The 2017 FIDE Women's World Championship, officially opened in Tehran on Feb. 10, entered the ninth day on Sunday with the players engaged in the marathon of competitions to determine the women's world champion.

On the last stage of the third round on Sunday, eight players are competing in the knockout format and the winners will advance to the fourth round, Shadi Paridar, the top official with Iran's Women Chess Federation, was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

With four other players previously picked for the next round on Saturday, eight players all together will participate in the competitions of the fourth round to start on Monday, said Paridar.

"All the participants in the competitions have expressed their pleasure for attending this year's games in Iran," she said, adding that Tehran's games have been a new experience for the foreign competitors.

The ongoing games will also have its good impacts for Iran in the future, she said.

On Feb. 11, the top seed Ju Wenjun picked the white pieces in the first round to inaugurate the games in Iran's capital Theran.

With Ju's move, 63 players started the competition in a 6-round, 20-day knockout games.

Hou Yifan chose not to play this time. She also withdrew from the 2015-6 Women's Grand Prix won by World No. 2 Ju Wenjun.

According to the experts, Ju is the favourite to become World Champion this March.

The Women's World Championship is running from Feb. 11 to March 3 in the Espinas Palace Hotel on the northern edge of Tehran.

There would be only one full rest day on Feb. 26 before the final.

The prize fund is 450,000 U.S. dollars, with the new World Champion picking up 60,000 dollars, the runner-up 30,000 dollars and first-round losers also taking home 3,750 dollars.

source: Xinhua