In case of a tie, tiebreaks were played the next day, consisting of two rapid games and—if still tied—an Armageddon match.
The title was won by Hou Yifan from China who beat her compatriot Ruan Lufei in the final by 5–3, at 16 years of age making her the youngest Women's World Chess Champion in history.
The number one woman in the world, Judit Polgár, never competed for the women's title and did not enter this time either.
Other names missing from the top 20 were: Irina Krush (17th), former finalist Alisa Galliamova (19th) and ex-champion Xu Yuhua (20th).
Iweta Rajlich and Arianne Caoili were listed as participants but unable to attend; their scheduled opponents, Jovanka Houska and Ju Wenjun, were given byes through to the second round.