Kosteniuk Takes Monaco WGP on Tiebreaks

Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Elisabeth Paehtz on Saturday to win the FIDE Monaco Women’s Grand Prix on tiebreaks, catching former tournament leader Aleksandra Goryachkina in the last round after Goryachkina fell to Humpy Koneru. Goryachkina, Koneru, and Kosteniuk all scored 7/11 to share first place honors, but because Kosteniuk had the best head-to-head results among the three, she officially won on tiebreaks. Goryachinka entered the final round of play a full point ahead of the field, but paired against Koneru, and with Kosteniuk on the march, scoring 2.5/3 in Rounds 8-10, there was no small degree of drama as the day unfolded. Koneru was well-prepared in the opening against Goryachkina, leaving the beaten path with her 11th move. The pugnacious World Championship Challenger sacrificed a pawn on move 16, and the two players tried to maximize their advantages (material versus activity) as the early middlegame unfolded. But as the Black bishop became tied to the defense of the d-pawn, Goryachkina was reduced to passive defense, and Koneru slowly made her extra pawn count.

[pgn]

[Event "Monaco WGP 2019"]
[Site "Monaco MNC"]
[Date "2019.12.14"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "2577"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2019.12.03"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3
b4 9. Ne4 (9. Na4 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Nxc5 Nxc5 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bc4 O-O 14.
O-O {1/2-1/2 (117) Mkrtchian,L (2402)-Goryachkina,A (2575) Batumi 2019}) 9...
Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Bb7 11. Nd2 (11. O-O {is more common.}) 11... Be7 12. O-O O-O 13.
b3 Nf6 14. Bf3 Nd5 15. Bb2 c5 16. Rc1 Nc3 $5 {An interesting move, sacrificing
a pawn in the ensuing play for activity.} (16... Ba6 17. Re1 cxd4 18. Bxd4 Nc3
19. Bxc3 bxc3 20. Nc4 Rc8 21. Rxc3 {1/2-1/2 (21) Kireev,V (2173)-Kirsanov,V
(2131) ICCF email 2013}) 17. Bxc3 bxc3 18. Bxb7 cxd2 19. Qxd2 Rb8 20. Be4 cxd4
21. exd4 Bg5 22. f4 Bf6 {This is presumably the position Goryachkina was
looking at on move 15. White is up a pawn, but the Black pieces are going to
be very active and White is saddled with a weak d-pawn.} 23. Rfd1 Rb6 24. d5
Rd6 25. Qc2 exd5 (25... g6 {(avoiding Bxh7)} 26. dxe6 Qb6+ 27. Kf1 Rxd1+ 28.
Rxd1 Qxe6 $14) 26. Bxh7+ Kh8 27. Bf5 g6 28. Bg4 Qb6+ (28... d4 $5 {tries to
view the d-pawn as a strength rather than a weakness.}) 29. Qf2 (29. Qc5 $1)
29... Bb2 $6 {The trade of queens only helps White.} (29... d4 $1 $132) 30.
Qxb6 axb6 31. Rc7 d4 32. Be2 Rf6 33. Bc4 (33. g3 $5) 33... Bc3 {The black
bishop is tied to the defense of d4, rendering it a bystander in the moves to
come.} 34. g3 Kg7 35. Re7 $16 Rd8 36. Kg2 Kf8 37. Rc7 Re8 38. h4 Re3 39. Kf2
Re8 40. a4 Kg7 41. Rd7 Kf8 42. Kg2 Re3 43. Kf2 Re8 44. Rd3 Re7 45. Rd8+ Re8 46.
Rxe8+ Kxe8 47. Kf3 Rd6 48. Ke4 f5+ ({Passive defense with} 48... Kf8 {doesn't
work:} 49. g4 Kg7 50. f5 Be1 51. h5 $1 gxh5 52. gxh5 Bc3 53. Rg3+) 49. Ke5 Ke7
50. h5 $1 Be1 51. h6 Rd8 52. h7 b5 53. axb5 Ba5 {Threatening ...Bc7#} 54. Bd5
Rc8 {... and here 55...Bc7+ 56.Kxd4 Bb6+ would let Black wriggle out! White
does not fall for it however.} 55. Rd1 Bc3 56. Rd3 Ba5 57. b6 Bxb6 58. Rd1 d3
59. b4 (59. Rxd3 $2 {is the drawing idea discussed above:} Bc7+ 60. Kd4 Bb6+
$11) 59... Ba7 60. Rd2 Bb6 $2 (60... Bb8+ 61. Kd4 Kf6 62. Kxd3 Kg7 $18) 61. Rh2
$1 Rh8 62. Bg8 $1 {Entombing the rook.} Be3 63. Rh1 Bd2 64. b5 Bc3+ 65. Kd5 Kd7
66. Kc4 Bf6 67. Kxd3 g5 68. Rh5 1-0

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By the time Koneru had wrapped up her win, Kosteniuk was already celebrating her victory over Elisabeth Paehtz. Kosteniuk sacrificed an exchange for a pawn and an attack, and she took the full point in 42 moves.

[pgn]

[Event "Monaco WGP 2019"]
[Site "Monaco MNC"]
[Date "2019.12.14"]
[Round "11.5"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Paehtz, Elisabeth"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2483"]
[BlackElo "2484"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.12.03"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 (3... Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 {is slightly more
popular.}) 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. d4 Bd6 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Be6 9. Bd3 Na6
10. a3 b5 $5 11. b3 Qe7 12. O-O Nc7 ({If} 12... Bxa3 $2 {immediately, White
plays} 13. Qa5 {with a devastating double attack.}) 13. c4 $1 Bxa3 14. Qc2 g6
15. cxb5 Nxb5 (15... cxb5 $2 16. Rxa3 Qxa3 17. Qxc7 $18) 16. Qxc6 a6 17. Nd2 {
Rerouting the knight and clearing f3 for the queen.} Bd7 18. Qf3 Bb4 19. Nc4
Bc3 20. Nb6 $1 {Well-calculated by Kosteniuk.} Bxa1 21. Rxa1 Rad8 22. Nd5 Qe6 (
22... Qd6 23. Nxf6+ Kg7 24. Bxb5 Bxb5 25. d5 $5 Qe5 (25... Qxf6 $4 26. Bh6+ $18
) 26. Bh6+ Kh8 (26... Kxh6 $4 27. Ng4+) 27. Rd1 $16) 23. Nxf6+ Kg7 24. d5 (24.
Rc1 $5) 24... Qe5 (24... Qxf6 $2 25. Bh6+) 25. Rxa6 Nd4 26. Nh5+ $2 (26. Qg3 $1
) 26... Kg8 $2 ({Paehtz missed} 26... gxh5 $1 27. Qg3+ Qxg3 28. Bxd4+ Kg8 29.
fxg3 {when perhaps she underestimated} Bb5 $1 30. Bxb5 Rxd5 {when Black should
be at least equal.}) 27. Qf6 $1 Rfe8 (27... Qxf6 $2 28. Nxf6+ Kg7 29. Bxd4 $18)
28. Qxe5 (28. Re6 $3 {is a total computer move, but it's pretty! The idea is}
Rxe6 29. dxe6 Qxf6 30. Nxf6+ Kg7 31. e7 $1 $18) 28... Rxe5 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30.
Nxd7 Rxd5 (30... Rxd7 $2 31. Bxd4 $18) 31. Nf6 Nf3+ 32. gxf3 Rxd3 33. Rb6 {
The two pieces and pawn are more than a match for the rook. White is winning.}
h6 34. h4 Rd1+ 35. Kg2 Rb1 36. f4 Rd3 37. b4 Rb2 38. Kf3 Rdb3 39. Nd5 f5 40.
Rb7+ Kf8 41. Kg2 Rc2 42. b5 1-0

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While Kosteniuk takes home the first place trophy, tournament rules dictate that prizes and Grand Prix points are split among the three women. This gives €12,333.33 and 133 Grand Prix points to each player, leaving Koneru in the overall Grand Prix lead after two events. The two remaining stops on the 2019-2020 Women’s Grand Prix tour are Lausanne, Switzerland (March 2020) and Sardinia, Italy (May 2020). For her part, Goryachkina will player her World Championship match against Ju Wenjun beginning January 2nd. CLO will have regular coverage of this important event.