Freelancers

12th Women’s World Chess Champion Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (pictured above next to her husband Pavel Vladimirovich Tregubov) and 15th Women’s World Chess Champion Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk (pictured below next to her sister Anna Olehivna Muzychuk) did not succeed in making history repeat itself, but, much more bravely, they contributed with all their presence and influence to write a new history of the Women’s World Chess Championship. For, as Leonard Barden wrote in his The Guardian weekly column, “This will be the last knockout women’s championship. The new International Chess Federation administration headed by Arkady Dvorkovich, which has made an impressive start in many areas, has ruled that future contests will have the same format as the open event, where an eight-player candidates’ tournament qualifies the challenger”. As semi-finalists, both Kosteniuk and Muzychuk have entitled themselves to a place of honour in the “coming soon” Women’s Candidates Tournament. Photos © Press service of the Women’s World Championship 2018.