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
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Endings with rook and minor piece against rook and minor piece occur very frequently, even more often than rook endings, yet there's not much literature on them. This endgame DVD fills this gap. The four different material constellations rook and knight vs rook and knight, rooks and opposite coloured (and same coloured ) bishops and rook and bishop vs rook and knight are dealt with. In view of the different material constellations Karsten Mueller explains many guidelines like e.g. "With knights even a small initiative weighs heavily".
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
€49.90
Grand Prix points and prize money shared
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.
Final standings
Kosteniuk's must-win game
The former Women's World Champion beat Elisabeth Paehtz on demand. Analysing her game afterward, she said the Caro-Kann came as a surprise. "I prepared for anything else but the Caro-Kann. I had a thought of what if, but then I thought okay."
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
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 analyse 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 long. You know, sometimes you should let your opponent do what she wants. I think ♞d7-♜e8-♞f8 is more usual approach in this system for black. Because after 9...♞a6 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...♝d5. I was not sure whether I need to (short) castle or I can play 12.♗e2 or ♘h4. Probably 12.♗e2 is the move I like the most. 12.0-0 is also what I like but after 12...♝xf3 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...♝d5 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.♕c2 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."
Can you 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, whenI 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."
Kosteniuk won her game when it mattered the most | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE
Humpy bested Goryachkina in a long battle
Humpy beat Goryachkina in their highly anticipated match. In the opening, Humpy played 6.♗d3 instead of the 6.♕c2 which she has been playing in the recent times.
The Semi-Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6) can arise via various move orders, has decided World Championships, and is one of Black's most fascinating replies to 1 d4. Magnus Carlsen's second, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen explains in detail what this opening is all about.
Humpy felt that Black shouldn't have played 16...♞c3, as she loses a pawn, although it's an opposite colour bishop endgame. Can you find out a better continuation for black.
Goryachkina gave away a pawn which she should have defended.
What should Black have done instead?
25...♛b6+
Find out the better continuation for Black here
Humpy felt Black again missed a strong continuation and keeping the queens on the board was a better idea.
29...d4
Black's final blunder of the game was 48...f5. It was all over after this. Humpy thought that black should have played 48...♚e7 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.
This increasingly popular opening is easy to pick up as the Black pieces can usually be developed quickly and smoothly. Many of the ideas are thematic and Black can achieve attacking positions in several of the variations.
Lagno scored an emphatic win | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE
A 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 on move 33.
On top level the Berlin Defense is a popular defensive weapon but it also offers Black good chances to win if White does not proceed precisely. On this DVD Victor Bologan shows what Black can and should do if White tries to avoid the main lines of the Berlin Defense.
Anna Muzychuk talks about her performance in the tournament and more | Video: FIDE
Gunina would be glad that the tournament is finally over | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE
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.
The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.
Zhao Xue shares her tournament impression | Video: FIDE
M Muzychuk had a hard fought draw with Dzagnidze
Out of the opening, Mariya seemed to have obtained a 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.
Mariya talks about how she fared in the tournament | Video: FIDE
Nana Dzagnidze talks about her performance in the tournament | Video: FIDE
Players at the Closing Ceremony | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE
Pairings of Round 11
All games and commentary
Live commentary by GM Iossif Dorfman and IM Almira Skripchenko along with WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili | Video: FIDE
Shahid AhmedShahid Ahmed is the senior coordinator and editor of ChessBase India. He enjoys covering chess tournaments and also likes to play in chess events from time to time.
London System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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