Alexandra Kosteniuk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alexandra Kosteniuk |
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Kosteniuk at the Women's European Team Championship, Warsaw 2013
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| Full name | Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk |
| Country | Russia (before 2022) FIDE (2022–2023) Switzerland (since 2023) |
| Born | 23 April 1984 Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (2004) |
| Women's World Champion | 2008–10 |
| FIDE rating | 2471 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2561 (January 2018) |
Alexandra Kosteniuk is a super talented chess player. She is a Grandmaster from Russia and Switzerland. Alexandra was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010. She also won the Women's World Rapid Chess Champion title in 2021.
Alexandra has won many other important titles. She was the European women's champion in 2004. She also won the Russian Women's Chess Championship twice. This happened in 2005 and again in 2016. She helped Russia win gold medals in team events. These include the Women's Chess Olympiads and the World Team Chess Championship. In 2022, due to changes in international rules, she started playing for Switzerland.
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Becoming a Chess Star
Alexandra Kosteniuk started playing chess very young. Her father taught her when she was just five years old. She loved chess so much that she studied it seriously. In 2003, she finished her studies in Moscow. She became a certified professional chess trainer.
Early Wins and Titles
Alexandra quickly showed her amazing talent.
- In 1994, she won the European Youth Chess Championship for girls under 10.
- Two years later, in 1996, she won the European and World Youth Chess Championships for girls under 12.
- When she was only twelve, she also became the Russian women's champion in rapid chess.
In 2001, at 17, she reached the final of the Women's World Chess Championship 2001. She played against Zhu Chen in this big tournament.
Earning the Grandmaster Title
Alexandra became the European women's champion in 2004. She won a big tournament in Dresden, Germany. Because of her strong performance, she earned the Grandmaster title. This is the highest title in chess. She was only the tenth woman to receive this honor. Before that, she had already earned the titles of Woman Grandmaster in 1998 and International Master in 2000.
Major Achievements in Chess
Alexandra Kosteniuk has achieved many great things in her chess career. She has won several world titles and team championships.
World Champion Titles
In 2006, Alexandra became the first Chess960 women's world champion. She won against Germany's top female player, Elisabeth Pähtz. She successfully defended this title in 2008.
Her biggest success came in 2008. She won the Women's World Chess Championship 2008. She beat the young Chinese player Hou Yifan in the final match. Later that year, she also won a gold medal in the women's blitz event. This was at the 2008 World Mind Sports Games in Beijing.
In the Women's World Chess Championship 2010, she lost her title. She was eliminated in the third round.
Other Important Wins
In 2013, Alexandra made history. She became the first woman to win the men's (open) Swiss Chess Championship. She also won the women's Swiss champion title that year.
In 2014, she tied for first place in the Women's World Rapid Championship. She won the silver medal after a tiebreak.
In 2015, Alexandra won the European–ACP Women's Rapid Championship. She also won the Russian Women's Championship again.
In 2017, she won the European ACP Women's Blitz Championship.
In 2019, Alexandra won the European Women's rapid and blitz championships. She also shared first place in a FIDE Women's Grand Prix event.
In August 2020, Alexandra was part of the Russian team. They shared the gold medal with India in the Online Chess Olympiad.
Winning the Women's Chess World Cup
In 2021, Alexandra played in the first ever Women's Chess World Cup 2021. This was a big knockout tournament in Russia. She was seeded 14th but played incredibly well. She won all her matches without needing tiebreaks. She beat strong players like Mariya Muzychuk and Valentina Gunina. In the finals, she won against the top player, Aleksandra Goryachkina. This win earned her $50,000 and a spot in the Women's Candidates Tournament 2022.
Alexandra finished 2021 by winning the women's world rapid championship. She was undefeated in this tournament. She also placed second in the blitz championship.
Beyond the Chessboard
Alexandra Kosteniuk has interests outside of chess too.
- She has worked as a model.
- She also acted in a movie called Bless the Woman.
Alexandra is part of the "Champions for Peace" club. This group has 54 famous athletes. They use sports to promote peace around the world.
In 2022, Alexandra and many other Russian chess players signed an open letter. They expressed their concerns about world events.
Personal Life
Alexandra Kosteniuk was born in Perm. Her family moved to Moscow in 1985. She has a younger sister, Oksana, who is also a chess player.
Alexandra has dual citizenship, meaning she is a citizen of both Switzerland and Russia. She married Diego Garces when she was eighteen. They have a daughter named Francesca Maria, born in 2007. In 2015, Alexandra married another chess Grandmaster, Pavel Tregubov.
Images for kids
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Kosteniuk at the Women's European Team Championship, Warsaw 2013
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Kosteniuk at the 35th Chess Olympiad, Bled 2002
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Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2007
See also
In Spanish: Aleksandra Kosteniuk para niños
