Monaco GP: Lagno, Humpy and Munguntuul start with wins

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/19/2025 – The third stage of the Women's Grand Prix 2024/25 began in Monte Carlo, with three players securing victories in the opening round. Humpy Koneru and Kateryna Lagno (pictured) showcased strong endgame technique to defeat their compatriots, while Batkhuyag Munguntuul achieved a notable win over former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Series leader Bibisara Assaubayeva settled for a draw against Sara Khadem. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Endgame technique

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.

Munguntuul v. Kosteniuk
The Mongolian IM slowly but surely increased the pressure on her opponent until getting the win

Batkhuyag Munguntuul

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.

Lagno v. Goryachkina
The players reached this position soon after trading knights

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

Kateryna Lagno having a look at her colleagues' games | Photo: Niki Riga

Humpy Koneru

Humpy Koneru got off to a strong start, as she scored a full point with the black pieces | Photo: Niki Riga

Round 1 results

Standings

Loading Table...

All games

Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Links


Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors


We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.