Kateryna Aleksandrovna Lagno (Russian: Екатерина Александровна Лагно, Ukrainian: Катерина Олександрівна Лагно, romanizedKateryna Oleksandrivna Lahno; born 27 December 1989) is a Russian (formerly Ukrainian)[a][1] chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, she earned the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM) at the age of 12 years, four months and two days.[2] In 2007, she was awarded the grandmaster title.[3]

Kateryna Lagno
Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno
Lagno in 2019
Born
Kateryna Oleksandrivna Lahno

(1989-12-27) 27 December 1989 (age 34)
Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Spouse(s)
(m. 2009, divorced)

(m. 2014)
Chess career
CountryUkraine (until 2014)
Russia (since 2014)
TitleGrandmaster (2007)
FIDE rating2527 (November 2024)
Peak rating2563 (October 2022)

She is a twice European Women's Champion and won two team gold medals at the Women's Chess Olympiad, in 2006 and 2014, playing for Ukraine and Russia respectively. She also won team gold at the Women's World Team Championship in 2013 playing for the Ukrainian team and in 2017 and 2021 playing for the Russian team. Lagno won the Women's European Team Championship in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, playing for the Ukrainian team in 2013 and for the Russian team in all following championships. Lagno was the Women's Vice World Champion in 2018, Women's World Rapid Champion in 2014 and Women's World Blitz Champion in 2010, 2018 and 2019.

Chess career

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1999–2005

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At junior level, she won the Girls Under 10 section of the World Youth Chess Championships in 1999 and the Girls Under 14 at the European Youth Chess Championships in 2001.

Lagno was nominated by FIDE president to play in the 64-player knockout Women's World Chess Championship 2004, where she was the fifth seed. She reached the third round and lost to eventual runner-up Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. At the age of 15 she won the 2005 European Individual Women's Championship, held in June in Chişinău, Moldova. Tied with Russian IM Nadezhda Kosintseva at the end of the 12th round with 9 points each, Lagno won both games of a two-game blitz tie-break playoff to win the championship. The following year, she won the women's super-tournament "North Urals Cup", attaining a grandmaster norm in the process.

2008

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In May 2008, Lagno won the European Individual Women Chess Championships again in Plovdiv, by one-half point in the 11-round open tournament.[4]

2009

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In 2009, she played for the club "Spartak" that won the Russian team championship and the European Club Cup in Ohrid.

2010

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In August 2010, Lagno became Women's World Blitz Champion.[5] She finished third in the Grandmaster Group C of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011 in Wijk aan Zee.[6] At the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul in 2012, she won the individual bronze medal for her performance on board one.

2012

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In December 2012, Lagno tied for first with Hou Yifan, Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk in the women's rapid chess event of the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing, taking the gold medal on tie-break score.[7]

2014

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In April 2014, Lagno won the Women's World Rapid Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk by tie-break over Alexandra Kosteniuk.[8] On 11 July 2014, FIDE officially approved her transition from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the Russian Chess Federation, as filed in March 2014.[9]

2016

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In 2016, Lagno won the gold medal in the women's blitz chess event of the IMSA Elite Mind Games in Huai'an, China.[10]

2018

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In November 2018, Lagno lost to world champion Ju Wenjun in the finals of the Women's World Championship. In December 2018, Lagno won the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship held in St. Petersburg without losing any games.[11]

Personal life

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Born in Lviv, Lagno grew up in the industrial and chess-friendly town Kramatorsk, later moving to Donetsk. She is half Russian and half Ukrainian.[12][13][14]

On 25 February 2009, Lagno married Robert Fontaine, French chess grandmaster and TV reporter.[15] The couple had a son together, but divorced several years later.[16][17]

As of 2019, Lagno has four children, and is married to Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Росія купила в України Лагно за 20 тисяч євро [Russia bought in Ukraine Lagno for 20 thousand euros]. Ukrayinska Pravda Sport (in Ukrainian). 12 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  2. ^ "Move over Judit, here comes Kateryna!". ChessBase. 29 May 2003. Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. ^ FIDE: List of Titles Approved Archived 2007-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, June 25, 2007
  4. ^ European Individual Women Chess Championships 2008 Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine. Chess-Results.com
  5. ^ "GM Kateryna Lahno wins the Women's World Blitz Championship 2010". FIDE. 2010-09-10. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  6. ^ Standings of grandmaster group C 2011 Archived 2016-02-01 at the Wayback Machine. Tata Steel Chess.
  7. ^ "Fressinet wins Men's Rapid at SportAccord World Mind Games". Chess News. ChessBase. 2012-12-17. Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  8. ^ "Lagno new World Rapid Champion". ChessBase. 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  9. ^ Player transfers in 2014 Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine FIDE
  10. ^ Crowther, Mark (2016-02-24). "IMSA Elite Mind Games 2016". The Week in Chess. Archived from the original on 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  11. ^ ChessBase staff (30 December 2018). "FIDE World Blitz Champions: Carlsen and Lagno". ChessBase. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Мой переход не связан с политической ситуацией - chess-news.ru". Archived from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  13. ^ "Известная украинская шахматистка получила гражданство России". Archived from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  14. ^ "Известная украинская шахматистка получила гражданство России". Archived from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  15. ^ "Chess News - Kateryna and Robert – pour la vie à jamais unis". ChessBase.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  16. ^ "Russian Women's team out of Olympiad". 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  17. ^ "Kateryna Lagno". Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  18. ^ "Корона для Екатерины. Многодетная мать стала чемпионкой мира по шахматам". 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.

Notes

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  1. ^ Ukraine does not recognize dual nationality.
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