Jermuk FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2012
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia takes place from 16-29 July 2012.
The Jermuk Women's Grand Prix is the fifth in a series of six tournaments to determine the challenger for the 2013 Women's World Championship, against reigning champion Hou Yifan.
The tournament format is a 12-player single round-robin event. The opening round is on 17 July, and the final round is scheduled for the 28 July, with a rest day on 23 July.
The winner of each of the six Grand Prix tournaments in the series will win €6,500 out of a prize fund of €40,000, and the overall winner will win a further €15,000.
The regulations for the 2011/12 Grand Prix can be found here.
There are two new players in the Jermuk Grand Prix: Lilit Mkrtchian and Nino Khurtsidze replace Alexandra Kosteniuk and Zhu Chen who have withdrawn.
The participants in the Jermuk Grand Prix are:
| Name | Nat | Elo |
| Hou Yifan | CHN | 2617 |
| Humpy Koneru | IND | 2598 |
| Zhao Xue | CHN | 2556 |
| Kateryna Lahno | UKR | 2537 |
| Ju Wenjun | CHN | 2518 |
| Nadezhda Kosintseva | RUS | 2516 |
| Ruan Lufei | CHN | 2483 |
| Elina Danielian | ARM | 2480 |
| Nino Khurtsidze | GEO | 2456 |
| Lilit Mkrtchian | ARM | 2450 |
| Munguntuul Batkhuyag | MGL | 2447 |
| Ekaterina Kovalevskaya | RUS | 2417 |
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Hou Yifan won the first 2 Grand Prix events in Rostov and Shenzhen, while Zhao Xue took achieved a crushing victory in the third Grand Prix in Nalchik (Hou Yifan did not compete there). The fourth Grand Prix in Kazan had joint winners - Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk.
Anna Muzychuk (left) and Humpy Koneru (right) receive their prizes in Kazan from the FIDE president
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The current standings in the Grand Prix are:
| Player | Rostov | Shenzhen | Nalchik | Kazan | Best 3 |
| Hou Yifan | 160 | 160 | 100 | 420 | |
| Anna Muzychuk | 100 | 130 | 145 | 375 | |
| Kateryna Lahno | 130 | 80 | 50 | 260 | |
| Viktorija Cmilyte | 35 | 100 | 100 | 235 | |
| Zhao Xue | 75 | 160 | 235 | ||
| Ju Wenjun | 100 | 130 | 230 | ||
| Tatiana Kosintseva | 100 | 55 | 60 | 215 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 65 | 145 | 210 | ||
| Nadezhda Kosintseva | 80 | 55 | 35 | 170 | |
| Elina Danielian | 45 | 50 | 75 | 170 | |
| Ekaterina Kovalevskaya | 20 | 20 | 100 | 140 | |
| Antoaneta Stefanova | 45 | 55 | 35 | 135 | |
| Alisa Galliamova | 65 | 30 | 20 | 115 | |
| Ruan Lufei | 30 | 75 | 105 | ||
| Tan Zhongyi | 100 | 100 | |||
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | 10 | 10 | 75 | 95 | |
| Zhu Chen | 35 | 55 | 90 | ||
| Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 60 | 20 | 80 | ||
| Betul Cemre Yildiz | 10 | 10 | 20 | ||
| Nino Khurtsidze | 0 | ||||
| Lilit Mkrtchian | 0 |
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If Hou Yifan wins the overall Grand Prix, then the challenger for her world championship title will be the player who finishes second in the series.
The Jermuk Grand Prix schedule:
| Day | Date | Event |
| Day 1 | 16-July | Arrival & Opening Ceremony |
| Day 2 | 17-July | Round 1 |
| Day 3 | 18-July | Round 2 |
| Day 4 | 19-July | Round 3 |
| Day 5 | 20-July | Round 4 |
| Day 6 | 21-July | Round 5 |
| Day 7 | 22-July | Round 6 |
| Day 8 | 23-July | Rest Day |
| Day 9 | 24-July | Round 7 |
| Day 10 | 25-July | Round 8 |
| Day 11 | 26-July | Round 9 |
| Day 12 | 27-July | Round 10 |
| Day 13 | 28-July | Round 11 & Closing Ceremony |
| Day 14 | 29-July | Departure |
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More information and coverage is available at the official website.
