2011-2012 Women's Grand Prix

I added a new page for the 2011-2012 FIDE Women's Grand Prix to my index on the World Chess Championship for Women. The first of the six events started this week; for more information, see the official site rostov2011.fide.com.

In contrast to the unrestricted championship, discussed in my previous post FIDE's Got a Secret, FIDE has found a stable, workable format for the women's cycle. From the Regulations for the 2011-2012 Women's FIDE Grand Prix:-

The winner of the Grand Prix series at the end of 2012 will play the Women World Champion in the third quarter of 2013 in a ten game match for the Women’s World Championship title. Should the overall winner of the Grand Prix also be the World Champion at the end of the Grand Prix series in 2012, then the Challenger rights will go to the second placed overall in the Grand Prix.

As I understand it, the reigning Women's World Champion 'in the third quarter of 2013', will be the winner of a knockout event to be held in 2012. This event is currently listed on the FIDE calendar as 'Women's World Championship 2012, Khanty Mansiysk, Russia' without any dates.