Grandmaster Lei Tingjie has withdrawn from the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024–25 due to personal reasons. According to the WGP regulations, she will be substituted by Grandmaster Zhu Jiner. Zhu Jiner is scheduled to participate in the FIDE WGP stages in Cyprus, India, and Austria.
Zhu Jiner earned the Grandmaster title in 2023 and currently holds the position of China’s fifth-highest ranked female player. In 2016, she was victorious in the Girls’ U14 division of the World Youth Chess Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk.
In 2017, she achieved third place at the Asian Zone 3.5 tournament, following Zhai Mo and Ni Shiqun, which qualified her for the Women’s World Chess Championship 2018. In the same year, she was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master (WIM) title. In 2018, she received the bronze medal at the Women’s China Rapid Chess Championship.
Zhu Jiner participated in the initial three events of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23. In Astana, during the first stage, she secured third place with a score of 6½ out of 11. In Munich, she shared fifth place with 5½ out of 11, and in New Delhi, she tied for first place with Aleksandra Goryachkina and Bibisara Assaubayeva, achieving 6 out of 9 points. Her performance in New Delhi earned her final GM norm, and in August 2023, she officially received the Grandmaster title, becoming the 41st woman in history to reach this milestone.
The fourth stage of the FIDE WGP 2024–25 is set to take place in Cyprus from March 14–25, with Zhu Jiner taking Lei Tingjie’s spot in the competition. The complete pairings can be found here.
The three co-winners displaying their trophies at the New Delhi Grand Prix tournament – Bibisara Assaubayeva, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Zhu Jiner | Photo: Ismael Nieto
