Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Alexei Shirov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | Alexei Shirov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1984 | 1972 |
| Died | living / not documented | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | Russia | Spain |
| Star sign | Taurus | Cancer |
Who they are
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk arrived at the 2008 Women's World Chess Championship in Nalchik, Russia, as a player who had spent a decade on the edge of the title without claiming it. She had been a silver medalist in 2001 at only seventeen, a candidate multiple times, and a recognizable figure across the global chess circuit. In Nalchik she finally converted potential into the crown, defeating Hou Yifan in the final to become Women's World Chess Champion and cementing her place among the greats of the game. She was twenty-four years old and had been working toward…
Full biography of Alexandra Kosteniuk →
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Russia and Spain.
- 12 years separate their births (1984 and 1972).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexandra Kosteniuk or Alexei Shirov?
- Alexei Shirov. Alexandra Kosteniuk was born in 1984, Alexei Shirov in 1972.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexandra Kosteniuk is filed under Sports (Chess). Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.