FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 and FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 will simultaneously take place in Douglas, Isle of Man, from October 25 to November 8, 2021.
International Chess Federation FIDE has recently updated regulations for the events, clarifying the qualification criteria.
According to updates, FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 will gather 114 chess players:
- 100 players will qualify by their average rating in the period from 1st July 2020 to 1st June 2021
- Women’s World Champion GM Ju Wenjun has a special right to participate the event
- Four Continent spots decided by the respective Continental President
- Four players nominated by the FIDE President
- The Organiser is entitled to include five additional players of their own choice.
Read more – Ju Wenjun: “I want to improve my rating over 2600”

The event features a total prize fund of 425.000$, with 70.000$ reserved for the Winner. Despite money prizes, the Winner and the runner-up will qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022. In case that one or both players have already qualified for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022, the qualification spot will go to the highest ranked player who did not qualified for the FIDE Candidates 2022.
On the other side, FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 will gather 50 female participants according to following criteria:
- 40 players will qualify by their average rating in the period from 1st July 2020 to 1st June 2021.
- Four continent spots decided by the respective Continental President
- Three players nominated by the FIDE President
- The Organiser is entitled to include three additional players of their own choice.
The total prize fund of FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 will be 125.000$ and the Winner of the event will qualify for the Women’s Candidates Tournament 2022 winning a prize of 20.000$.
The venues of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 & FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 will be the Royal Hall of the Villa Marina in Douglas, Isle of Man. Royall Hall of the Villa Marina with a capacity for 1500 people, has hosted five Isle of Man Internationals, from 2014 to 2018.

FIDE General Assembly 2020 approved the admission of the Isle of Man Chess Association as FIDE affiliated organization, recognizing the island’s contribution to chess. The status of “Affiliated organization” given to the Isle of Man is slightly bellow the status of “Member organization” which would demand a territory to be recognized by the United Nations and International Olympic Committee.
