Ankara FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2012
The sixth and final tournament of the FIDE Women's 2011/12 Grand Prix series takes place from 15-29 September in Ankara, Turkey.
The winner of the series determines the challenger for the 2013 Women's World Championship, against reigning champion Hou Yifan.
Despite being the current champion, Hou Yifan is allowed to compete in the Grand Prix events. After five events Hou leads the standings and cannot be caught, so the challenger for her title will be the player who finishes second overall.
Hou Yifan won the first 2 Grand Prix events in Rostov and Shenzhen, while Zhao Xue achieved a crushing victory in the third Grand Prix in Nalchik (where Hou Yifan did not compete). The fourth Grand Prix in Kazan had joint winners - Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk, and the fifth Grand Prix in Jermuk was once again won by Hou Yifan.
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Hou Yifan (centre) with Nadezhda Kosintseva (left) and Kateryna Lahno at the last Grand Prix in Jermuk
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160 points are awarded for a first place finish, 130 for second place, 110 for third, 90 for fourth, and then down in steps of 10. In the case of tied scores, points are shared by the players.
The current Grand Prix series standings (best 3 scores count towards final standings):
| Player | Rostov | Shenzhen | Nalchik | Kazan | Jermuk | Best 3 |
| Hou Yifan | 160 | 160 | — | 100 | 160 | 480 |
| Anna Muzychuk | 100 | 130 | — | 145 | — | 375 |
| Kateryna Lahno | 130 | — | 80 | 50 | 110 | 320 |
| Koneru Humpy | 65 | — | — | 145 | 110 | 320 |
| Ju Wenjun | — | 100 | 130 | — | 75 | 305 |
| Zhao Xue | — | 75 | 160 | — | 60 | 295 |
| Viktorija Cmilyte | — | 35 | 100 | 100 | — | 235 |
| Nadezhda Kosintseva | 80 | — | 55 | 35 | 110 | 245 |
| Tatiana Kosintseva | 100 | — | 55 | 60 | — | 215 |
| Ruan Lufei | 30 | 75 | — | — | 75 | 180 |
| Elina Danielian | 45 | 50 | — | 75 | 45 | 170 |
| Ekaterina Kovalevskaya | 20 | 20 | 100 | — | 30 | 150 |
| Antoaneta Stefanova | 45 | — | 55 | 35 | — | 135 |
| Alisa Galliamova | 65 | — | 30 | 20 | — | 115 |
| Tan Zhongyi | — | 100 | — | — | — | 100 |
| Munguntuul Batkhuyag | — | 60 | 20 | — | 20 | 100 |
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | 10 | — | 10 | 75 | — | 95 |
| Zhu Chen | — | 35 | 55 | — | — | 90 |
| Lilit Mkrtchian | — | — | — | — | 45 | 45 |
| Betul Cemre Yildiz | — | 10 | — | 10 | — | 20 |
| Nino Khurtsidze | — | — | — | — | 10 | 10 |
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Each tournament is a 12-player single round-robin event. The opening round of the Ankara Grand Prix is on 16 September, and the final round is scheduled for the 28 September, with rest days on 20 and 25 September.
The winner of each of the Grand Prix tournaments wins €6,500 out of a prize fund of €40,000. As the overall winner, Hou Yifan also receives a further €15,000.
The regulations for the 2011/12 Grand Prix can be found here.
The participants in the final Ankara Grand Prix are:
| Player | Title | Elo |
| Muzychuk, Anna | GM | 2606 |
| Koneru, Humpy | GM | 2593 |
| Zhao, Xue | GM | 2549 |
| Ju, Wenjun | WGM | 2528 |
| Kosintseva, Tatiana | GM | 2524 |
| Cmilyte, Viktorija | GM | 2520 |
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | GM | 2502 |
| Ruan, Lufei | WGM | 2492 |
| Socko, Monika | GM | 2463 |
| Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | IM | 2434 |
| Yildiz, Betul Cemre | WGM | 2341 |
| Ozturk, Kubra | WGM | 2294 |
More information and coverage is available at the official website.
