FIDE WGP Monaco Round 4: Kateryna Lagno takes the lead with a spectacular victory
Round 4 of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco delivered high-level chess, with four games ending in draws and one spectacular victory. Kateryna Lagno, playing a breathtaking attacking game, defeated Elisabeth Paehtz to seize the sole lead in the tournament. The day began on a lighthearted note as Michael Stoettinger, President of the Austrian Chess Federation and host of the final WGP leg, made the ceremonial first move for Lagno—perhaps bringing her a touch of good fortune. Meanwhile, tournament director Jean-Michel Rapaire outlined plans for the upcoming rest day on February 23, which will feature an exciting excursion. Stoettinger added a humorous remark about the Austrian rest day including schnitzel and Vishy Anand, drawing smiles from the players. As for the games – despite the draws on most boards, the games were far from dull. Sara Khadem misplayed a significant advantage, while Humpy Koneru and Aleksandra Goryachkina also had opportunities to press for more. Round 4 results: Aleksandra Goryachkina ½-½ Zhongyi TanHumpy Koneru ½-½ Alexandra KosteniukSarasadat Khademalsharieh ½-½ Batkhuyag MunguntuulKateryna Lagno 1-0 Elisabeth PaehtzBibisara Assaubayeva ½-½ Harika Dronavalli Kateryna Lagno – Elisabeth Paehtz The sole victory of the round was a dazzling display of creativity and fighting spirit, making it an early frontrunner for the tournament’s brilliancy prize. The game began at an unusually slow pace, with only eight moves played in the first hour and a half. By move six, the players had entered an unexplored variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Lagno, with the white pieces, gained an edge out of the opening and soon shook things up with a pawn sacrifice: In the post-game interview, Lagno explained her reasoning behind the sacrifice, aiming to delay Black’s ideas of 12…Nc5 and 12…Bf5. Paehtz responded with 12…Nc5 instead of the stronger 12…Bxe6, allowing the game to spiral into chaos, ultimately favoring White. I implore you to really assess the intricacies of this position – there is so much going on from both sides. White’s last move, 16.g4! (the best in the position), gives up a pawn to distract what Lagno considered to be Black’s strongest piece – the light-squared bishop. However, after 16…Bxg4 White erred with 17.Ne5? Allowing Black to come back into the game with 17…Bxd1 although practically, and in the spirit of the game, White’s decision made sense to target the g6-pawn. A key moment came after move 19, where Paehtz missed a crucial defensive resource: Here 19…Bg5 (or the fancier 19…Qxd2 achieving the same) was the only way for Black to continue. This would force a series of trades where White would end up with only a slightly better position – which Lagno noted she had calculated and was happy with. Nevertheless, Paehtz opted for 19…e3 which closed the important diagonal and did not achieve much. 20.fxe3 Kxg6 21.Rg1 Bg5 22.h4! The exposed black king was in trouble, and after picking off the bishop, White brought her pieces to the party. Playing under time pressure, both sides exchanged inaccuracies where Black had one last opportunity to prolong her resistance after 27.e4: Here 27.Rd1 instead was important to insert before e4, setting up a discovery on the black queen where e4 becomes even stronger with the threat of Bxg5 (in all fairness, Black’s position was already beyond repair). 27…Qd4 was played in the game, to which White responded with 28.Rf1 and now 28…Ncd7?? was Black’s final major blunder as she incorrectly defended her f6-knight. There is a lot of tricky analysis here to look into, but instead I will leave you with the remainder of the beautiful game: 29.Bxg5 Rhf8 30.Be6 Rad8 31.Bxd7 Rxd7 32.e5 Kd8 33.Bxf6 Kc7 34.e6 Qd2 35.Kb1 Rd6 36.e7 Re8 37.Be5 Rxe7 38.Rd1 and Black resigned. With this victory, Lagno emerged as the tournament leader. As she left the hall, she remarked with a smile that this was the best game she had played in a long time. Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi For the second consecutive day, Goryachkina was the last player to leave the board, battling for nearly five hours. Both players blitzed through the opening in Petroff Defence and entered a slow, positional struggle. Much like her previous game against Assaubayeva, Goryachkina attempted to squeeze out a win from a seemingly equal position. Several moments arose where a threefold repetition seemed imminent, but each time, one player deviated to continue the fight. Tan, however, handled the clock better, maintaining a significant time edge—42 minutes against Goryachkina’s mere 3 minutes. Time trouble has led to several blunders in this event, but today, both players held firm, agreeing to a draw after 93 moves. Humpy Koneru – Alexandra Kosteniuk A Semi-Slav set the tone for a long positional game, and this is what occurred in the game between Koneru and Kosteniuk, with the opponents performing at 98% accuracy. This stat makes a draw between two chess titans the logical outcome. White obtained a more comfortable position out of the opening and had a 20-minute time advantage by the ninth move. However, this was soon balanced, as became the position. Play unfolded on the queenside, where both sides made the best moves, leading the game to a natural draw – even though Humpy had chances to push for more. Although we did not see fireworks in this game, it was a display of the high-quality chess that we are witnessing in this event. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Batkhuyag Munguntuul Another incredibly instructive game was played in which White got a desirable position out of the opening but could not convert it, leading to a draw. Black did not make any obvious error in an Exchange Slav but allowed White to dominate the queenside by controlling the backward c6-pawn without any counterplay. White solidified her strong position with a3 and b4, eventually activating her queen and taking advantage of Black’s passivity, picking up a pawn: The h5-pawn is under attack, while White threatens Rxd5 as the c7-rook is hanging. Despite this material and positional advantage, it was still not that easy to breakthrough – something Khadem
FIDE WGP in Monaco: Four in the lead after Round 3
The third round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-25 in Monaco saw intense battles on the boards, with three draws and two decisive outcomes. Alexandra Kosteniuk secured a crucial victory against Tan Zhongyi in a clash of former World Champions, while Aleksandra Goryachkina outlasted Bibisara Assaubayeva in a tough five-and-a-half-hour struggle. The round began with a special guest making the ceremonial first move—Monaco basketball star Donatas Motiejūnas and his son played 1.a3 on the board of Alexandra Kosteniuk vs. Tan Zhongyi, a move that sparked smiles and set a lighthearted tone before the intense battles unfolded. Round 3 results: Bibisara Assaubayeva 0-1 Aleksandra GoryachkinaHarika Dronavalli 1/2-1/2 Kateryna LagnoElisabeth Paehtz 1/2-1/2 Sarasadat KhademalshariehBatkhuyag Munguntuul 1/2-1/2 Humpy KoneruAlexandra Kosteniuk 1-0 Zhongyi Tan Alexandra Kosteniuk – Zhongyi Tan A clash of two former Women’s World Champions saw an exciting battle! Kosteniuk had a rough start to the event, facing critical time trouble in the first game, and not feeling too happy with her decisions in the second. However, she achieved a good position out of the opening. The middlegame became quite complex, with Black playing all the best moves up until a critical point. 19…Rf5? This seemingly active move turned out to be a serious inaccuracy, that handed White considerable advantage. After reserved 19…a6 or 19…Rc6 Black would have kept the position in balance. Kosteniuk remarked after the game that she was confused by her opponent’s decisions. More errors by Black led to a position where White was suddenly much better. Even though Tan made multiple attempts to complicate things and make them as difficult as possible for her opponent, particularly in mutual time trouble, Kosteniuk responded accurately to every threat, transitioning into a position with a queen and two extra pawns, against Black’s knight and rook. In an endgame that ensued, Kosteniuk showcased her great technique, crashing all Black’s hopes to build a fortress. In an interview yesterday, Kosteniuk noted that she plays tournaments to enjoy chess and play her best, as she already has so many titles under her belt. This healthy mindset coupled with her vast experience always makes her an interesting player to watch, particularly in this event, as she has picked herself up to score an important victory. Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina The highly anticipated clash between Grand Prix leader Assaubayeva and Leg 2 winner Goryachkina delivered an intense, strategic battle. The game followef an English Opening, with both players navigating unfamiliar territory. White advanced on the kingside while Black countered on the queenside. Despite Assaubayeva securing a protected passed pawn in the middlegame, the position remained closed and difficult to break through. Assaubayeva missed the strong 21.Ba3, which would have significantly improved her worst-placed piece by activating the bishop and exerting pressure on Black’s position. Instead, 21.Bd2 was played, resulting in a prolonged maneuvering battle where neither side could make immediate progress. As the game evolved and the queenside began to open up, Goryachkina gradually took control. Even though the engine assesses this as -3, it is still not easy, a fact that is compounded when you take into consideration that both sides were playing with under two minutes left on their clock. For this reason, both sides exchanged inaccuracies as tension was extremely high. Goryachkina, with experience on her side, remained calm and composed, picking up important pawns to execute a victory. After her first-round loss to Kateryna Lagno, this win puts her back in the running to have a successful tournament. I want to note that this game was played over five and a half hours! Harika Dronavalli – Kateryna Lagno A solid line of the King’s Indian Defense led to a comfortable position for White. While Dronavalli had a chance to press for an edge, she missed a good opportunity to build up pressure on move 20 and opted for a seemingly active but wrong continuation, which lead to multiple trades and an equal position. A threefold repetition sealed the draw. This result was significant for Dronavalli, as it ended her two-game losing streak. After yesterday’s tough loss, stabilizing against one of the tournament leaders was a confidence-boosting result. For Lagno, a draw with Black is a solid outcome, allowing her to conserve energy for upcoming rounds. Elisabeth Paehtz – Sarasadat Khademalsharieh The opponents tested the Exchange Variation of Ruy Lopez that quickly led to a queenless game in which neither side pushed hard. Black had an opportunity to gain a slight advantage, but it was hardly enough to make further progress. The only winner in Round 2, Sara has performed much better than her first Grand Prix leg in Tbilisi, whilst Elisabeth is also in better form compared to her Shymkent showing. Batkhuyag Munguntuul – Humpy Koneru While this game ended in a draw, it was full of exciting tactical opportunities. The key moment came in the early middlegame: In this position, after thinking for 16 minutes, Munguntuul played a timid 14.Be2? instead of launching a dangerous kingside attack with 14.Ng5! In the line 14…g6 15.Qf4 White has a great attacking opportunities, whereas 14…h6 15.Nh7 Re8 16.Qf4 is equally unpleasant for Black. White has ideas of bringing the rook to the chaos with Rae1-e3 and Nf6+! ripping black kingside open. In a post-game interview, Munguntuul admitted she had considered Ng5 but decided against it, fearing excessive risk. Choosing the safer Be2, she steered the game toward a balanced endgame, and a draw was eventually agreed upon. Standings after Round 3 1 GM Humpy Koneru IND 2523 2 2 IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh ESP 2458 2 3 IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul MGL 2331 2 4 GM Kateryna Lagno FID 2515 2 5 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk SUI 2484 1½ GM Aleksandra Goryachkina FID 2546 1½ 7 GM Elisabeth Paehtz GER 2427 1½ 8 GM Zhongyi Tan CHN 2561 1 9 IM Bibisara Assaubayeva KAZ 2492 1 10 GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2489 ½ Round 4 pairings and dates The fourth round of the third leg in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Friday, February 21st
Join Global Celebration of Women and Girls in Chess!
March is a time to celebrate women, and what better way to do so than through chess? The FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess invites federations, clubs, and organizers worldwide to be part of the Chess Women’s Day Celebration: Community, Strength, Empowerment – our initiative to connect chess community on this special occasion for women and show how many incredible projects happen worldwide. Are you planning a chess event in March to honor and inspire women and girls in the game? Whether it’s a tournament, a simultaneous exhibition, a workshop, or a special gathering, we want to hear about it! By joining this global initiative, your event will be part of a worldwide network of activities that showcase how community empowers us as individuals, and how each of us contributes to uplifting the community. Each of your events will empower this global celebration! Together we will create a movement that highlights the role of women, chess and communities in creating a better space for us all, inspiring even more to join through the power of shared experiences and celebrations. How to Get Involved: Plan a chess event dedicated to celebrating women and girls. Let us know about it by reaching out to us! Join a global movement to promote and empower women in chess. Contact us to be part of this special celebration! Together, we can create a powerful impact and inspire the next generation of women and girls in chess. For more details and to share your event with us, contact us here: anna.kantane@gmail.com