It appears as though chess has a new superstar. After taking the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship and the Women’s World Chess Championship titles Alexandra Kosteniuk won gold in the 1st World Mind Sports Games Women’s Blitz Chess Individual event in Beijing, China. Under her father’s(Konstantin Vladimirovich Kosteniuk) coaching and guidance, Alexandra became a Woman Grand Master at age 14, an International Master at 16, and a Grand Master at 20. Her climb to the top started by winning the Girls U10 European Championship in Herculane in 1994, the Girls Under 12 European Championship in Rimavaska Sobota in 1996, and the Girls Under 12 World Championship in Minorca in 1996. At the age of 17, in 2001, she was runner up to Zhu Chen for the Women’s World Championship. In 2006, she won the Chess960 Women’s World Championship and still possesses the title. In September 2008, Alexandra became the 14th Women’s World Chess Champion after winning the final against Yifan Hou by 2.5 – 1.5. In her free time, Alexandra enjoys appearing in films, fashion magazines, doing many product promotions, and walking the catwalk as a successful fashion model.
Below are some fantastic examples of Alexandra Kosteniuk’s phenominal chess abilities. The final game in the list is the sudden death blitz game Kosteniuk played to win the 1st World Mind Sports Games Womens Blitz Chess Individual event.
[Event “Ch World (cadets) (under 12) (g)”]
[Site “Cala Galdana (Spain)”]
[Date “1996.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “11”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Alexandra Kosteniuk”]
[Black “Nadezhda Kosintseva”]
[ECO “C29”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “135”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 d4
7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Be2 Bc5 9.c4 O-O 10.O-O Qe7 11.Bf4 Re8 12.Qe1 Bf5
13.Qg3 Bg6 14.Rab1 Nb4 15.Rb2 Rab8 16.Re1 Nc6 17.Bf1 Nd8
18.Bg5 Qd7 19.Bxd8 Qxd8 20.Ng5 f6 21.Nf3 fxe5 22.Rxe5 Bd6
23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Qf2 c5 25.Rb1 Bf4 26.Kh1 Be3 27.Qg3 b6 28.Ne5
Bf5 29.Be2 Rb7 30.Bf3 Re7 31.Bc6 Qh5 32.Bf3 Qe8 33.Bc6 Qh5
34.Bf3 Qg5 35.Bd5+ Kf8 36.Rf1 g6 37.Nc6 Qxg3 38.hxg3 Ke8
39.Nxe7 Kxe7 40.g4 Bd7 41.Rf7+ Kd6 42.Rxh7 g5 43.Bf3 a6 44.g3
Kc7 45.Be4 Kd6 46.Bf3 Kc7 47.Kg2 b5 48.Bd5 Kd8 49.Rh6 a5
50.Rb6 b4 51.Ra6 a4 52.Bc6 Bxg4 53.Bxa4 Bd2 54.Rc6 Ke7 55.Rxc5
Be6 56.Ra5 g4 57.Bb3 Bc3 58.c5 Bd7 59.Ra7 Kd8 60.Bd5 Bc8
61.Rg7 Bd2 62.c6 Bf5 63.Bc4 Bc8 64.c7+ Ke8 65.Rg8+ Kd7 66.Be6+
Kxe6 67.Rxc8 Kd7 68.Rd8+ 1-0
[Event “FIDE WCh Women KO”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2001.12.07”]
[EventDate “2001.11.27”]
[Round “5.3”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Yuhua Xu”]
[Black “Alexandra Kosteniuk”]
[ECO “B31”]
[WhiteElo “2485”]
[BlackElo “2455”]
[PlyCount “124”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. e5 Nd5
7. Nc3 Nc7 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Ne4 b6 10. Nf6+ Kf8 11. Ne4 h6
12. h3 Kg8 13. b3 Ne6 14. d3 Kh7 15. Ng3 Nd4 16. Bb2 Be6
17. c4 Qd7 18. Re4 Nf5 19. Nf1 Rhd8 20. g4 Nd6 21. Re2 Nb7
22. Ng3 a5 23. a4 Kg8 24. Rd2 h5 25. Ng5 Bh6 26. f4 Bxg5
27. fxg5 hxg4 28. h4 Kg7 29. h5 Rh8 30. h6+ Kh7 31. Qf1 Rad8
32. Qf4 Rhf8 33. Rf1 Qc8 34. Qe3 Rd7 35. Ne2 Nd8 36. Nf4 Bf5
37. e6 fxe6 38. Qe5 Rg8 39. Rh2 Rd4 40. Bxd4 cxd4 41. Qxd4 Nf7
42. Qe3 Nxg5 43. Kf2 Nf3 44. Rg2 Rf8 45. d4 g5 46. Nh5 Bg6
47. Ng3 Rf4 48. Ne2 Re4 49. Qc3 Qf8 50. Kg3 Qxh6 51. Kf2 Qf8
52. Kg3 Qb8+ 53. Kf2 Nh4 54. Rg3 Kg8 55. Qd2 Nf3 56. Qc3 Rxe2+
57. Kxe2 Qxg3 58. Qe3 Kg7 59. d5 cxd5 60. cxd5 Qf4 61. Qxf4
gxf4 62. dxe6 Nd4+ 0-1
[Event “FIDE WCh Women KO”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2001.12.13”]
[EventDate “2001.11.27”]
[Round “6.4”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Zhu Chen”]
[Black “Alexandra Kosteniuk”]
[ECO “A80”]
[WhiteElo “2497”]
[BlackElo “2455”]
[PlyCount “114”]
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. b3 Qe7
7. c4 c6 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc1 a5 10. Ba3 Na6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. c5
Qe7 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. Nxd7 Bxd7 15. f4 b6 16. cxb6 Qb4 17. Qc3
Qxb6 18. Nd2 Rfc8 19. Rfc1 c5 20. Nf3 Rc7 21. e3 Rac8 22. Qd2
a4 23. Ne5 Be8 24. dxc5 Nxc5 25. bxa4 Bxa4 26. Rab1 Qa7
27. Qd4 Be8 28. Rc2 Qa3 29. Qc3 Qa4 30. Qb2 Qa6 31. Bf1 Qa7
32. Qd4 Qa3 33. Qc3 Qa4 34. Qb2 Qe4 35. Re1 g5 36. Bg2 Qa4
37. Rec1 Qa5 38. Qc3 Qa7 39. Qd4 Qa3 40. Qc3 Nb3 41. Qxb3 Qxb3
42. axb3 Rxc2 43. Rxc2 Rxc2 44. fxg5 Re2 45. Nf3 Rxe3 46. Nd4
Kf7 47. Bf1 Bd7 48. Kf2 Rc3 49. b4 e5 50. Nf3 Ke6 51. Nh4 e4
52. g6 hxg6 53. Nxg6 d4 54. h4 Rc2+ 55. Ke1 Rc1+ 56. Kf2 e3+
57. Kg1 Bb5 0-1
[Event “FIDE WCh Women KO”]
[Site “Moscow RUS”]
[Date “2001.11.28”]
[EventDate “2001.11.28”]
[Round “1.2”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Alexandra Kosteniuk”]
[Black “Jennifer Shahade”]
[ECO “B99”]
[WhiteElo “2455”]
[BlackElo “2295”]
[PlyCount “79”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Bg5 e6
7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Nbd7 9. O-O-O Qc7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6
12. f5 Ne5 13. Qh3 O-O 14. Qh6 Kh8 15. Rg1 Rg8 16. Rg3 Bd7
17. Rh3 Rg7 18. g5 Qd8 19. Nce2 fxg5 20. fxe6 Ng4 21. Qh5 Nf6
22. Qf3 fxe6 23. Qb3 Qc8 24. Rc3 Qg8 25. Ng3 h5 26. Nc6 h4
27. e5 dxe5 28. Nh5 Bxc6 29. Nxf6 Bxf6 30. Rxc6 g4 31. Rxe6
Bg5+ 32. Kb1 Bf4 33. Rdd6 Rd8 34. Qd5 Rxd6 35. Qxd6 e4 36. Qd5
Bxh2 37. Qxe4 Qh7 38. Qc6 Qf5 39. Bd3 Qf3 40. Re8+ 1-0
[Event “Women’s World Championship”]
[Site “Nalchik RUS”]
[Date “2008.09.14”]
[EventDate “2008.09.14”]
[Round “6.1”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Yifan Hou”]
[Black “Alexandra Kosteniuk”]
[ECO “C90”]
[WhiteElo “2557”]
[BlackElo “2510”]
[PlyCount “96”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 O-O 8. a3 d6 9. c3 Bg4 10. d3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. h3 Bd7
13. d4 Qc7 14. d5 c4 15. Nbd2 Nb7 16. Nf1 Nc5 17. g4 h5
18. N3h2 hxg4 19. hxg4 Qc8 20. f3 Nh7 21. Ng3 Bg5 22. Nf5 Qd8
23. Kg2 g6 24. Ng3 Kg7 25. Rh1 Rh8 26. Nhf1 Qf6 27. Be3 Bxe3
28. Nxe3 Ng5 29. Qe2 Rag8 30. Raf1 Qf4 31. Rxh8 Rxh8 32. Rh1
Rxh1 33. Nxh1 Nd3 34. Bxd3 cxd3 35. Qf2 d2 36. Ng3 Nxf3
37. Qxf3 Bxg4 38. Qf2 d1=Q 39. Nxd1 Bxd1 40. Qe1 Bf3+ 41. Kg1
f5 42. exf5 gxf5 43. Qf2 Kg6 44. b3 e4 45. c4 bxc4 46. bxc4
Qg5 47. c5 f4 48. cxd6 fxg3 0-1
[Event “Chess”]
[Site “Beijing”]
[Date “2008.10.05”]
[Round “17”]
[White “(RUS) Kosteniuk A.”]
[Black “(BUL) Stefanova A.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
[WhiteElo “2525”]
[WhiteCountry “RUS”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[BlackElo “2548”]
[BlackCountry “BUL”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6
8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bg5 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Qd3 O-O
14. Nbd2 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bg3 exd4 17. cxd4 Bg6 18. Qc3 Ne7 19. Rfe1
Ra8 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. d5 Nh5 22. Kh2 Nxg3 23. fxg3 Kh7 24. Nd4 Qa5 25.
N2f3 Qxc3 26. bxc3 Rb8 27. g4 b4 28. c4 Ra8 29. Nf5 Ng8 30. e5 dxe5
31. Nxe5 Bxf5 32. gxf5 Re8 33. Nd3 Rxe1 34. Nxe1 Ne7 35. g4 Bd4 36.
Nd3 Bc3 37. c5 Kg7 38. d6 cxd6 39. cxd6 Nc6 40. Ba4 Nd8 41. Kg2 Kf8
42. Nc5 Bd2 43. Kf3 Bf4 44. d7 Ke7 45. Ke4 Bd6 46. Nb3 f6 47. Kd5 Bg3
48. Nd4 Bd6 49. Nb3 Bg3 50. Na5 Be5 51. Nc4 Bg3 52. Nb6 Bc7 53. Nc8+
Kf7 54. Kc4 Ba5 55. Kb5 Bc7 56. Kxb4 Nb7 57. Bb3+ Kf8 58. Kb5 Nd8 59.
Bd5 Bf4 60. Kb6 Bg3 61. Na7 Ke7 62. Be6 Bf2+ 63. Ka6 Bxa7 1-0