GM Anna Muzychuk has won the 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix on tiebreaks over GM Zhu Jiner, but said afterward, “it has never been so sad to win an event.” Anna made a draw against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu which would have given her a spot in the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament if GM Alexandra Kosteniuk had converted a winning position against GM Zhu Jiner. She didn’t, with Zhu tying for first place in Austria and winning the overall series, while GM Aleksandra Goryachkina took the remaining Candidates spot.
The final round of the Grosslobming Grand Prix was a thriller, with the curiosity that the only decisive action came in the two games that weren’t significant in the fight for the top spots.
Grosslobming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Round 9 Results
The end result was that Anna Muzychuk took first place—on the tiebreak of playing more games with the black pieces—and Zhu Jiner was second on tiebreaks for a third Grand Prix in a row.
Grand Prix points and prize money are shared, however, with both Anna and Zhu earning €15,500 (~$17k) and 117.5 points. GM Tan Zhongyi could have joined the tie for first place, but finished clear third after spoiling a completely winning position against GM Mariya Muzychuk.
Grosslobming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Final Standings
| Rank | Name | FED | Rating | Points | Black | GP Points | Prize (€) | |
| 1 | GM | Anna Muzychuk | 2526 | 6 | 5 | 117.5 | 15,500 | |
| 2 | GM | Zhu Jiner | 2541 | 6 | 4 | 117.5 | 15,500 | |
| 3 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 2536 | 5.5 | 5 | 85 | 10,500 | |
| 4 | GM | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2475 | 5 | 4 | 70 | 8,500 | |
| 5 | GM | Nana Dzagnidze | 2509 | 4.5 | 5 | 55 | 6,500 | |
| 6 | GM | Mariya Muzychuk | 2494 | 4.5 | 4 | 55 | 6,500 | |
| 7 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2479 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 4,750 | |
| 8 | IM | Lela Javakhishvili | 2430 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 4,750 | |
| 9 | IM | Olga Badelka | 2426 | 3.5 | 4 | 20 | 4,000 | |
| 10 | IM | Nurgyul Salimova | 2399 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 3,500 |
Zhu’s stunning consistency was rewarded with first place in the overall series, an additional €30,000 (~$34k), and a spot in the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament. Goryachkina had looked like she might pay a high price for her conservative play in the Nicosia Grand Prix (she finished with eight draws and one win), but in the end she scraped home by a less than two-point margin to deny Anna Muzychuk a spot in the Candidates.
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-25 Final Standings
| Rank | Player | Tbilisi | Shymkent | Monaco | Nicosia | Pune | G’lobming | Total | Prize (€) |
| 1 | Zhu Jiner | 117.5 | 117.5 | 117.5 | 352.5 | 30,000 | |||
| 2 | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 130 | 106.67 | 71.67 | 308.34 | 22,000 | |||
| 3 | Anna Muzychuk | 71.67 | 117.5 | 117.5 | 306.67 | 16,000 | |||
| 4 | Koneru Humpy | 55 | 106.67 | 117.5 | 279.17 | 12,000 | |||
| 5 | Tan Zhongyi | 105 | 65 | 85 | 255 | 10,000 | |||
| 6 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 105 | 77.5 | 15 | 197.5 | 8,000 | |||
| 7 | Divya Deshmukh | 55 | 40 | 85 | 180 | 7,000 | |||
| 8-9 | Nana Dzagnidze | 71.67 | 50 | 55 | 176.67 | 5,500 | |||
| 8-9 | Mariya Muzychuk | 50 | 71.67 | 55 | 176.67 | 5,500 | |||
| 10 | Stavroula Tsolakidou | 71.67 | 77.5 | 25 | 174.17 | 4,000 | |||
| 11 | Harika Dronavalli | 35 | 71.67 | 65 | 171.67 | ||||
| 12 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 35 | 50 | 70 | 155 | ||||
| 13 | Alina Kashlinskaya | 130 | 20 | 150 | |||||
| 14 | Batkhuyag Munguntuul | 15 | 106.67 | 20 | 141.67 | ||||
| 15 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 35 | 50 | 35 | 120 | ||||
| 16 | Kateryna Lagno | 40 | 65 | 105 | |||||
| 17 | Nurgyul Salimova | 30 | 40 | 10 | 80 | ||||
| 18 | Polina Shuvalova | 65 | 65 | ||||||
| 19 | Lela Javakhishvili | 20 | 35 | 55 | |||||
| 20-21 | Sarasadat Khademalsharieh | 10 | 35 | 45 | |||||
| 20-21 | Olga Badelka | 25 | 20 | 45 | |||||
| 22 | Elisabeth Paehtz | 15 | 15 | 10 | 40 | ||||
| 23 | Salome Melia | 20 | 20 |
🇨🇳 Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina have officially qualified for the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament! ✨
By finishing at the top of the overall standings in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, Zhu and Goryachkina secured their spots, edging out a strong field — including… pic.twitter.com/wpLj8cmsX9
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) May 15, 2025
The final round was a thriller, with Anna Muzychuk knowing she had to finish in clear first place to qualify for the Candidates. That made her game against Vaishali almost must-win, but there was another scenario where a draw would suffice… and it very nearly happened!
First, it was important that Tan didn’t win, which looked a non-starter when she gained a decisive advantage after 32…Be7? 33.Bb2!. White was winning on the board and on the clock, where Tan had a 50-minute advantage. Remarkably, however, Anna’s sister would go on to save the game!
So Mariya had done her part, while for a draw to be enough for Anna it was also essential for Zhu to lose.
That didn’t seem likely, but one slip in a minor-piece endgame, 43…Kd5?, and Kosteniuk was winning. Four moves later, however, she let her Chinese opponent off the hook.
Zhu had completed a remarkable comeback to tie for first place for a third Grand Prix in a row despite starting off with two losses—one of them, to Anna Muzychuk.
Anna could still have won the event outright and qualified for the Candidates if she’d beaten Vaishali, but despite keeping the tension expertly and playing 41.h5! at a good moment, there was never a clear win—the opposite-colored bishops always meant that any ending was favorite to end in a draw.
When Milan Dinic congratulated Anna on winning the tournament and asked how she felt, she was close to tears: “Hard to say, because of course it’s great to win the event, but at the same time I think it has never been so sad to win an event.”
It’s great to win the event, but at the same time I think it has never been so sad to win an event.
—Anna Muzychuk
Anna took first place on tiebreaks in both Austria and Cyprus, but fell just short, though it’s worth noting there are still six spots in the Candidates up for grabs via events such as the FIDE Women’s World Cup.
The decisive games on the final day came in matchups that didn’t matter for the standings at the top, but they were still dramatic. IM Lela Javakhishvili teased IM Nurgyul Salimova by repeating moves twice before continuing with 36…Be4!. If the bishop is taken the black knight will recapture and fork the king on f2 and rook on c3, winning the game.
Salimova was able just to leave the bishop untouched, but three moves later she’d put a pawn on e4 and fell to the same tactic, 39…Bxe4!, which this time was decisive. There was no way back from the loss of that key pawn.
The other game saw IM Olga Badelka follow a line that had given GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu victory over GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen in this year’s Prague Masters. GM Nana Dzagnidze avoided the first mistake made in that game, but still found herself lost in around 17 moves. That the game lasted until move 98 said more about Dzagnidze’s fighting spirit, with Badelka struggling to come up with a way she could have spoiled the win.
So that’s all for the 2024-5 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. The next event to look forward to in the women’s world championship cycle is the 103-player FIDE World Cup that will be held in Batumi, Georgia on July 5-29. The top-three finishers there will also qualify for the eight-player Women’s Candidates Tournament.
How to rewatch?
You can rewatch the broadcast on FIDE’s YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by Angelika Valkova and GM Felix Blohberger.
The 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women’s Grand Prix was the sixth and final leg of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin ran May 6-15 in Grosslobming, Austria. Players had 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize was €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20+ players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.
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