Three Indians Named As Road To 2028 Women's Candidates Starts With FIDE Grand Prix Showdown

Last Updated:April 01, 2026, 15:52 IST

FIDE Women's Grand Prix features Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali, with new performance based qualification for 2028 Candidates.

Grandmasters Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy, besides R Vaishali, will be among the 20 players who will feature at the upcoming FIDE Grand Prix, which will determine the players who will ultimately take part in the 2028 Candidates.

The upcoming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix season will feature 20 of the world’s top female players. Each will compete in three of the six tournaments, with each event hosting a 10-player round-robin.

The top two performers across the series will earn spots in the 2028 Women’s Candidates Tournament.

With final standings based on cumulative points rather than individual scores, the qualification system rewards both performance and consistency, according to FIDE.

Other than the three Indians, the players already in the fray are Ju Wenjun, Tan Zhongyi, Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Lei Tingjie, Kateryna Lagno, Bibissara Assaubayeva, Anna Muzychuk, Polina Shuvalova, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Carissa Yip.

Shuvalova, Kosteniuk and Yip are the latest qualifiers, earning their spots based on the FIDE April rating list. Their qualification was not solely because of having the highest ratings; they also met the requirement of participating in at least three events, including two individual tournaments, from a designated series held between May 2025 and April 2026.

The biggest change in the new circuit compared to the 2024-2025 edition is in the qualification system: performance in events now carries more weight than pure ratings.

While the previous cycle offered four rating-based spots, the new edition reduces this to three and introduces a stricter, more structured pathway focused on event results.

The tournament prize structure and WGP points remain unchanged. Each event carries a minimum prize fund of €80,000 (Rs 86.59 lakh), with a series-end pool of €120,000 contributed (€20,000) by the six organisers.

Tournament winners earn 130 WGP points and €18,000 (Rs 19.48 lakh), with second place receiving €13,000 and prizes descending to €3,500 for 10th place.

The first stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-2025 took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, from August 14, 2024. Humpy won the fifth stage, which was staged in India, while Deshmukh finished third.

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