The Abacus

After all, the end justifies the means. The fourth and last stage of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23, held in the island of Cyprus, was won by a dark horse, Dinara Mergenovna Dordzhieva-Wagner, the lowest-rated participant. But all eyes were on the combined ranking of the four stages which was to designate the two lucky candidates. And here Russia was successful in achieving its main near-term objectives, as Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno and Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina won the first two places of the Grand Prix, thus earning admission into FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2024, which is scheduled for April of next year in Toronto, Canada.