Gibraltar and Monkeys

Hello everybody!

I decided to make a post since it's been a while I haven't updated my blog myself. That's why I have special photos of the Gibraltar monkeys playing chess!

As for the tournament itself, for the moment 7 rounds of Gibraltar have been played and the final three rounds promise to be very exciting since the big winners for the men's and women's top prizes will be decided in these rounds.

After 7 rounds, Natalia Zhukova who drew today playing Black against Michael Adams and Humpy Koneru who beat today Guliyev are in the lead with 5.5 points out of 7. I cannot say anything good about my tournament as of yet, there are 3 more rounds to go and I hope that I will finish the tournament on a good note.

But now I would like to tell you about the beautiful sightseeing tour I went on today. The organizers were kind to invite me and some other players for a tour, Anna Zatonskih, Gata Kamsky, Irina Krush and Zeljka Malobabic. We went to see the most southern point of Gibraltar, from where one can see Morocco (which is in Africa). We also went down to the fascinating St. Michael's Cave and went all the way up the Rock to meet the monkeys and to play some chess with them of course!:)

Some photos below are mine and some are Zeljka Malobabic of Monroi who was kind enough to give them to me.

Nice encounter

Analysing a game

Below you can see the Caleta hotel where most participants are staying and where the tournament takes place.

Another magnificent view of Gibraltar

Anna Zatonskih posing with Aloe

I will let you know how the tournament finished, but make sure to go to the official organizers web-site, here where you can find many more nice photos, pairings as well as the live game and live broadcast daily.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com