ULAN BATOR, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The fifth Women's Chess Grand Prix opened here on Thursday.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said,"the tournament is the highest ranking in the history of women's chess championships and tournaments.
In the tournament, four former world champions will compete simultaneously.
Minister of Education, Culture and Science of Government of Mongolia and chairman of the organizing committee of the tournament, Yondon Otgonbayar said: "It is first time that a Grand Prix international tournament of this scale is being held in Mongolia. "
"Mongolia has a long chess history. I would like to announce now that Government of Mongolia decided to include chess in curriculum of secondary schools of Mongolia starting Sept. 1 when school year starts," he added.
Government of Mongolia and Mongolian Chess Federation and World Chess Federation or FIDE are co-organizing the tournament.
The most outstanding 12 women chess players from Mongolia, France, Qatar, Turkey, China, India, Russia and Bulgaria will be competing in the tournament.
China is represented by Hou Yifan and Shen Yang, Xu Yuhua and Zhao Xue.
The tournament will end on Aug. 12.
