A fantastic performance
Alexandra Kosteniuk’s showing at the first edition of the Women’s World Cup was nothing short of dazzling. A fixture in the elite women’s circuit for over 20 years, the Russian won the knockout event without ever needing to play a single rapid tiebreaker. In fact, she scored 10/12 points on her way to a memorable triumph — knocking out Deysi Cori, Pia Cramling, Mariya Muzychuk, Valentina Gunina and Tan Zhongyi before defeating top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina in the final.
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6! leads to the so-called "Accelerated Dragon Defense". On this DVD the Russian grandmaster and top women player Nadezhda Kosintseva reveals the secrets of her favourite opening.
Twenty years ago, a 17-year-old Kosteniuk reached the final of the 2001 Women’s World Chess Championship — a 64-player knockout event — where she lost to Zhu Chen in a drawless 8-game match. Seven years later, in 2008, she defeated Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan in the final of a similar event to become the women’s world champion, a title she kept until 2010. Now, at 37, she defeated the latest challenger to the world crown to get a spot in the Candidates Tournament, where she will fight against 7 highly motivated opponents to get the right to challenge Ju Wenjun in a match for the Women’s World Championship.
Kosteniuk’s stellar performance gained her a stunning 42.8 rating points, which prompted her to climb 10 spots in the women’s world ranking. Simply an extraordinary achievement!

The woman of the hour — Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: Eric Rosen
Twice was the tournament’s champion in real danger of losing throughout the event — in her game with white against Gunina, and in Sunday’s first encounter of the final against Goryachkina. Remarkably, she came back from behind to score full points on both occasions!
Only needing a draw with white on Monday, the experienced grandmaster kept things under control against her younger compatriot. In desperate need of a win, Goryachkina tried to keep the game going in an opposite-coloured bishop endgame, only to soon find herself in a lost position:
Kosteniuk vs. Goryachkina - Game 2
As endgame specialist Karsten Müller points out in his annotations below, entering a race with 42...Bc7 is too risky for Black, while 42...Bxh2 would have led to a draw. Of course, Goryachkina had no option and looked for a last chance to provoke a mistake by her opponent.
Not long after, White had a completely winning position, but the compatriots nonetheless sensibly agreed to a draw, which meant Kosteniuk had won the demanding event that started exactly three weeks ago.
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Qxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.0-0 b6 10.Ne4 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Be4 Rc8 13.Bf4 Qxf4 14.Bxb7 Rc7 15.Ba6 Bc5 16.Rad1 Ke7 17.c3 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 19.Qd3 Bd6 20.f4 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Rd7 22.Qe2 h5 23.Bc4 Rc8 24.Bb3 Qf5 25.Rd4 Rdd8 26.Rfd1 Bc7 27.Bc2 Qg4 28.Qa6 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rd8 30.Qa3+ Bd6 31.Qxa7+ Rd7 32.Qa6 h4 33.Qd3 f5 34.b4 h3 35.gxh3 Qg8 36.Bb3 Qa8+ 37.Kg1 Rd8 38.Kf2 Bxf4 39.Rxd8 Qxd8 40.Qxd8+ Kxd8 41.Ke2 Ke7 42.a4 Bc7? 42...Bxh2 43.a5 43.Kd3 Bg3 44.Kc4 Be1= 43...bxa5 44.bxa5 Kd6 45.a6 Kc6 46.h4 Kb6 47.Bc4 Be5 48.Kd3 Bg7 49.Bb5 e5 50.c4 e4+ 51.Ke3 Bf8 52.h5 Bc5+ 53.Kf4 Bd6+= 43.h4 Kf6 43...Bxh2 44.Kd3 Bf4 45.Kc4 Bd2 46.a5 bxa5 47.bxa5 Kd6 48.Ba4 e5 49.h5 e4 50.Bb5 f4 51.a6 Be3 52.h6 f3 53.h7 f2 54.Kb3+- 44.Kd3 Kg6 45.Kc4 f4 46.Kb5 f3 47.a5 bxa5 48.bxa5 e5 49.a6 Bb8 50.Kb6 e4 51.Bd1!? f5 52.Kb7 f2 53.Be2 f4 54.Kxb8 f3 55.Bc4 e3 56.a7 f1Q 56...e2 57.a8Q e1Q 57...f1Q?! 58.Qe4+ Kh6 59.Qe3+ Kg6 60.Qg5+ Kh7 61.Bd3+ Kh8 62.Qh6+ Kg8 63.Bc4# 58.Qc6+ Kf5 59.Qd5+ Kf4 60.Qg5+ Ke4 61.Qg4+ Ke5 62.Qd4+ Kf5 63.Bd3+ Ke6 64.Qb6+ Kf7 65.Bc4+ Kg7 66.Qc7+ Kg6 67.Qf7+ Kh6 68.Qf6+ Kh7 69.Qf5+ Kg7 70.Qg5+ Kh7 70...Kf8 71.Qf6+ Ke8 72.Bb5# 71.Bd3+ Kh8 72.Qh6+ Kg8 73.Bc4+ Qe6 74.Bxe6# 57.Bxf1 e2 58.Bxe2 fxe2 59.a8Q 59.a8Q e1Q 60.h5+ Kf7 60...Kh6 61.Qc6+ Kh7 62.Qg6+ Kh8 63.Qf6+ Kh7 64.h6 Qe8+ 65.Kc7 Qg8 66.Qg7++- 60...Kxh5 61.Qf3+ Kh4 62.Qg3+ Qxg3+ 63.hxg3+ Kxg3 64.c4+- 61.Qb7+ Ke6 62.Qc6+ Kf7 63.h6+- ½–½
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Kosteniuk,A | 2472 | Goryachkina,A | 2596 | ½–½ | 2021 | C07 | FIDE Womens World Cup 2021 | 7.2 |
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Russian stars Alexandra Kosteniuk and Aleksandra Goryachkina will face each other again in next year’s Candidates Tournament | Photo: Eric Rosen
Kosteniuk earned $50,000 for her efforts, while the runner-up took home $35,000. The winners of the third and fourth prizes are not yet decided, though, as Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi drew their second encounter in the match for third place and will decide who gets the extra $5,000 in a rapid and blitz playoff on Tuesday.
In game 2 of their confrontation, it was Tan who got the upper hand with the black pieces.
Muzychuk vs. Tan - Game 2
Engines give Black an advantage of about two pawns in the diagrammed position, but of course converting such a position is never easy against an experienced opponent. Muzychuk defended resourcefully until getting a 49-move draw.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Be7 7.h3 0-0 8.c3 Nbd7 9.Bc2 Ne5 10.Nh4 Ng6 11.Nf5 Re8 12.d4 Bf8 13.Nd2 d5 14.Ng3 Bd6 15.Re1 Bd7 16.Ndf1 Rxe1 17.Qxe1 Qf8 18.Nf5 Re8 19.Qd1 Ne4 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.a4 h6 22.Be3 f5 23.f3 Ng5 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Qd2 Qe7 26.g3 Qe2 27.Bd1 Qe7 28.Bc2 Qe2 29.Bd1 Qa6 30.Bb3 c6 31.Re1 Qb6 32.Rxe8+ Bxe8 33.Bd1 f4 34.g4 c5 35.dxc5 Qxc5+ 36.Qf2 b6 37.Nd2 Ne5 38.Qxc5 bxc5 39.b4 c4 40.Nb1 Kf8 41.Na3 Ke7 42.Kf1 a6 43.Ke2 Bc6 44.Kd2 Kd6 45.a5 Be8 46.Nc2 Nc6 47.Nd4 Bd7 48.Bc2 Nxd4 49.cxd4 Bb5 ½–½
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Muzychuk,A | 2527 | Tan,Z | 2511 | ½–½ | 2021 | | FIDE Womens World Cup 2021 | 7.2 |
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On to the tiebreaks — Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Eric Rosen
Karjakin in the final
Meanwhile, in the open section, Sergey Karjakin secured a spot in the final and in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament by beating Vladimir Fedoseev with the white pieces. The former World Championship challenger won the World Cup in 2015, when he defeated Peter Svidler in a rollercoaster final match.
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.
The Russians played no fewer than 19 moves of theory out of a Ruy Lopez. Karjakin impressed the commentators with his encyclopedic memory while referring to his opponent’s 13th move:
A complex struggle ensued, and Fedoseev faltered on move 21.
Karjakin vs. Fedoseev - Game 2
21...Rf8 was inaccurate, as it allowed White to get a strategic advantage by force with 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Bxa8 24.e6 Re8 (returning with the rook, admitting his mistake) 25.Ne5, and Karjakin was clearly in the driver’s seat.
Fedoseev tried to complicate matters by pushing his d-pawn two moves later, but that only increased White’s advantage. Once Karjakin advanced his own d-pawn to the fifth rank, it was clear that Black had no chance of surviving.
White’s connected central passers are too much to handle for Black. The game continued 31...Qg3 32.Re2 Qg5 33.Qd2 and Fedoseev resigned.
Karjakin will get a free day before the final match kicks off on Wednesday against either Carlsen or Duda. Fedoseev will be rooting for the world champion to make it into the final, as that will grant him a second chance to reach the Candidates, in a potential match for third place against Duda.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a3 h6 13.Bc2 d5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Rxe5 16.Nf3 Re8 17.e5 Ne4 18.Bf4 c5 19.a4 f5 20.h4!?N 20.Nd2= 20.Nd2 Qh4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.Qd7 Qxf4 23.Qxb7 Rad8 24.Re2 Qxe5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Qxb5 20...Be7 21.h5 Rf8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Bxa8 24.e6 Re8 24...Bd6! 25.Qc1 Re8 25.Ne5!± Bg5 26.Ng6 d4 26...Bxf4± 27.Nxf4 Qg5 27.cxd4!+- Nxf2? 27...cxd4 28.f3 Bxf4 28.Kxf2 Bxf4 29.Nxf4 Qh4+ 30.Kg1! Qxf4 31.d5 Qg3 32.Re2 Qg5 32...Qd6 33.Bxf5 Qxd5 34.Qxd5 Bxd5 33.Qd2 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Karjakin,S | 2757 | Fedoseev,V | 2696 | 1–0 | 2021 | | FIDE World Cup 2021 | 7.2 |
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Vladimir Fedoseev might still qualify to the Candidates | Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova
Carlsen on the defensive
The second semifinal game between Duda and Carlsen was the longest encounter of the day. Out of a Ruy Lopez, the contenders followed theory until move 18, when Duda offered a queen swap, which was accepted by the world champion. By then, Carlsen had already given up a pawn, getting the kind of compensation Black usually gets out of the Marshall Gambit — much like in his first game of the quarterfinals against Etienne Bacrot.
Duda decided to try his hand in a position an exchange down with two pawns to the good.
Duda vs. Carlsen - Game 2
Instead of playing 20.Re1, Duda gave up an exchange with 20.Nd2 Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Be7 22.Bxg5 (grabbing a second pawn) Bxg5 23.Nxg5. The Polish grandmaster knew that he would get to put pressure on his opponent from this position. However, Carlsen did not falter in defence and eventually got a 65-move draw, which means the match will be decided in Tuesday’s tiebreakers.
Check out Jon Speelman’s column showcasing Carlsen’s excellent endgame technique (the best ever?) or his column displaying the world champion’s attacking abilities.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Rb8 9.c3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.axb5 axb5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 c6 14.d4 Bd6 15.Re1 Qh4 16.g3 Qh3 17.Re4 g5 18.Qf1N 18.Bxg5 Qf5 18.Bc2 Nf6 19.Re1 Ng4 20.Qf3 Nxh2 21.Qg2 Qh5 22.Qxh2 Bh3 23.Be3 b4 24.Nd2 bxc3 25.bxc3 18...Qxf1+ 19.Kxf1 Bf5 20.Nd2 Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Be7 22.Bxg5 Bxg5 23.Nxg5 Ra8 24.Rd1 Nb6 25.Re1 25.Nf3 25...Nc4= 26.Bxc4 bxc4 27.Nf3 Rfb8 28.Ne5 Rxb2 29.Nxc4 Rc2 30.Re3 Ra1+ 31.Kg2 Rac1 32.Re8+ Kg7 33.Ne5 Rxc3 34.Re7 R3c2 35.Rxf7+ Kg8! 36.Rc7 h5 37.Nd7 Rd1 38.Nf6+ Kf8 39.Nxh5 Rdd2 40.h4 Rxf2+ 41.Kh3 Rf7 42.Rc8+ Ke7 43.Nf4 Kd6 44.h5 Rd2 45.Kg4 Rg7+ 46.Kf3 Rxd4 47.h6 Rh7 48.Rd8+ Ke5 49.Re8+ Kd6 50.Rd8+ Ke5 51.Re8+ Kd6 52.Re6+ Kd7 53.Rg6! Ke7 54.Rxc6 54.g4 Rf7 55.Re6+ Kf8 56.Re4 Rxe4 57.Kxe4 Re7+ 58.Kf5 54...Rd6! 55.Ng6+ Kd7 56.Ne5+ Ke6! 57.Rxd6+ Kxd6 58.Kf4 58...Ke6 59.Ng4 Ra7 60.Kg5 Kf7 61.Ne3 Kg8 62.g4 Kh7 63.Kh5 Ra3 64.Nf5 Ra5 65.Kg5 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Duda,J | 2738 | Carlsen,M | 2847 | ½–½ | 2021 | | FIDE World Cup 2021 | 7.1 |
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Defending a slightly worse ending — world champion Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Eric Rosen
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