Kosteniuk Alexandra

Born April 23, 1984 | Federation: FIDE | Rating: 2521

Alexandra Kosteniuk is the twelfth Women's World Champion (2008–2010), and a three-time winner of the Chess Olympiad (2010, 2012, 2014) with the Russian national team. She won the Monaco leg of the WGM 2019-21, tied with Koneru and Goryachkina, but finished 8th in the overall standings for the series.

Alexandra was born on April 23, 1984, in Perm, major industrial city in the east of the European part of Russia, where her father – a career military man – served. But as early as 1985, she moved to Moscow with her parents, where she spent her childhood. A true prodigy, Alexandra repeatedly won a number of European and world youth championships and became a Woman Grandmaster at the age of 14.

Alexandra's first major achievement in professional competitions dates back to 2001, when the 17-year-old girl reached the final of the 64-player knock-out tournament held in Moscow. Her rival was
Zhu Chen, and the final was tied 2-2 after the classical games, but Chen took the title by winning 3-1 in the rapid tie-break.

A few years later, in 2004, Alexandra became European Women's Champion in Dresden (Germany) with a performance above 2600, earning the Grandmaster title. She became the tenth woman in history to earn that rank.

Her second shot at the title would come in 2008, seven years after her first attempt. Alexandra made her childhood dream come true by winning the knockout Women's World Championship in Nalchik. Under the guidance of grandmaster Yuri Razuvayev, Alexandra Kosteniuk demonstrated a remarkably balanced and mature playstyle, outscoring her rivals in a regular time, to become the 12th Women's World Champion. In the final, Kosteniuk outplayed Hou Yifan, the future Women's World Champion.

Apart from her three golds at the Chess Olympiads, Kosteniuk is a five-time winner of the European team championships (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) as a member of the Russian national team. In individual competitions, she is a two-time Russian women's champion (2005 and 2016), the European women's champion (2004), and a two-time Chess960 women's world champion.

In the World Blitz Championship 2009 in Moscow, she outplayed outstanding grandmasters, such as Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Judit Polgar. In 2013, she won the titles of both male and women's champions of Switzerland – since she holds dual citizenship.

2021 was a sweet year for Kosteniuk. Seeded 14th in the tournament, she won all of her classical matches without ever needing to play a tiebreak, and defeating Aleksandra Goryachkina in the final. This result earned her the qualification toe the Women’s Grand Prix. A few months later, in Warsaw, Kosteniuk would be crowned again World Champion, this time in rapid chess, with 9/11. Not only that, she also finished second in the blitz event, behind Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Apart from being a strong Grandmaster, Alexandra is an active chess promoter, having authored several books, organizing children's tournaments like the “Alexandra Kosteniuk Cup”, and streaming.