12/30/2023 – Magnus Carlsen grabbed his 17th World Championship title — the 7th in blitz — by scoring 16/21 points at the World Blitz event in Samarkand. After losing his first game of the day, against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Carlsen grabbed six wins in a row to retake the sole lead. Two draws in the final rounds allowed him to outscore Daniil Dubov by a half point. In the women’s championship, Valentina Gunina got outright victory thanks to a final-round win over Anna Muzychuk. Alexandra Kosteniuk came close to catching the eventual champion, but fell just short and took the silver medal. | Photo: FIDE / Anastasia Korolkova

12/30/2023 – There was no shortage of controversy on day 1 of the World Blitz Championships in Samarkand. A dispute regarding an alleged clock malfunction delayed the start of round 7 by close to an hour, while a 13-move draw — featuring only knight moves — between Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi resulted in both players losing a half point as their encounter, according to the Chief Arbiter, would “bring the game of chess into disrepute”. Meanwhile, Valentina Gunina got a 1½-point lead in the women’s tournament after finishing day 1 with an astonishing 8½/9 score. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

10/20/2021 – All but one game in both sections of the Russian Superfinals finished drawn in Wednesday’s final round, and the one decisive game (which was played in the open section) did not alter the situation at the top of the standings table. Thus, Nikita Vitiugov and Valentina Gunina, who were the sole leaders after the penultimate round, were crowned as the 2021 Russian chess champions. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/18/2021 – With three rounds to go in the Russian Superfinals, Nikita Vitiugov and Valentina Gunina are leading the tournament standings in the open and women’s event respectively. Vitiugov climbed to first place after surviving a lost position against Kirill Alekseenko, while Gunina is undefeated with five wins in eight games so far in Ufa. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/14/2021 – After taking down former leader Kirill Alekseenko in round 4, Dmitry Andreikin was defeated by Nikita Vitiugov on Wednesday. Vitiugov thus grabbed the sole lead on 3½/5 points. In the women’s section, Valentina Gunina is now sharing first place with Evgenija Ovod, who scored back-to-back wins in rounds 4 and 5. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/12/2021 – After three rounds, the Superfinals in Russia have two sole leaders — Kirill Alekseenko in the open section, and Valentina Gunina in the women’s tournament. Both of them have scored two wins and a draw so far in Ufa. Aleksandra Goryachkina, who is playing in the open event, drew Pavel Ponkratov, beat Alexander Motylev and was defeated by Alekseenko. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/19/2020 – The Russian "Higher League" is a qualifying tournament for the "Superfinal" of the Russian Championship, and this year it was played in Sochi. Maksim Chigaev won the "Open" section with 6½/9, while Valentina Gunina dominated the "Women's" tournament and won with 8.0/9. The five best players from both groups qualified for the Superfinal that will take place in December. | Photo: Alina l'Ami (Archive)

6/29/2020 – Anna Ushenina, the classical World Champion in 2012, defeated Valentina Gunina in the final, leaving the score 7-4 in her favor. The Ukrainian outplayed her rival and was a deserved winner: a better opening preparation gave her the upper hand in most of the games, and she was also more accurate. Taking an early lead in the match was also an important factor that conditioned the rest of the final. | Photo: Anna Ushenina (UKR) by David Llada

2/12/2020 – All five games of the Cairns Cup ended decisively on Tuesday, leaving Ju Wenjun and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the shared lead on 3½ out of 5. Humpy Koneru took down former sole leader Nana Dagnidze, Valentina Gunina scored a fine attacking win against Harika Dronavalli and Carissa Yip got on the scoreboard with a victory over compatriot Irina Krush. The players will rest on Wednesday before returning to the fray for the final four rounds. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/10/2020 – Nana Dzagnidze became the first sole leader of the Cairns Cup after inflicting Carissa Yip's third straight loss in Saint Louis. Kateryna Lagno and Mariya Muzychuk are still a half point back after drawing their direct encounter, while Harika Dronavalli joined them in shared second place after beating Alexandra Kosteniuk. Valentina Gunina, in the meantime, got on the scoreboard with a win over Irina Krush. | Photo: Austin Fuller

12/15/2019 – Alexandra Kosteniuk had a fairytale ending as she defeated Elisabeth Paehtz in the final round to finish at 7.0/11. For her winning the tournament, the most anticipated match between Humpy and Goryachkina needed Humpy to win and fortuitously that's what happened, resulting in Humpy finishing runner-up and Goryachkina claiming the second runner-up position. Kosteniuk won her third consecutive tournament in a row. Humpy still leads the GP points table. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/14/2019 – Anna Muzychuk held Goryachkina to a draw. Goryachkina takes a full point lead to the final round where she faces Humpy. Pia Cramling held Humpy to a draw. Kosteniuk checkmated Harika and now she is tied at the second place along with Humpy. Lagno made a short draw with Paehtz. Cramling, Harika, Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are at the tied fourth place for now. The final round will determine the winner of the Monaco GP. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/13/2019 – Mariya Muzychuk held Goryachkina to a draw, despite the former getting an advantage in the opening. Humpy suffered her first loss of the tournament against Paehtz. Thus, Goryachkina took a full-point sole lead. Harika made a short draw with Lagno. Both Humpy and Harika are now tied at second place. Cramling, Kosteniuk, Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are at tied fourth place. Gunina lost her sixth consecutive game, this time against Dzagnidze. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/12/2019 – Goryachkina scored a victory over Gunina and took sole lead with 6.0/8. Humpy drew her game with Harika and they are now at second and third place. Cramling recovered against Mariya after making a few mistakes. Kosteniuk beat Dzagnidze and now is at shared fourth place. Anna Muzychuk made a short draw with Elisabeth Paehtz, Kateryna Lagno had a fighting draw with Zhao Xue. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/11/2019 – Both Goryachkina and Humpy won their respective games to stay in the lead with 5.0/7. Harika trails behind the leaders by a half point. She made a short draw with Anna. Pia Cramling, Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are tied at the fourth spot with 4.0/7 each. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/9/2019 – Kosteniuk held Humpy to a draw after missing a half chance in the opening. Goryachkina and Harika scored fine victories to join Humpy in the lead with 4.0/6 before heading to the rest day of the tournament. Kosteniuk and Anna Muzychuk are just a half point behind the leaders. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/8/2019 – Humpy had a quiet draw with Kateryna Lagno to maintain her sole lead. Pia Cramling had an uneventful draw with Nana Dzagnidze. A further pair of draws, plus two decisive games leaves five players — Cramling, Dzagnidze, Goryachkina, Harika and Kosteniuk — on 3.0/5, a half point behind the leader. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/7/2019 – Tournament leader Humpy maintained her lead after surviving quite a few missed opportunities by her opponent Nana Dzagnidze. Anna Muzychuk arguably had the most interesting game of the round against Kateryna Lagno after almost a five-hour long game. Pia Cramling finally managed to convert advantage into a victory after her opponent Elisabeth Paehtz blundered and made a few inaccuracies under time pressure. Valentina Gunina's tough luck at the tournament continues as this time she made a huge error in the opening against Zhao Xue after which she could not recover for the rest of the game. Goryachkina beat Harika, after the latter made a wrong exchange which resulted in an isolated pawn and advanced king for her opponent. Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk made a grandmaster draw in just 23 moves. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/6/2019 – Anna Muzychuk halted Humpy Koneru's winning streak by holding her to a draw. The most exciting game of the round was between Mariya Muzychuk and Kateryna Lagno. Although Muzychuk won the game with brilliant sharp play, there were moments where Lagno could have salvaged her position. Goryachkina got back to winning ways by beating Zhao Xue, Nana Dzagnidze scored her first win of the tournament and jumped to tied second position, Gunina also made a comeback by staying true to her style and beating Alexandra Kosteniuk, after suffering two losses in the first two rounds. Harika had a tepid draw with Pia Cramling. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/5/2019 – The second round of FIDE Women's Grand Prix at Monaco witnessed four decisive results and four game went for over four hours. Humpy continued her lead by beating Mariya Muzychuk. Harika Dronavalli scored the first victory of the round by defeating Germany no.1 woman IM Elisabeth Paehtz. Lagno won the All-Russian battle and handed Gunina her second consecutive defeat. Newly crowned European Individual Rapid and Blitz champion Alexandra Kosteniuk continued her momentum and broke Goryachkina's mystique by defeating her convincingly. Both Anna Muzychuk and Pia Cramling missed wonderful winning opportunities against Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue respectively. A detailed report of round 2. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/4/2019 – FIDE's Women's Grand Prix in Monaco started with a solitary win by Skolkovo GP winner Humpy Koneru. She had to fight for over five hours against Valentina Gunina from an inferior position to score a victory after enduring the longest grind of the day. Pia Cramling made a good start against Alexandra Kosteniuk but she missed capitalizing on good opportunities and eventually ended up making a draw. The World Championship Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina held World Blitz Champion Kateryna Lagno, Harika Dronavalli met her match in the form of Nana Dzagnidze, FIDE GP 2019-20 debutant Zhao Xue held Elisabeth Paehtz and the Muzychuk sisters made a peaceful draw in round 1. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

10/29/2019 – After five rounds at the European Team Championships in Batumi, Russia and Ukraine are sharing the lead in the open section, while the Russian female squad is in sole first place with a perfect score in the women's category. Slovenia and Germany are one match point behind the leaders in the Open, while Georgia, Azerbaijan and Serbia are sharing second place among the women. Tuesday is the sole rest day of the tournament. | Photo: Official site

9/23/2019 – Humpy won the Skolkovo leg of FIDE's 2019 Women's Grand Prix by making a draw in the final round against reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun. The Indian ace won her first major championship since returning to competitive chess in the Batumi Olympiad of 2018. Humpy finished at 8.0/11, gained 160 Grand Prix points and received EUR €15,000 for winning the tournament. Humpy, who is currently world number 3 among women by rating, behind Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun, has just about every accomplishment in her bag except the World Championship title. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE

9/21/2019 – Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun faced her World Championship rival Aleksandra Goryachkina today in Skolkovo at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix. A long battle ended in a draw, leaving Humpy Koneru alone at the top of the standings heading into Sunday's final round. But Ju has her fate in her hands as she's Humpy's opponent in what could be a thrilling finale. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE