Association of Chess Professionals expresses its deep concern on female tournaments' calendar for year 2009.

The new Grand Prix event series are created this year, which is undoubtedly an excellent innovation in women chess. However, the first stage of the Grand Prix (Turkey, 5-20.03) has clashed with the European championship (Russia, 7-21.03). The second stage (China, 27.09-10.10) is scheduled for the same dates as the European Club Cup (Macedonia, 3-11.10). Thus, professionals face a difficult choice now as they cannot participate in both major events. The organizers cannot count on strongest players' participation.

Since the calendar of female tournaments is not overloaded at the moment, and there are months free from female competitions, we kindly ask you to avoid a clash of major female competitions.