Kosteniuk wins Monaco GP, Humpy leads Grand Prix

Humpy maintains her lead at the Grand Prix points table

Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk won European Women Individual Rapid and Blitz tournament before Monaco GP. Throughout the event, Kosteniuk was never even in the lead. However in the last round she scored a crucial win and clinched the championship. Humpy needed to beat Goryachkina for Kosteniuk to become champion and that is exactly what happened in their highly anticipated final round match..

Kosteniuk wins her third consecutive tournament

Kosteniuk while analyzing her game said, "Of course I didn't expect Caro-Kann at all for some reason. I prepared for anything else but the Caro-Kann. I had a thought of what if, but then I thought okay."

Kosteniuk - Paehtz

Kosteniuk continued, "Elisabeth repeated the line Mariya Muzychuk already played with me, but I decided to deviate a bit and take on f6. Because I didn't have time to analyze what happened to my game with Mariya."

The eventual champion Kosteniuk felt that her pawn structure is better here.

"I don't know why Elisabeth decided to prevent me from castling longside. You know sometimes you should let your opponent do what she wants. I think Nd7-Re8-Nf8 is more usual approach in this system for black. Because after 9...Na6 she doesn't let me castle long or at least now it looks very dangerous for me, but I can castle short as well." Kosteniuk said.

"She spent a lot of time here. If I play c4 and just 0-0, my position is very very pleasant. That's why I considered mostly for her 11...Bd5. I was not sure whether I need to (short) castle or I can play 12.Be2 or Nh4. Probably 12.Be2 is the move I like the most. 12.0-0 is also what I like but after 12...Bxf3 13.gxf3 I couldn't evaluate the position. I always have this double pawn and my king is weaker. But how to get to the king is not clear. Anyway 11...Bd5 was the main move I considered for her."

"Honestly I think I should have played 14.c5 and 14...b4 is the only move. Now she is playing without a piece, okay for a pawn but I think I have very good compensation, 15.Qc2 g6. 15...g6 or h6 I am not sure. And then transfer either my knight or bishop to d6. Looked very powerful to me but since I hesitated about the evaluation, I was not so sure because she will push her a-pawn and her position is very solid.".

"Here I went for this attack, although I couldn't of course evaluate all the consequences in the position. It felt like I have a very nice initiative but my position, I liked it very much. Of course I was blaming myself at a certain point. I played all-in but in this situation I don't know, I am not sure if it was the right decision because it requires sacrificing. I didn't calculate of course everything."

Find the winning continuation for white.

Kosteniuk on how she felt after winning the game and if she was nervous before the game, "No, actually it was funny because when I got back home, my husband looked at the table and said, 'Well it's such a nice situation, you win tomorrow and Goryachkina loses and you are first.' and I didn't even have this idea that that would be possible for me in any situation to get first. Actually Grand Prix for me and everyone else is a very hard tournament. To finish with a plus score, is a wish come true already, but to finish with a +3, doesn't matter what place I take. Actually it's like I am very happy and I am back to 2500 rating. Yesterday it was 2499. This year has been very difficult for me in Classical chess starting from May to September I was losing points, rating in every single classical tournament I played. Since I played non-stop, it was like -80 or something like that. But I have had nice results in rapid and blitz, so I won't complain. It is my last classical game for this year. Of course I am very happy to win it and to finish the tournament so well. Because it's a very strong tournament."

When asked about if she had taken a look at the other game, "I didn't have time. Well I mean, I looked at first but then after ♘c4, when I went all-in I didn't have time to look or think because it felt like a very pleasant position with no risk but then I found a way to complicate it."

Humpy bested Goryachkina in a long battle

Humpy beat Goryachkina in their highly anticipated match. In the opening, Humpy played 6.Bd3 instead of the 6.Qc2 which she has been playing in the recent times..

Humpy - Goryachkina

Humpy felt that Black shouldn't have played 16...Nc3, as black loses a pawn, although it's an opposite color bishop endgame. Can you find out a better continuation for black.

Goryachkina gave away a pawn which she should have defended.

Find out what black should have done instead.

Humpy felt Black again missed a strong continuation and keeping the queens on the board was a better idea.

Find out the better continuation for black here.

Black's final blunder of the game was 48...f5. It was all over after this. Humpy thought that black should have played 48...Ke7 instead.

Humpy beat Goryachkina in their first encounter since her return | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Lagno beats Cramling

Kateryna Lagno got an advantage out of the opening which she did not have much trouble in conversion. In the endgame she showcased her technical prowess to convert her material advantage.

Anna Muzychuk and Gunina had a short but exciting draw

Even if Anna Muzychuk won her last round game, she would have finished fifth as Kateryna Lagno had won her game. However Gunina fought bravely despite having a forgettable tournament. She tried to spice things up by sacrificing a piece, however Anna is not known to crumble easily, she defended easily and a draw was agreed after a repetition of moves in move no. 33.

Zhao ends on a winning note

Harika completely misplayed the opening against Zhao Xue in the final round. She was in trouble out of the opening. But later Zhao misplayed and Harika managed to equalize. However, Zhao played the rook and knight ending correctly and liquidated into a winning rook ending.

Mariya had a hard fought draw with Dzagnidze

Out of the opening, Mariya seemed to have gotten decent advantage. However, Dzagnidze played carefully and made sure she stays out of trouble. The game eventually liquidated into a queen ending where draw became the obvious outcome of the game.

Grand Prix Standings

Replay Live Stream

All games

Links

Official site

Related news:

	Monaco GP R10: Advantage Goryachkina @ 14/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R9: Goryachkina increases her lead @ 13/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R8: Goryachkina takes sole lead @ 12/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R7: Goryachkina and Humpy stay ahead @ 11/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R6: Goryachkina, Harika and Humpy lead @ 09/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R5: Goryachkina misses a chance to catch up with Humpy @ 08/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R4: Humpy escapes with a draw @ 07/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R3: Anna Muzychuk halts Humpy @ 06/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R2: Humpy continues her sole lead @ 05/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco GP R1: Humpy starts with a gritty win @ 04/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Monaco hosts the best women chess players in the world @ 03/12/2019 by Shahid Ahmed (en)