Goryachkina Wins In Monaco, Takes FIDE Women's Grand Prix Lead

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina drew against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul to win the 2025 Monaco FIDE Women's Grand Prix, her second Grand Prix victory in a row. She finished top on tiebreaks ahead of Munguntuul and GM Koneru Humpy, who took down IM Bibisara Assaubayeva to also score 5.5/9. GM Kateryna Lagno had led all tournament but fell at the final hurdle to IM Sara Khadem, who bounced back after a hat-trick of losses. Lagno had to share fourth place with GM Tan Zhongyi, who couldn't overcome GM Harika Dronavalli.  

Monaco FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 9 Results

The three-way tie at the top was decided not by a playoff but tiebreakers. The first was playing an extra game with the black pieces, as Goryachkina and Humpy had done, while Goryachkina had a better Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak than Humpy. Grand Prix points and prize money are shared between players on the same score. 

Monaco FIDE Women's Grand Prix FInal Standings

The one clash of the leaders in the final round was Munguntuul-Goryachkina, with much at stake. A winning player would have a great chance of taking sole first place, while if Munguntuul managed she'd also have scored a grandmaster norm—as well as playing the tournament of her life!

Instead it was a careful draw where a brief flurry of tactics just simplified the position, before a draw was finally reached when the players made the time control on move 40.

Munguntuul had gained a whopping 30 Elo points and, like her opponent, gained 106.67 FIDE Grand Prix points and €13,833.33 (~$14.400) for tying 1st-3rd place, but it was Goryachkina who, for the second Grand Prix in a row, took first place. It had been a hard-fought redemption arc as she bounced back from losing the first game to Lagno.

Unsurprisingly, that means that Goryachkina now leads the whole series. Each player plays three out of six legs, with Goryachkina still to play in Cyprus on March 15-24. Assaubayeva is currently second, but she's the one player to have played all three of her tournaments, meaning she's almost sure to be overtaken in the fight for two spots in the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-5 Standings After Monaco 

While Goryachkina could celebrate it was a bitter end for the player who'd beaten her in round one.

Khadem 1-0 Lagno

Khadem was facing the world numbers three-nine in her last four games in Monaco, and she'd started that run with three losses, including resigning in what was a drawn position against Humpy.

Lagno, meanwhile, had taken the lead in round one and kept it alone or with others right up until the final round. It was hard to predict, therefore, that Khadem would be the player to strike. She was apologetic: "I really like Kateryna, so I don’t feel good that I took this away from her, because she was having a really great tournament, but it’s always nice to finish the tournament with a win!"

I really like Kateryna, so I don't feel good that I took this away from her.

—Sara Khadem on denying Kateryna Lagno first place in Monaco

"I think she had to play for a win with Black because there were three leaders, so I had this in my mind and I wanted to play safe," said Khadem of her approach, although in the end a draw would have been enough for Lagno to share first place. The position on the board out of the opening didn't match her ambition, and what doomed her was sacrificing a pawn for attacking chances that never materialized. 

Khadem shared seventh place, and explained what she'd learned from event: "First of all, if your coach tells you not to do something, don’t go for it!" She was referring to playing 11.Ne5, 12.f4?! against Tan, despite her coach having told her it's very bad for White. Otherwise she felt the main lessons she'd learned were mental.

Lagno, meanwhile, shared fourth place with Tan, who could have reached the tie for first place herself with a win in the final round.

Her best chances seemed to come very early on after a dubious opening by Harika, but when that wasn't punished we got a curious, tense, but closed position. At one point, we almost had the two players competing perfectly on the opposite-colored squares.

The one player who did manage to win on demand to catch the leaders was Humpy, who took down Assaubayeva.

Humpy 1-0 Assaubayeva

It was an opening disaster for the Kazakh player who turned 21 on Wednesday. 11...Nd7? simply gave up a pawn, since after queens were exchanged on d8 the knight on d7 got in the way of defending either the c7- or d6-pawns. 

Assaubayeva, who has been feeling unwell during the event, put up stiff resistance, but in the end the extra pawn proved too much.

That was a tough end for Assaubayeva, who finished in last place in a Grand Prix she'd started as the series leader and with hopes of picking up a third and final grandmaster norm. Humpy, meanwhile, is well-placed to fight for a Candidates spot when she plays her last Grand Prix in April on Indian home soil.

There was one remaining game which didn't have any significant impact on the standings, but did improve the mood of GM Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Kosteniuk 1-0 Paehtz

Kosteniuk said of her win over GM Elisabeth Paehtz: "I feel relieved. It’s always a pleasure to finish a Grand Prix tournament and it’s even nicer to finish with a win, so I’m quite happy. I was very disappointed yesterday because I lost an equal position in just three moves, and today I’m equally happy."

"I think my opponent went all-in," she added, while it didn't hurt that Kosteniuk was ready for the particular King's Indian (the third on the day!) that Paehtz chose, after preparing it with her husband GM Pavel Tregubov. 

Kosteniuk improved on her score in the first leg of the Grand Prix but isn't well-placed to fight for a Candidates spot, while Paehtz has twice tied for ninth place in what she's said will likely be her last season as a professional chess player.

That's all for the Monaco Grand Prix, but there's just over two weeks until the next stage begins in Cyprus on March 15.  

How to rewatch?

The 2025 Monaco FIDE Women's Grand Prix was the third of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin ran February 18-27 in Monaco. Players had 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize was €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20+ players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 8: Goryachkina, Munguntuul Catch Lagno As Harika Scores 1st Win
• Round 7: Humpy Wins As Khadem Resigns In Equal Position
• Round 6: Goryachkina Climbs To 2nd As Tan Zhongyi Scores 1st Win
• Round 5: Humpy Lets Tan Zhongyi Escape; Lagno Leads Monaco Grand Prix
• Round 4: Spectacular Win Gives Lagno Sole Lead
• Round 3: Kosteniuk Beats Top Seed Tan Zhongyi
• Round 2: Khadem Pounces On Blunder To Beat Harika
• Round 1: Humpy, Lagno Beat Compatriots As Monaco Grand Prix Begins
• Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix
• Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
• FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info