| Women's World Chess Championship 2017 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Tan Zhongyi at the 2016 Chess Olympiad. | |
| Location | Tehran, Iran |
| Dates | 10 February – 4 March 2017 |
| Competitors | 64 |
| Champion | |
 Tan Zhongyi | |
The Women's World Chess Championship 2017 was a 64-player knock-out tournament, to decide the women's world chess champion. The final was won by Tan Zhongyi over Anna Muzychuk in the rapid tie-breaks.[1]
At the FIDE General Assembly during the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku in September 2016, the organizational rights to the event were awarded to Iran, who held the Championship in Tehran from 10 February to 4 March 2017.[2]
Some top female players decided not to attend the tournament. Hou Yifan, the outgoing women's world champion and top ranked female player, decided not to enter the tournament because of dissatisfaction with FIDE's Women's World Championship system.[3] The 2015 Women's World Champion, Mariya Muzychuk, and US Women's Champion Nazí Paikidze also elected not to attend, out of protest at the tournament's location in Iran, where it is mandatory for all women to wear a hijab in public (a rule which also applied to the participating players). Other notable absentees were women's world number four Humpy Koneru and eight-time US Women's Champion Irina Krush.[4]
On 12 May 2017 FIDE suspended the Chess Federation of Iran for non-payment of Women's World Championship prizes.[5] On 2 June 2017, the ban was lifted.[6]
- ^ "Tan Zhongyi is the Women World Chess Champion!". chessdom.com. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "General Assembly 2016 Decisions". FIDE. 2016-09-27.
- ^ Friedel, Frederic (20 May 2016). "Why Hou Yifan has dropped out of the cycle". Chess News. ChessBase.
- ^ Fischer, Johannes (2017-01-12). "Women's World Championship 2017: Who plays, who doesn't?". Chess News. ChessBase.
- ^ "FIDE suspended Chess Federation of Iran – Chessdom".
- ^ "International Chess Federation – FIDE".