The FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online event where titled women players will play a series of blitz and bullet matches for a share of the $70,000 prize fund. The qualifiers for the event happen May 24-27, with the main event starting on June 13 and ending on July 21.
Schedule
There are two qualifiers for the 2022 Women Speed Chess Championship, with the first one starting on May 24 and the second on May 26. The main event begins on June 13.
Below you can find the schedule of the qualifiers and main event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship:
Qualifiers
Qualifier 1: May 24-25 (4 a.m. PT/13:00 CET)
Qualifier 2: May 26-27 (8 a.m. PT/17:00 CET)
Main Event
Round of 16: June 13-July 7
Quarterfinals: July 8-14
Semifinals: July 19-20
Finals: July 21
Players
14 invited players will be joined by two players who win the qualifiers:
GM Hou Yifan
IM Bibisara Assaubayeva
GM Humpy Koneru
GM Kateryna Lagno
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
GM Harika Dronavalli
GM Valentina Gunina
GM Zhongyi Tan
IM Carissa Yip
GM Nana Dzagnidze
IM Elisabeth Paehtz
IM Vaishali R
WGM Deysi Cori
IM Polina Shuvalova
Winner of Qualifier #1
Winner of Qualifier #2
Prizes
The event has a $70,000 prize fund
Qualifiers
The qualifiers have a $5,000 prize fund, with $2,500 going for each qualifier:
1st: $500
2nd: $500
3rd-4th: $350
5th-8th: $200
The winner from each of the qualifiers also earns a spot at the Main Event.
Format
Below you’ll find the format for each part of the event.
Qualifiers
There are two qualifiers for the Main Event
The qualifiers are open to all FIDE titled women players (WCM/WFM/WIM/WGM/CM/FM/IM/GM), except for players who already qualified for the main event
Each qualifier consists of a Swiss tournament followed by a knockout playoff with the top-8 finishers from the Swiss
Each qualifier happens across two days, with the Swiss occurring on day one and the knockout playoff on day two
The time control for the Swiss is 3+1
The top eight players from the Swiss move on to the knockout playoffs
Playoff matches consist of two 5+1 games, four 3+1 games, and eight 1+1 games
The first player to score 7.5 points wins
Qualifier Tiebreakers
Quarterfinals and semifinals:
Players play 1+1 games with colors alternating from the last game until a decisive result determines the winner
Finals:
Players play a four-game 1+1 mini-match
If the tie persists, a single armageddon game with a bidding system decides the winner. White starts the game with five minutes on their clock. Both players communicate privately the amount of time they are willing to give away to play as Black. The player willing to play with the lowest amount of time wins the bid and plays as Black with draw odds. If the bid is tied, the higher-seeded player chooses the color.
Main Event
16-player bracket, with the two qualified players joining the 14 invited players
Matches consist of three segments:
90 minutes of 5+1 games
60 minutes of 3+1 games
30 minutes of 1+1 games
Games that begin before the timer of a segment runs out count toward the final score
Players earn 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss
The player who accumulates the most points wins the match
Main Event Tiebreaks
If a match is tied after the last 1+1 game, players play a four-game 1+1 mini-match
If the tie persists, a single armageddon game with a bidding system decides the winner. White starts the game with five minutes on their clock. Both players communicate privately the amount of time they are willing to give away to play as Black. The player willing to play with the lowest amount of time wins the bid and plays as Black with draw odds. If the bid is tied, the higher-seeded player chooses the color.
Rules
Only women with official FIDE titles can participate in the tournament.
Participants who play in the knockout events or in the main event have to set up two cameras and share their screens with Chess.com and FIDE for Fair Play enforcement.
Players who decide to stream the event must set their chat in emote-only mode.
Players directly invited to the Main Event and players who already qualified for the Main Event from one of the qualifiers are not eligible to participate in the remaining qualifiers.
How To Participate
If you are a FIDE titled woman player who has already had your FIDE title verified by Chess.com, you have been automatically placed into a private club on Chess.com created exclusively for this event. You can join the qualifiers by going to the club’s Upcoming Events page and joining the tournaments.
Fair Play
Standard Chess.com Fair Play rules applied.
