30 December 2021

Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina Win Silver and Bronze Medals at FIDE World Blitz Women's Championship

The champions are Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz
Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz


The FIDE World Blitz Championships finished in Warsaw. Before the start, it was announced that several players had received positive Covid tests, with Hikaru Nakamura among them. The American lost by forfeit to the Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov in the 13th round.

In the open championship, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alireza Firouzja (both from France), and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) got 15 points out of 21. MVL and Duda, who had the superior tie-breaks, determined the champion in a play-off match. 

The first two games ended in a draw, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the third one as White to become a new world blitz champion.

Tournament on Chess-Results

Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) became the World Blitz Women's champion by scoring 14 points out of 17. The Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk came second with 12.5 points. Valentina Gunina and Polina Shuvalova (both representing CFR) shared 3-4 places; thanks to the superior tie-break, the former won bronze. 

Tournament on Chess-Results

Official website

 
Our congratulations to Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina on their successful performance at the FIDE World Blitz Women's Championship!