Alexandra Kosteniuk wins the second leg of the 2023 Women’s Grand Prix in Munich
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the second leg of the 2023 Women’s Grand Prix which took place February 1-14, 2023 in Munich, Germany. The “Chess Queen” received €15,000 for her win and 160 Grand Prix points.
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Second Leg took place February 1-14, 2023, in Munich, Germany, and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk was crowned the winner with the impressive score of 7.5/11. After this win, Kosteniuk got 160 Grand Prix points to make her the favorite to capture one of the Women’s Candidate Tournament spots as she now has 250 Grand Prix in total. GM Kateryna Lagno won the first leg in Astana, Kazakhstan in late 2022, and is definitely a competitor for the Candidate’s spot.
Kosteniuk had an amazing tournament, winning five games and losing only one against Zhu Jiner in the last round. The Chinese phenomenon initiated the Nimzo Indian Defense: Botvinnik System and after an early queens trade the game looked drawish. On move 25 though Kosteniuk was forced to give up a pawn without any compensation and a bit later Zhu exchanged a rook and a pawn for a knight and bishop. This pairing eventually prevailed and Kosteniuk suffered her first loss but without changing the final standings for her as the runner-up Koneru Humpy made a 31-move draw against Tan Zhongyi to finish 2nd.
Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze made a draw by repetition on the 11th move against GM Harika Dronavalli to finish third with three wins and only one defeat. After these results Kosteniuk, Koneru and Dzagnidze received €15,000, €12,000 and €10,000 respectively.
