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The third stage of the Women's Grand Prix 2024/25 commenced at the luxurious Novotel Hotel in Monte Carlo. The series consists of six tournaments and will award two spots in the next Women's Candidates Tournament. Each event follows a ten-player single round-robin format with classical time control.
Among the participants in Monaco is Bibisara Assaubayeva, the current leader of the series. Having already competed in the first two events, this marks her final appearance in the series, as each participant gets to play in three out of the six events of the two-year series. In the first round, Assaubayeva played with the white pieces against Sara Khadem, with the game ending in a draw.
Three players secured victories in the opening round and emerged as the early co-leaders: Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno and Batkhuyag Munguntuul. The most notable result came from Munguntuul, who defeated former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in 43 moves. Kosteniuk, who now represents Switzerland, was unable to withstand Munguntuul’s precise play.
Out of a Petroff Defence, Munguntuul got a clear positional advantage, with the better pawn structure and the safer king. Her knight was surprisingly comfortable on e8.
Batkhuyag Munguntuul | Photo: Niki Riga
Following FIDE's standard practice, compatriots were paired against each other in the first round to prevent potential collusion. Given the presence of two Indian and two Russian players in the field, Humpy and Lagno faced their compatriots. Humpy, playing with black, overcame Harika Dronavalli, while Lagno, with the white pieces, defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Both players demonstrated strong endgame technique to secure their respective victories. Lagno voluntarily simplified into a double-rook endgame in which she had a structural advantage against her 26-year-old opponent.
A pair of rooks left the board amid mutual time trouble, with Lagno emerging a pawn up in a pure rook endgame once they had passed move 40.
After 41...Re3, White defended her extra pawn with 41.Rc4, and went on to get a valuable victory. Goryachkina won the previous event of the series in Shymkent with a remarkable 7 out of 9 score.
Kateryna Lagno having a look at her colleagues' games | Photo: Niki Riga
Humpy Koneru got off to a strong start, as she scored a full point with the black pieces | Photo: Niki Riga
