18 Facts About Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021.

Alexandra Kosteniuk was European women's champion in 2004 and a two-time Russian Women's Chess Champion.

Alexandra Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father.

Alexandra Kosteniuk graduated in 2003 from the Russian State Academy of Physical Education in Moscow as a certified professional chess trainer.

Alexandra Kosteniuk won the girls under 10 division of the European Youth Chess Championship.

Alexandra Kosteniuk won the girls under 12 title at both the European Youth Championships and World Youth Chess Championships.

Alexandra Kosteniuk became European women's champion by winning the tournament in Dresden, Germany.

Alexandra Kosteniuk defended that title successfully in 2008 by beating Kateryna Lahno However, her greatest success so far has been to win the Women's World Chess Championship 2008, beating in the final the young Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan with a score of Later in the same year, she won the women's individual blitz event of the 2008 World Mind Sports Games in Beijing.

In late May, Alexandra Kosteniuk faced Ukrainian-American International Master Anna Zatonskih in the quarterfinal match of the 2019 Women's Speed Chess Championship, an online blitz and bullet competition hosted by Chess.

Alexandra Kosteniuk was unhappy with this result and has tweeted regarding this issue, drawing criticism from many chess followers.

In July and August 2021, Alexandra Kosteniuk participated in the inaugural Women's Chess World Cup, a 103-player knockout tournament in Sochi, Russia, held in parallel with the open Chess World Cup.

Alexandra Kosteniuk ended the year by winning the women's world rapid championship in Warsaw, with an undefeated and unequalled 9.0 out of 11 score.

Alexandra Kosteniuk placed second behind IM Bibisara Assaubayeva in the blitz championship.

Alexandra Kosteniuk worked as a model and acted in the film Bless the Woman by Stanislav Govorukhin.

Alexandra Kosteniuk is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Together with 43 other Russian elite chess players, Alexandra Kosteniuk signed an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin protesting against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Alexandra Kosteniuk has a younger sister named Oksana, who is a Woman FIDE Master-level chess player.

Alexandra Kosteniuk married Swiss-born businessman Diego Garces born in 1959, who is of Colombian descent, at eighteen years old.