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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk

 

Monday, February 28, 2011

Your short-notice transatlantic flight (for love) or a checkmate!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

There are two reasons why you would be ready to take a transatlantic flight in the next two minutes - If there's a love waiting on the other side or if there's a checkmate!!! So, we give you the second reason to take the flight in our chess class today - hosted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk from the World's No. 1 www.chesskillertips.com. Enjoy.

CKT 033: Transatlantic Flight
CKT 033: Transatlantic Flight
LEVEL: Easy
CATEGORY: Problem

White plays and mates in two moves. Chess Problem published in Musical World, 1860.






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Fide Rating March 2011 list: Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk most-active top woman chess player

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

This is cool news. Not only has Chess Queen Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk got back into the 2500-plus club but she remains the most-active woman chess player in the top-60 bracket. The only woman to have played 22 tournament games in the quarter - requiring courage and commitment.

She has begun a turbo-charged 2011 by notching up the best performance in the World Blitz Chess Qualifier held in Moscow and of course, before that, winning the Moscow Open Women's Closed Event this year.



RankNameTitleCountryRatingGamesB.Yr
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2686 0 1976
2 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2607 0 1987
3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2602 0 1994
4 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2567 10 1987
5 Kosintseva, Nadezhda m RUS 2567 10 1985
6 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2559 10 1986
7 Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2531 18 1989
8 Muzychuk, Anna m SLO 2528 4 1990
9 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2526 10 1983
10 Harika, Dronavalli m IND 2524 10 1991
11 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2523 10 1979
12 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2519 9 1991
13 Zhu, Chen g QAT 2506 10 1976
14 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2503 22 1984
15 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2502 0 1961
16 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2499 10 1978
17 Galliamova, Alisa m RUS 2497 0 1972
18 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2495 18 1985
19 Socko, Monika g POL 2495 15 1978
20 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2489 0 1986
21 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2484 21 1963
22 Xu, Yuhua g CHN 2484 0 1976
23 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2480 0 1987
24 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2476 0 1992
25 Danielian, Elina g ARM 2475 9 1978

Meanwhile, in the men's Fide rating list, nothing much happening except World Champion Viswanathan Anand back to the No. 1 slot with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave being the most active among the top players. Here is the list.


RankNameTitleCountryRatingGamesB.Yr
1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2817 13 1969
2 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2815 13 1990
3 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2808 13 1982
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2785 13 1975
5 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2779 19 1969
6 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2776 0 1990
7 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2775 0 1975
8 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2774 13 1987
9 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2772 0 1985
10 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2747 13 1983
11 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2746 9 1986
12 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2744 0 1987
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2743 13 1983
14 Wang, Yue g CHN 2734 0 1987
15 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2733 9 1974
16 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 0 1968
17 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2730 0 1976
18 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2729 13 1990
19 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2728 22 1990
20 Wang, Hao g CHN 2728 13 1989
21 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2724 0 1983
22 Navara, David g CZE 2722 22 1985
23 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2720 9 1987
24 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2719 0 1976
25 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2718 14 1983

For the complete lists you can go to the official Fide website.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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Pretty lady getting massage next to your chess board: Is that distracting?

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Before we give you this news update, here's a serious question: Would a pretty lady getting a massage next to your chess board distract you? Think about it. Till we tell you the news first.

Jolanta Zawadzka (2371) has won the Polish Chess Championship for women. The men’s segment was won by Mateusz Bartel (2617). Both the winners came clear first, scoring 7/9. GM Bartel won the tournament for the second time in a succession and showed a respectable 2789 performance.

The Championship was held in Warsaw from February 12-20, 2011. Though the women’s section was a round robin with nine rounds, the men played Swiss format with 22 participants. (Right: Jolanta Zawadzka)

GM Mateusz Bartel won the men’s section convincingly (7.0/9), finishing a full point ahead of the field and suffering not a single loss. The next players, GMs Pawel Jaracz (2543) and Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2726) scored 6/9, whereas the second prize went to Jaracz based on Buchholz tie-break points. In the women’s section, the victor WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (2371) scored 7.0/9 with not a single loss. She left behind GM Monika Socko (2489), who scored 6.5/9 and WGM Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska (2254), who scored 5.5/9.


Prize winners Pawel Jaracz (left), Mateusz Bartel (left of centre) and Radoslaw Wojtaszek (right) with Dorota Rzepecka, the Tournament Director.

You can find more details at the official website here.

And, now back to the question: Would a pretty lady getting a massage next to your chessboard distract you? We think GM Robert Kempinski would answer that best. Wink.



From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Chess pawns dance skating video - Must watch

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Here is a really nice chess pawns skating dance video sent to us by Greta Muller, Munich. There are two segments in the video - Demonia and Chess. The Chess segment begins somewhere about minute 4.08 but then the entire video is worth a watch.

Enjoy the video.

It will keep you in high spirits throughout the coming week. And, don't forget we love chess and we love you every time you write to us with your comments, views, videos and updates. Keep them coming in.



P.S. Was the score 0-1?

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Beautiful and difficult chess study from 1903

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

What are you doing this Sunday? Having fun? Catching up with some sleep? Planning for the week ahead? Whatever you're doing, you surely got time for this cool chess class? Right! So, here goes. Enjoy.

CKT 032: She can't hide
CKT 032: She can't hide
LEVEL: Difficult
CATEGORY: Study

1903 Study by Henri Rinck. White plays and wins. Beautiful and more complex examples of the Enfilade technique introduced in CKT 002.





From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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Women's Chess Grand Prix in Doha R5: Danielian increases lead to full two points

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Antoaneta Stefanova: That's how
chess can make you happy...
Elina Danielian's powerful performance with five straight victories is the talk of the tournament at the sixth women's chess grand prix currently on in Doha, Qatar. The rest of the competition is a good two points far away with Marie Sebag, Pia Cramling and Martha Fierro at 3 points each. Is she running away with this? Your guess is as good as ours!


... and Maia Chiburdanidze
couldn't agree more!




There have been some super games at the tournament and we hope you've been keeping track with all our posts here at www.chessblog.com.

You can find the standings after five rounds below and can also access the official website here if you are looking for more background information and press updates from the tournament.


Standings after Round 5

1
GM
Danielian E.
2454
ARM
5
2
IM
Fierro Martha
2363
ECU
3
3
GM
Cramling Pia
2516
SWE
3
4
GM
Sebag Marie
2489
FRA
3
5
GM
Koneru Humpy
2607
IND
6
GM
Chiburdanidze
2502
GEO
7
GM
Zhu Chen
2495
QAT
2
8
GM
Xu Yuhua
2484
CHN
2
9
GM
Stefanova A
2546
BUL
2
10
GM
Dzagnidze N
2550
GEO
2
11
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit
2475
ARM
12
IM
Munguntuul B
2410
MGL

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

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