The people behind the game
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Defeated Hou Yifan in the 2008 final. Her career spans elite classical, rapid and team competition.
- Born
- 1984
- Country connections
- Russia / Switzerland
At the board
The games. The ideas.
Explore classic encounters and championship battles. Play every move, or jump straight to the moments that tell the story.
2008 · Women’s world championship · Final · game 1
Kosteniuk’s decisive final win
The opening game of the 2008 women’s final. Kosteniuk creates a passed pawn that reaches the first rank.
Read the position
Every move sets the scene.
Use the controls to explore the full game, or select an annotated moment below. Each explanation describes the position immediately after its highlighted move.
Complete move list 48 moves
The journey
A remarkable path.
Kosteniuk’s career also includes the 2021 Women’s World Rapid Championship and the inaugural Women’s World Cup that year. She won the classical women’s title representing Russia and has represented Switzerland since March 2023. [1]
Explore the championship record →The championship record
Time with the crown.
- 2008–2010Women’s world championship
Reigns are periods of title ownership, not a count of championship victories. Open-ended reigns reflect the record checked on 18 October 2026.
Sources & credits
Biographical details and title records checked . Country connections describe the player’s career and background, rather than a live federation listing.
Portrait: Yunfan Zhao / Lichess · CC BY-SA 4.0. Displayed in monochrome and cropped.
