FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship

The FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship was an online competition for female players held between June 18 and July 20, 2020. The format consisted of four separate stages. GM Anna Ushenina defeated GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in the Super Final on July 20, 2020.

FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix | Final Standings

• 1. Titled Swiss Tournaments
• 2. Playoff Qualifiers
• 3. Grand Prix
  • Leg 1 Schedule
  • Leg 2 Schedule
  • Leg 3 Schedule
  • Leg 4 Schedule
• 4. Super Final
• Fair Play

1. Titled Swiss Tournaments

The first stage will comprise a total of six Swiss tournaments open to any titled women player (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/FM/IM/GM), to be played between June 18 and June 23.

The first three Swiss tournaments will start at 7 a.m. Pacific time / 16:00 Central Europe. The last three will begin at 9 a.m. Pacific time / 18:00 Central Europe.

Players can register by navigating to the upcoming tournaments tab located at the top right at Chess.com/live starting from one hour before each qualifier begins. 

All participants must have their full legal name in their profile or will be removed from the competition.

These Swiss tournaments will be played under different time controls:

• I & IV are 9-round events with a time control of 5 minutes + 1 second per move.
• II & V are 13-round events with a time control of 3 minutes + 1 second per move.
• III & VI are 21-round events with a time control of 1 minute + 1 second per move.

The eight first players of each Titled Swiss Tournament will qualify for a Playoff Qualifier held right after. Any player is allowed to play an unlimited number of Titled Swiss Tournaments.

2. Playoff Qualifiers

The eight players qualified from each Titled Swiss (from I to VI) play a two-round knockout Playoff Qualifier held the same day, right after the respective Swiss tournament.

These playoffs will be played under the same time-control as the Swiss tournament that preceded them:

• I & IV are two-game matches with the time control 5 minutes + 1 second per move.
• II & V are two-game matches with the time control 3 minutes + 1 second per move.
• III & VI are two-game matches with the time control 1 minute + 1 second per move.

In the case of a tie, an armageddon game is played with 5 minutes vs. 4 minutes and Black having draw odds. The two finalists of each Playoff Qualifier advance to the next stage.

3. Grand Prix

The Grand Prix will consist of four legs, with a total of 21 participants. Each of the 21 players participates in three out of four Grand Prix legs. 

12 players have qualified through the Swiss events and Playoffs, while nine players are seeded. These nine players were nominated by FIDE and Chess.com. 

The full list of seeded players:

• Hou Yifan (China)
• Ju Wenjun (China)
• Kateryna Lagno (Russia)
• Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
• Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)
• Irina Krush (USA)
• Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan)
• Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran)
• Humpy Koneru (India)

The full list of qualified players:

• Valentina Gunina (Russia)
• Harika Dronavalli (India)
• Deysi Cori (Peru)
• Anna Ushenina (Ukraine)
• Tatev Abrahamyan (USA)
• Le Thao Nguyen Pham (Vietnam)
• Vaishali R (India)
• Olga Girya (Russia)
• Munkhzul Turmunkh (Mongolia)
• Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan)
• Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan)
• Ning Kaiyu (China)

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich has selected Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) to be the Women's Speed Chess Championship wild card. She will take part in just one of the Grand Prix legs.

Each Grand Prix leg is a 16-player knockout and will last five days (including one rest day after the semi-finals). The dates will be June 24-28, July 01-05, July 08-12, and July 15-19, with games starting at 5:30 a.m. Pacific time / 14:30 Central Europe.

Allocation of players (X = not playing)

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 Grand Prix leg, every player scores cumulative grand prix points according to her position in the final standings (for details, please the check full tournament regulations). The two players who score the highest number of cumulative grand prix points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for the Super Final.

Each one of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of $10,300 with $3,000 going to the winner.

Grand Prix Leg 1 Schedule

Grand Prix Leg 2 Schedule

Grand Prix Leg 3 Schedule

4. Super Final

The two best players of the Grand Prix will play the Women's Speed Chess Championship Super Final match on the International Chess Day, July 20.

The match will be divided into three segments:

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

Games that start but "run over" the overall countdown clock count towards the final score. The player who accumulates the most points wins the match.

The Super Final has a prize fund of $10,000 with $6,500 going to the winner and $3,500 to the runner-up. These amounts are free of taxes.

Fair Play

Important: All players are subject to random fair play proctoring and therefore must have a webcam and microphone in order to participate. Any player who enters the top-20 in the standings of any Swiss qualifier will be required to join a zoom call with screen share, playing area check, and other fair play measures. This will be a rolling policy for all participants. The zoom link will be sent via Chess.com chat directly in live chess.

Broadcast and streaming:

All FIDE Women's Speed Chess Championship matches will be broadcast live with chess-master commentary onChess.com/TV.