The first leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix Series 2019-2020 will take place in Skolkovo, Russia, on September 10-23. 12 participants will compete in a round-robin event.
The drawing of lots was conducted in FIDE office in Lausanne. The participants got the following starting numbers:
1. Pia Cramling (Sweden), 2. Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), 3. Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany), 4. Valentina Gunina (Russia), 5. Kateryna Lagno (Russia), 6. Humpy Koneru (India), 7. Dronavalli Harika (India), 8. Marie Sebag (France), 9. Alina Kashlinskaya (Russia), 10. Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), 11. Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia), 12. Ju Wenjun (China).
Round 1 pairings:
Cramling - Ju Wenjun, Stefanova - Goryachkina, Paehtz - Kosteniuk, Gunina - Kashlinskaya, Lagno - Sebag, Koneru - Harika.