Yesterday FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov arrived to Doha, Qatar where the Women's FIDE Grand Prix is taking place from 20 February to 6 March 2011. On the Opening Ceremony of the event FIDE President  delivered a greeting speech to all the participants and guests and took the opportunity to congratulate all women on the forthcoming International Women's Day.

FIDE Honorary Vice President Mr. Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi also took part in the Opening Ceremony.

The participants of the event include four former Women World Champions: Xu Yuhua, Maia Chiburdanidze, Antoaneta Stefanova and Zhu Chen and the fifth one – Nona Gaprindashvili – is a Head of the Appeal Committee. The winner of the tournament will receive 6,500 Euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 Euros and the overall winner of the series will win a further 15,000 Euros at the end of the series.

Games start: Rounds 1-10 at 3:00 PM local time and round 11 at 12 AM local time.

Rest day: February 27th (after round 6).

The official tournament web site: http://qatar2011.fide.com/