The final four were GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 24, of Russia; GM Pia Cramling, 45, of Sweden; Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan, 14; and the top seed, GM Koneru Humpy, 21, of India.
Hou eliminated Koneru in two blitz games after their classical match and two rapid games ended in a tie. Kosteniuk, for her part, defeated Cramling by winning the first game and drawing the second.
In the four-game final, the Russian GM outplayed the Chinese whiz kid in their first game and drew the rest to win the title.
Born on April 23, 1984 in Perm, Volga federal district, Alexandra Kostantinovna Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father. In 2001, at the age of 17, she reached the final of the World Women’s Chess Championship, but was defeated by Zhu Chen. Three years later, she became female European champion. She won the 2005 Russian Women’s Championship, finishing with a score of +7 =4 -0. In Aug. 2006, she became the first Chess960 or Fischer Random women world champion after beating Germany’s top female player Elisabeth Pähtz 5.5-2.5. She defended that title successfully in 2008 by beating Kateryna Lahno 2.5-1.5.
She received the international grandmaster title in Nov. 2004, becoming only the 10th woman to receive the highest title of the World Chess Federation,
Kosteniuk’s mottos have been “chess is cool” and “beauty and intelligence can go together.” She is married to Swiss-born Diego Garces, who is of Colombian descent. On April 22, 2007 Alexandra gave birth to a daughter, Francesca Maria.
The complete list of the women world champs:
| Vera Menchik | 1927-1944 | Czechoslovakia/U.K. |
| Lyudmila Rudenko | 1950-1953 | Soviet Union (Ukraine) |
| Elisabeth Bykova | 1953-1956 | Soviet Union (Russia) |
| Olga Rubtsova | 1956-1958 | Soviet Union (Russia) |
| Elisabeth Bykova | 1958-1962 | Soviet Union (Russia) |
| Nona Gaprindashvili | 1962-1978 | Soviet Union (Georgia) |
| Maya Chiburdanidze | 1978-1991 | Soviet Union (Georgia) |
| Xie Jun | 1991-1996 | China |
| Susan Polgar | 1996-1999 | Hungary/USA |
| Xie Jun | 1999-2001 | China |
| Zhu Chen | 2001-2004 | China |
| Antoaneta Stefanova | 2004-2006 | Bulgaria |
| Xu Yuhua | 2006-2008 | China |
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2008 | Russia |
Game of the week. IM Malcolm Pein annotates the game that gave the world title to Kosteniuk.
White: Hou Yifan (2557)
Black: A. Kosteniuk (2510)
Ruy Lopez
Women’s World Championship
Nalchik 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.a3 (After 8.c3 d5 the Marshall Attack is a lot to learn. Now if 8…d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 is still playable but with no pawn on c2 the white knight can be developed to c3) 8…d6 9.c3 Bg4 10.d3 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.h3 Bd7 13.d4 (Having played d2-d3-d4 and a3 White is a tempo down on the standard lines of the Ruy Lopez) 13…Qc7 14.d5 c4 15.Nbd2 Nb7 (Improving the worst piece, a good plan in almost any position) 16.Nf1 Nc5 17.g4? (Bad timing, better 17.Ng3) 17…h5! 18.N3h2 hxg4 19.hxg4 Qc8 20.f3 Nh7! 21.Ng3 Bg5! 22.Nf5 Qd8 23.Kg2 g6 24.Ng3 Kg7 25.Rh1 Rh8 26.Nhf1 Qf6 (Black has taken over the initiative on the kingside. White’s bishop on c2 cannot influence matters and f4 is weak) 27.Be3 Bxe3 28.Nxe3 Ng5 29.Qe2 Rag8 30.Raf1 Qf4! 31.Rxh8 Rxh8 32.Rh1 Rxh1 33.Nxh1 Nd3! (Invasion, if White takes twice on d3 then f3 falls) 34.Bxd3 cxd3 35.Qf2 d2 36.Ng3 Nxf3! 37.Qxf3 Bxg4 38.Qf2 (38.Nxg4 Qxf3+ 39.Kxf3 d1Q+; 38.Qxg4 Qxg4 39.Nxg4 d1Q) 38…d1Q 39.Nxd1 Bxd1 (A pawn ahead with a safer king Black finishes crisply) 40.Qe1 Bf3+ 41.Kg1 f5 42.exf5 gxf5 43.Qf2 Kg6 44.b3 e4 45.c4 bxc4 46.bxc4 Qg5 47.c5 f4 48.cxd6 fxg3 0-1
Puzzler. Some of our readers are complaining that this puzzle cannot possibly be a three mover. They’re right. There’s no forced mate in three. According to the puzzle’s creator, “The puzzle is tricky by design. The challenge lies in finding the stipulated number of moves.” In other words, find out how White can mate in three moves — black’s moves don’t need to be the best.
White — pawns on b3, b4, h2; Qa8, Ke1, Be4, Ne7
Black — pawns on a5, b5, e5, g5; Na7, Bb6, Ke3
White to play and mate in three moves.
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