We inspire to support female chess players to actively take part in the solely women’s tournaments in Europe, especially in the closed (norm) ones and this way to support and promote tournament’s organizers as well. We had done so by lunching “European Women’s Chess Trophy” in 2023, an initiative that financially rewards women and girls in the categories mentioned below.
| Categories and prizes in EUR | 1. Prize | 2. Prize | 3. Prize |
| Junior (U20) | 700 | 500 | 300 |
| Best female player up to 2200 | 1000 | 600 | 400 |
| Best female player between 2201 – 2400 | 1000 | 600 | 400 |
| Best female player above 2400 | 1000 | 600 | 400 |
CRITERIA – TOURNAMENTS
- Only female tournaments will be considered for the calculation: women’s closed tournaments (at least WIM level and with at least three different federations participating), European Girls’ Youth Championship (U16-U18), European Women Individual Championship, European Women’s Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, European Women’s Chess Club Cup (only European female players will be considered), Women’s Chess Olympiad (only European female players will be considered) , European Junior U20 Chess Championship
CRITERIA – CALCULATION
- To be based on POINTS (below) and PERFORMANCE system.
- Launching point of calculation: January 1, 2026, reflecting each tournament separately (month), till December 31, 2026 (except for European Women’s Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2026 which ends on January 11, 2027).
- To be included in one of the prize categories, the player must participate at least at 2 women’s tournaments (it is not mandatory to score points in both tournaments).
- TOP 3 Best female players per tournament in all four categories will be considered for the prizes.
- Each female player can win only one prize. If two or more players end up with the same number of points, number of games played per year will decide. The next criteria will be overall (better) performance.
- Women’s Chess Olympiad – the best performance from the official Board prizes
- European Women Chess Club Cup– the best performance from the official Board prizes
POINTS SYSTEM (all four categories)
| RANKING in the tournament (based on performance) |
POINTS |
| 1.Place | 60 / 80* |
| 2.Place | 40 / 60* |
| 3.Place | 20 / 40* |
*For the European Women Championship we will allocate more points: 80/60/40
We will quarterly publish a preliminary list with an overview of current points and players after the tournaments (that are included in our calendar) have been finished.
There is no need to register for this initiative, we will automatically include all female players who participate at above mentioned tournaments.
It is in our interest to include as many closed female tournaments as possible. If you would like to be a part of this initiative, as an organizer, and support female players this way, and promote your female event, please drop us a message and we will gladly include you.
The tournament’s list is not definite and will expand throughout the year, as we will also regularly announce an “Open call of interest” for all organizers of women’s tournaments.
The program is “Supported by the FIDE Development fund“.