BEIJING. Russia’s ace chess player Alexandra Kosteniuk clinched the first gold medal of the World Mind Games here on Sunday as the newly crowned queen came from behind to beat former world champion Stefanova Antoaneta of Bulgaria 2-1 in the women’s blitz chess.
“Winning the first gold is a huge success for me. Because it was the first Mind Games and it was a good move today as we always tried to join the Olympic family,” said Alexandra.
In the third-place playoff, China’s 14-year-old Hou Yifan beat her compatriot Zhao Xue to gift the host a bronze.
The 1st World Mind Games, which opened officially on Firday night, attracted more than 3,000 players from 143 countries and regions. Bridge, Chess, Go, Draughts and Xiangqi were on the program.