FIDE Women's Grand Prix Series

Four Women's Grand Prix Events in 2010 (continuing from 2009):

April 25 - May 8, 2010 Nalchik (where?) - somewhere in Russia.  This is obviously the Russian government's attempt to convince locals and the uninformed world in general that Nalchik is perfectly safe for ladies.  Darlings, I'm not convinced - but - whatever.

This is the line-up:
NAME TITLE COUNTRY

Koneru, Humpy GM IND (second highest rated female in the world)
Yifan, Hou GM CHN (third highest rated female in the world)
Cramling, Pia GM SVE (just won 2010 European Women's Individual Chess Championship)
Dzagnidze, Nana GM GEO
Xue, Zhao GM CHN
Kosintseva, Tatiana IM RUS
Chen, Zhu GM QTR (former Women's World Chess Champion)
Danielian, Elina IM ARM
Batkhuyag, Munguntuul WGM MGL
Yildiz, Betul WIM TRK
Mrktchian, Lilit IM ARM
Kovanova, Baira WGM RUS

The 4th Grand Prix will take place in Jermuk, Armenia, on 23rd June - 6th July 2010

The 5th Grand Prix will take place in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia, on 29 July - 12 August 2010

The 6th Grand Prix will take place in Santiago, Chile, on 27th October - 9th November 2010

The first Grand Prix was in Istanbul 5th-20th March 2009 and was won by Humpy Koneru. The 2nd Grand Prix was in Nanjing, China, 27th Sept - 9th October 2009 and was won by Xu Yuhua.

Not a single Women's Grand Prix in North America. I don't understand this. We've got money here - we've got experienced organizers. Yes, I know the USCF is bankrupt, but the Chess Club and Scholastic Chess Center of St. Louis (Missouri) has big money backers. What about Continental Chess stepping up and putting together some big money sponsorship? Surely after 30 plus years of being in business it could put it's contacts to use to advance women's chess. What about someone approaching one of the cosmetic companies or P&G about major sponsorship of some of the best female chessplayers in the world - many of whom are very lovely ladies. Brains and Beauty - there could be an entire ad campaign put together starting with some hot blitz chess spots on You Tube.

Hell, I'm no marketer. But why is it Mongolia can host a Grand Prix event - okay, like what is the Gross National Product of Mongolia? And the United States of America cannot?