPlayerAge Rating Rank
(April 2024)
2023 Women's World Championship runner-up Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Lei Tingjie 2725504
The top two finishers in the Women's Grand
Prix 2022–23 		FIDE flag icon.png Kateryna Lagno [a] (winner)3425426
FIDE flag icon.png Aleksandra Goryachkina [a] (runner-up)2525533
The top three finishers in the Women's Chess World
Cup 2023 [b] 		Flag of Bulgaria.svg Nurgyul Salimova (runner-up)20243236
Flag of Ukraine.svg Anna Muzychuk (third place)3425208
The top two finishers in the Women's Grand Swiss
2023 [c] 		Flag of India.svg Vaishali Rameshbabu (winner)22247515
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tan Zhongyi (third place)3225217
Highest-rated active player for January 2024 [b] Flag of India.svg Koneru Humpy 3725465

Organization

The tournament is an eight-player, double round-robin tournament, meaning there are 14 rounds with each player facing the others twice: once with the black pieces and once with the white pieces. The tournament winner will qualify to play Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Chess Championship 2025.

Players from the same federation are required to play each other in the first rounds of each half [7] to avoid collusion. The players affected in the 2024 Women's Candidates are Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina representing FIDE[ citation needed ] Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi representing China, and R Vaishali and Koneru Humpy representing India. They will face each other in rounds 1 and 8.

In March 2024, FIDE announced pairings for the tournament. [8]

Regulations

The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 1. Players received 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.

Tiebreaks for the first place would have been addressed as follows: [7]

Ties for places other than first were broken by, in order: (1) Sonneborn–Berger score; (2) total number of wins; (3) head-to-head score among tied players; (4) drawing of lots.

The prize money was €24,000 for first place, €18,000 for second place, and €12,000 for third place (with players on the same number of points sharing prize money, irrespective of tie-breaks), plus €1,750 per half-point for every player, for a total prize pool of €250,000. [7]

Schedule

Results

Tan Zhongyi led from start to finish to win the tournament. She was the only player who won in the first round (against Lei Tingjie), and when she won again in the second round, she built up a lead over her rivals. In the first half of the tournament Aleksandra Goryachinka kept pace with Tan, but Tan stayed half a point ahead. A momentous round 8 saw Lei - who had won in rounds 6 and 7 - win a third consecutive game against Tan. This led to a three-way tie for first. However, Tan won again in round 9, while Goryachinka lost in round 10 to fall behind. By round 12, only Tan and Lei were still in with a realistic chance. When Lei lost to Vaishali in round 13, Tan was effectively champion. A draw in the final round gave Tan the tournament victory, with a 1.5-point margin.

For the other competitors, Muzychuk achieved several winning positions, but she did not manage to win them, and she finished the tournament as the only player who did not win a game. Salimova, the only non-grandmaster in the field (Vaishali was a GM-elect), also had a difficult tournament, finishing joint-last with Muzychuk. Humpy started the tournament poorly with losses in rounds 4 and 6, but recovered in the second half to finish on +1. Vaishali had an even more turbulent tournament, at one point losing four games in a row to be solidly last, but then winning five consecutive games at the end to tie for 2nd-4th.

Standings

Standings of the 2024 Candidates Tournament
RankPlayerScore SB WinsQualificationTZKHLTVRAGKLNSAM
1Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Tan Zhongyi  (CHN)9 / 1460.55 Advance to title match ½½0111½½1½½½1½
2 [d] Flag of India.svg  Koneru Humpy  (IND)7.5 / 1452.253½½011½½½½½10½½
3 [d] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Lei Tingjie  (CHN)7.5 / 14524010110½1½½½½½½
4 [d] Flag of India.svg  Vaishali Rameshbabu  (IND)7.5 / 1447.5600½0101½0111½1
5FIDE flag icon.png  Aleksandra Goryachkina  (FIDE)7 / 14472½½½½0½½0½½½11½
6FIDE flag icon.png  Kateryna Lagno  (FIDE)6.5 / 14451½0½½½½01½½½½½½
7 [e] Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Nurgyul Salimova  (BUL)5.5 / 1439.51½½10½½000½½½½½
8 [e] Flag of Ukraine.svg  Anna Muzychuk  (UKR)5.5 / 1438.750½0½½½½0½½0½½½½
Source: [9]

Tie-breakers for first place: (1) results in tie-break games for first place;

Tie breakers for non-first place: (1) results in tie-break games for first place, if any; (2) Sonneborn–Berger score (SB); (3) total number of wins; (4) head-to-head score among tied players; (5) drawing of lots. [7]

Note: Numbers in the crosstable in a white background indicate the result playing the respective opponent with the white pieces (black pieces if on a black background). This does not give information which of the two games was played in the first half of the tournament, and which in the second.

Points by round

This table shows each player's cumulative difference between their number of wins and losses after each round. Green backgrounds indicate the player(s) with the highest score after each round. Red backgrounds indicate player(s) who could no longer win the tournament after each round. [f]

RankPlayerRounds
1234567891011121314
1Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Tan Zhongyi  (CHN)+1+2+2+2+2+3+3+2+3+3+4+4+4+4
2Flag of India.svg  Koneru Humpy  (IND)===–1–1–2–2–1−1−1===+1
3Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Lei Tingjie  (CHN)–1–1–1–1–1=+1+2+2+3+3+3+2+1
4Flag of India.svg  Vaishali Rameshbabu  (IND)=–1===–1–2–3−4−3−2–1=+1
5FIDE flag icon.png  Aleksandra Goryachkina  (FIDE)=+1+1+1+1+2+2+2+2+1====
6FIDE flag icon.png  Kateryna Lagno  (FIDE)=====+1+1+1+1+1===–1
7Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Nurgyul Salimova  (BUL)==–1==–1–1–1−1−2−3–3–3–3
8Flag of Ukraine.svg  Anna Muzychuk  (UKR)=–1–1–1–1–2–2–2−2−2−2–3–3–3

Pairings by round

First named player is white. 1–0 indicates a white win, 0–1 indicates a black win, and ½–½ indicates a draw. Numbers in parentheses show players' scores prior to the round. Final column indicates opening played, sourced from Lichess. [10]

Round 1 (4 April 2024)
Aleksandra Goryachkina½–½Kateryna LagnoB30 Sicilian Rossolimo
Anna Muzychuk½–½Nurgyul SalimovaC43 Petrov Steinitz
Lei Tingjie0–1Tan ZhongyiD35 QGD Exchange
Vaishali Rameshbabu½–½Koneru HumpyC54 Giuoco Pianissimo
Round 2 (5 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (½)½–½Koneru Humpy (½)C88 Ruy Lopez Closed
Tan Zhongyi (1)1–0Vaishali Rameshbabu (½)D01 Rapport–Jobava London
Nurgyul Salimova (½)½–½Lei Tingjie (0)D27 QGA Classical
Aleksandra Goryachkina (½)1–0Anna Muzychuk (½)D10 Slav Exchange
Round 3 (6 April 2024)
Anna Muzychuk (½)½–½Kateryna Lagno (1)C88 Ruy Lopez Closed
Lei Tingjie (½)½–½Aleksandra Goryachkina (1½)C51 Evans Gambit
Vaishali Rameshbabu (½)1–0Nurgyul Salimova (1)C42 Petrov Classical
Koneru Humpy (1)½–½Tan Zhongyi (2)A08 Reversed Grünfeld
Round 4 (7 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (1½)½–½Tan Zhongyi (2½)B92 Sicilian Najdorf
Nurgyul Salimova (1)1–0Koneru Humpy (1½)E06 Closed Catalan
Aleksandra Goryachkina (2)½–½Vaishali Rameshbabu (1½)D33 Tarrasch Defense
Anna Muzychuk (1)½–½Lei Tingjie (1)C01 French Exchange
Round 5 (9 April 2024)
Lei Tingjie (1½)½–½Kateryna Lagno (2)C55 Two Knights Defense
Vaishali Rameshbabu (2)½–½Anna Muzychuk (1½)C50 Giuoco Pianissimo
Koneru Humpy (1½)½–½Aleksandra Goryachkina (2½)D40 Semi-Tarrasch Defence
Tan Zhongyi (3)½–½Nurgyul Salimova (2)B12 Caro–Kann Advance
Round 6 (10 April 2024)
Vaishali Rameshbabu (2½)0–1Kateryna Lagno (2½)C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Koneru Humpy (2)0–1Lei Tingjie (2)E97 King's Indian Defense
Tan Zhongyi (3½)1–0Anna Muzychuk (2)D05 Colle System
Nurgyul Salimova (2½)0–1Aleksandra Goryachkina (3)E05 Open Catalan
Round 7 (11 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (3½)½–½Nurgyul Salimova (2½)C60 Ruy Lopez Cozio
Aleksandra Goryachkina (4)½–½Tan Zhongyi (4½)D30 Queen's Gambit Declined
Anna Muzychuk (2)½–½Koneru Humpy (2)C70 Ruy Lopez Cozio Deferred
Lei Tingjie (3)1–0Vaishali Rameshbabu (2½)C50 Giuoco Pianissimo
Round 8 (13 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (4)½–½Aleksandra Goryachkina (4½)C78 Ruy Lopez Møller
Nurgyul Salimova (3)½–½Anna Muzychuk (2½)D30 Queen's Gambit Declined
Tan Zhongyi (5)0–1Lei Tingjie (4) D02 London System
Koneru Humpy (2½)1–0Vaishali Rameshbabu (2½) D81 Grünfeld Defense
Round 9 (14 April 2024)
Koneru Humpy (3½)½–½Kateryna Lagno (4½)D38 Queen's Gambit Declined
Vaishali Rameshbabu (2½)0–1Tan Zhongyi (5)B22 Sicilian Defence
Lei Tingjie (5)½–½Nurgyul Salimova (3½)C41 Philidor Defence
Anna Muzychuk (3)½–½Aleksandra Goryachkina (5)C67 Ruy Lopez
Round 10 (15 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (5)½–½Anna Muzychuk (3½)C88 Ruy Lopez
Aleksandra Goryachkina (5½)0–1Lei Tingjie (5½)D10 Queen's Gambit Declined
Nurgyul Salimova (4)0–1Vaishali Rameshbabu (2½)D70 Neo-Grünfeld Defence
Tan Zhongyi (6)½–½Koneru Humpy (4)C45 Scotch Game
Round 11 (17 April 2024)
Tan Zhongyi (6½)1–0Kateryna Lagno (5½)A05 King's Indian Attack
Koneru Humpy (4½)1–0Nurgyul Salimova (4)D12 Slav Defence
Vaishali Rameshbabu (3½)1–0Aleksandra Goryachkina (5½)B22 Sicilian Alapin
Lei Tingjie (6½)½–½Anna Muzychuk (4)C54 Giuoco Pianissimo
Round 12 (18 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (5½)½–½Lei Tingjie (7)C02 French Advance
Anna Muzychuk (4½)0–1Vaishali Rameshbabu (4½)C80 Ruy Lopez Open
Aleksandra Goryachkina (5½)½–½Koneru Humpy (5½)E05 Open Catalan
Nurgyul Salimova (4)½–½Tan Zhongyi (7½)A07 King's Indian Attack
Round 13 (20 April 2024)
Nurgyul Salimova (4½)½–½Kateryna Lagno (6)E05 Catalan Opening
Tan Zhongyi (8)½–½Aleksandra Goryachkina (6)D50 Queen's Gambit Declined
Koneru Humpy (6)½–½Anna Muzychuk (4½)D30 Queen's Gambit Declined
Vaishali Rameshbabu (5½)1–0Lei Tingjie (7½)B51 Sicilian Defence
Round 14 (21 April 2024)
Kateryna Lagno (6½)0–1Vaishali Rameshbabu (6½)C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Lei Tingjie (7½)0–1Koneru Humpy (6½)E24 Nimzo-Indian, Sämisch
Anna Muzychuk (5)½–½Tan Zhongyi (8½)B32 Sicilian Defence
Aleksandra Goryachkina (6½)½–½Nurgyul Salimova (5)C41 Philidor Defence

Notes

  1. 1 2 Russian players' flags are displayed as the FIDE flag, as FIDE banned Russian and Belarusian flags from FIDE-rated events in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [5]
  2. 1 2 Aleksandra Goryachkina finished first in the Women's Chess World Cup 2023, but had already qualified for the Candidates through the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2022–23. She is replaced by Koneru Humpy, who was the highest-rated player on the January 2024 FIDE rating list who had played a minimum of 30 games.
  3. ↑ Anna Muzychuk finished second in the Women's Grand Swiss 2023, but she had already qualified for the Candidates through the Women's Chess World Cup 2023. According to the regulations, the second spot for the Candidates via the Women's Grand Swiss was awarded to the highest finisher of the Grand Swiss who had not already qualified (3rd-place finisher Tan Zhongyi). [6]
  4. 1 2 3 SB scores
  5. 1 2 SB scores
  6. ↑ Players are marked in red if there is no permutation of remaining results that allows them to catch up the tournament leader(s) after remaining rounds.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Toronto will host the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournaments". www.fide.com. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  2. ↑ "FIDE Candidates, Women's Candidates 2024 To Be Held In Toronto". Chess.com .
  3. ↑ "FIDE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Cycle 2023 - 2025". FIDE .
  4. ↑ "Qualification for the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2024" (PDF). FIDE .
  5. ↑ FIDE Condemns Military Action; Takes Measures Against Russia, Belarus, chess.com, 28 February 2022
  6. ↑ "Qualification for the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2024" (PDF). FIDE .
  7. 1 2 3 4 Regulations for the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2024, (PDF) FIDE,
  8. ↑ Pairings: accessed 4 March 2024
  9. ↑ "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024". candidates.fide.com. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  10. ↑ "FIDE Candidates 2024". Lichess. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
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