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Following two eventful final rounds, three players finished tied for first place at the Women's Grand Prix in Monaco. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Humpy Koneru each scored 5½ points, sharing the top spot in the tournament. Based on tiebreak criteria, Goryachkina was declared the official tournament winner, having played more games with the black pieces and achieved a superior Sonneborn-Berger score.
This marks Goryachkina's second consecutive Grand Prix tournament victory, as she had previously won the Shymkent leg of the series outright. Despite this distinction, Grand Prix regulations stipulate that players finishing on the same score share the allocated series points and prize money equally.
The Grand Prix series serves as a qualification path for the Women's Candidates Tournament, with two spots awarded based on cumulative performance across the six events. Each player competes in three of these tournaments, making consistency a key factor in securing qualification. Goryachkina, having now played in two events, is the clear leader in the overall standings. Among those still in contention for the top two places are Tan Zhongyi, Humpy Koneru and Tsolakidou Stavroula.
While Bibisara Assaubayeva is currently in second place in the standings, she has already played in three tournaments, making it highly unlikely for her to remain among the top two by the end of the series.
Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: Niki Riga
Three of the five games in the final round ended decisively, with two of them directly affecting the fight for the tournament title. Munguntuul and Goryachkina, both co-leaders going into the last round alongside Kateryna Lagno, played each other to a 40-move draw, keeping their chances of finishing first intact.
Meanwhile, Lagno, who had led the tournament for much of the event, suffered a costly defeat against Sara Khadem. The Iranian-born grandmaster, now representing Spain, had lost her previous three games but managed to bounce back at the worst possible moment for Lagno, who had been vying for outright victory.
Humpy, who entered the round half a point behind the leaders, capitalised on Lagno's defeat by beating Assaubayeva, thus joining Munguntuul and Goryachkina at the top of the standings.
The third decisive game of the day saw Alexandra Kosteniuk defeating Elisabeth Paehtz to conclude the tournament with a fifty-percent score, recovering from her previous round's loss against Harika Dronavalli.
Alexandra Kosteniuk ended the tournament on a high note | Photo: Niki Riga
Lagno's crucial defeat against Khadem came after a risky decision on move 25, when she chose to give up a pawn, likely aiming to create dynamic counterplay in a middlegame with queens and knights still on the board. This choice was presumably influenced by her overall tournament and Grand Prix standings, as she sought a complex position rather than a passive defence. However, the decision to play 25...Qxd8 instead of 25...Nxd8 allowed Khadem to seize the initiative with 26.Nxe5
From there, Khadem steadily converted her extra pawn, clinching a valuable 53-move win.
Sara Khadem | Photo: Niki Riga
Humpy also gained an early pawn advantage in her game against Assaubayeva, as the Kazakh grandmaster misplayed the opening with 11...Nd7 instead of the stronger 11...Nh5
This inaccuracy allowed Humpy to simplify into a superior position with 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Nb5, after which White had a straightforward way to capture a pawn on either c7 or d6.
Demonstrating strong endgame technique, Humpy made no mistakes in converting her material advantage into a victory, which secured her a share of first place in the final standings.
Humpy Koneru | Photo: Niki Riga
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
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