The 3rd Grand Prix of the 2011/12 Women's Grand Prix Series starts in Nalchik, Russia on 8 October. The Grand Prix is a series of six tournaments to determine the challenger for the 2013 Women's World Championship. The regulations for the 2011/12 Grand Prix can be found here.
The winner of each of the six Grand Prix tournaments in the series will win 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros, and the overall winner will win a further 15,000 euros.
Current women's world champion Hou Yifan won the first two Grand Prix events, in Rostov and Shenzhen, but will not be taking part in Nalchik.
The Nalchik line-up:
| Nadezhda Kosintseva |
RUS |
2560 |
| Katerina Lahno |
UKR |
2554 |
| Tatiana Kosintseva |
RUS |
2536 |
| Ju Wenjun |
CHN |
2536 |
| Antoaneta Stefanova |
BUL |
2528 |
| Viktorija Cmilyte |
LTU |
2525 |
| Alisa Galliamova |
RUS |
2498 |
| Zhao Xue |
CHN |
2497 |
| Zhu Chen |
QTR |
2490 |
| Alexandra Kosteniuk |
RUS |
2469 |
| Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
MGL |
2465 |
| Ekaterina Kovalevskaya |
RUS |
2421 |
Sisters Tatiana (left) and Nadezhda (right) Kosintseva will both play in Nalchik
The tournament schedule:
| 08-Oct |
Opening Ceremony |
| 09-Oct |
Round 1 |
| 10-Oct |
Round 2 |
| 11-Oct |
Round 3 |
| 12-Oct |
Round 4 |
| 13-Oct |
Free Day |
| 14-Oct |
Round 5 |
| 15-Oct |
Round 6 |
| 16-Oct |
Round 7 |
| 17-Oct |
Round 8 |
| 18-Oct |
Free Day |
| 19-Oct |
Round 9 |
| 20-Oct |
Round 10 |
| 21-Oct |
Closing Ceremony |
| 22-Oct |
Departure |
More information and coverage is available at the official website.