FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky (GM) has reaffirmed the federation’s commitment to promoting women’s chess through expanded tournament opportunities and continued support for women-specific titles. Speaking at a women’s tournament event in Nicosia, Cyprus, Sutovsky highlighted significant developments in the Women’s Grand Prix series.

Emil Sutovsky

Emil Sutovsky

FIDE CEO

We know for sure that for the vast majority of players elimination of women-only events and women-only titles would lead to a situation that they would not get a support. Be it a state support, private support, company support. We see it very well the women chess … prosper only in countries or certain cities sometimes where you have a support for women chess in particular.

The Women’s Grand Prix has expanded to six stages this year, featuring over 20 professional female players competing for a prize pool of €600,000. The series has already held tournaments across diverse locations including Georgia, Kazakhstan, Monaco, India, and Austria, serving both as qualifier events and standalone tournaments.