FIDE Women's World Chess Championship 2017

The FIDE Women's World Chess Championship will take place from February 10 – March 5 2017 in Tehran, Iran.

The knock-out tournament will have the participation of some of the world’s top players, including the former Women’s World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), Anna Ushenina (Ukraine), Zhu Chen (Qatar), and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), the current Women’s World Rapid and Blitz Champion Anna Muzychuk, the winner of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2015-2016 Ju Wenjun (China), the three-time Russian champion and two-time European Champion Valentina Gunina and other leading grandmasters.

The first five rounds consist of mini-matches of two games with 90 minutes per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with bonus 30 seconds per each move. The final match consists of four games.

If the match score is tied, the winner is determined by an accelerating tiebreak system: two rapid games of 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. If the score remains equal, the players proceed to another two games with a slightly faster time control – 10 minutes + 10 seconds per move. If these games do not determine the winner as well, then there are two blitz games: 5 minutes + 3 seconds per move. Finally, if the score is still even, there is an Armageddon game: White has five minutes, Black has four minutes, and a three-second increment per move after the move 61.

The first five rounds consist of two games with 90 moves per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with bonus 30 seconds per each move. The final match consists of four games.

The total prize fund of the Championship is US $450,000. Every player gets 3750$, those who make it to round two get 5500$, for round three it is 8000$, round four 12,000$, round five (semifinals) 20,000$, the silver medalist 30,000$, and the winner 60,000$.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Espinas Palace Hotel at 6 pm on 10th of February. The President of Iran H.E. Hassan Rouhani is expected to attend the ceremony. The President of the Republic of Moldova, the President of the Moldovan Chess Federation H.E. Igor Dodon, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, the President of the Iranian Chess Federation Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh will be in attendance at the opening ceremony and the first round of the championship.

Schedule: Round 1 – February 11-13, Round 2 – February 14-16, Round 3 – February 17-19, Quarterfinals – February 20-22, Semifinals – February 23-25, Finals – February 27 – 3 March. Closing ceremony – 4th of March. February 26 is a day off. All games start at 1500h local time.

For press credentials please contact the FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Official website of the FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship