The world's leading Women's Chess Blog, hosted by the Grandmaster
and Chess Queen™, Reigning 12th World Chess Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Kosteniuk wins 2009 US Open Blitz
Hi to all!
Finally now that I'm back home, I'm ready to tell you about the 2009 US Open blitz championship which I won on August 8, 2009.
It was a 7 double rounds event with 5 minutes for each partner to finish the game. Since I LOVE blitz I couldn't miss a chance to participate in the US open blitz championship. However in the first few rounds I could feel some lack of blitz practice, and at the beginning of the 6th round I was 1 point behind the leader GM Mesgen Amanov. In the first game of our mini-match I was playing Black and equalized pretty easily to reach a draw. In the second game I was playing White and of course wanted to win. My opponent chose the very sharp Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defence and so we went into a long theoretical battle which ended with an unfortunate mistake of my partner. I commented the game for you and posted it on youtube.com/chessqueen . You can also click on the image at the top of this post to be redirected to my video.
In the last round I was able to win 2-0 (Amanov was not able to win 2-0) and so I became the 2009 US Open blitz champion.
I'm now preparing for the Moscow Blitz Championship which will take place on August 30, 2009 in Moscow. It will be super strong, and I hope that this win will give me enough confidence that will help me in Moscow. I hope to post many more games from Indianapolis and from Moscow in the near future on my YouTube channel "chessqueen".
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
I just got back to my hotel room after a nice walk in Downtown Indianapolis.
Today was another wonderful day for me at the US chess open since I won the US Open Blitz Championship with 12.5 points out of 14. I will write about this championship in a couple days, as now it's time for my chess story of the second day of the main event in the US Open 2009.
In the fourth round I was playing Black against the FM Carl Boor. I didn't face any problems in the opening with Black and soon after the opening we reached the following position:
White just played 19. Rab1. It seems that White has to be doing OK. In fact they are already almost losing. Since after I played 19. ... f5! 20.Nc3 e5! I'm threatening to play e4 and then Nd4 and White's position is collapsing. My opponent tried to complicate the game after 21.Nd5 Qd6 22.c5 but I took the pawn on c5 22. ... Qxc5 and after 23.Bc4 Kh8 24.b4 Qd6 25.Rbd1 created a nice pawn chain by playing 25. ... e4
and 13 moves later I won the game.
In the fifth round I played the most exciting game of my tournament against GM Nikola Mitkov.
In this position it's White to move. I was playing White and I liked my position very much during the game. The only problem since it was a 60-minutes game and I didn't have much time at this moment I wanted to find a plan to follow. 25.Re2 with the idea after Qg5 to play 26.Rae1 and to double my rooks on the e-file might have been the best decision here.
But I started a life-threatening operation to win the f4 pawn and played 25. Qf3 Qg5 26. Re4 Black took on b6 Bxb6
and here I almost automatically took on b6 since before playing 25. Qf3 I decided to go to the position that happened in the game but I missed the very strong 28th move for Black
27. axb6?
Instead I could have played 27. h4!? since after Qxh4 28.Rxf4 Qg5 I have the very strong move 29.Nxf7! because if Black takes on f7 now 29...Bxf7 30.Rxf7 after Ba7 White will take 31.Rxb7 and then most likely will win the pawns on c6 and then on a6 and will have sufficient compensation for the bishop. If Black plays 29. ... Qe7 then after 30.Re1 Bc7 31.Nxd8 Qxd8 32.Rfe4 Qd5 33.Qd1 Qd6 34.Qh5 with the idea of playing Bb3 and despite the fact that Black has two pieces for a rook White has a good position. Black played Bd5 asking what my idea was.
Obviously I had seen this position before playing 25. Qf3 and decided to play here
28. Qxf4 but missed the move f6! At first I thought that I have to play 29. Qxg5 hxg5 30.Nxc6 Bxc6 and even though I have some compensation for the piece I was not happy with that since a few minutes ago my position was much better and now I will need to play for a draw. After a few more minutes I noticed an interesting idea and played
29. Nf3!? but objectively speaking 29. Qxg5 would have been stronger.
Rxe4 30.Qc7!
But my opponent found the very strong move Re1+! and I had to make a difficult choice again. 31.Nxe1 If White takes with the rook after 31.Rxe1 Bxf3 32.g3 Black has the strong move Re8! and White cannot take on e8 in view of 33. ... Qc1+ and Qh1# that's why I took on e1 with the knight.
Re8 with the idea to take on e1 and to give checkmate on g2 afterwards.
Of course I didn't play 32. Qg3 here since the only idea for me in this position is to try to promote the pawn on b6 even if I would need to sacrifice some material for that. That's why I chose
32.f3 and even though after
Qe3+ 33.Kh2 Qxc3 34.Rd1 Black won the knight Rxe1 35.Rxe1 Qxe1 36.Qxb7 my b6 pawn gave me enough compensation and forced Black to give away the bishop on d5 after Qd2 37.Qc7 Bxf3 38.Bb3+ Kh8 39.Qg3 Qxb4 40.Qxf3 Qxb6 Black has two extra pawns and probably their position is won but having less than a minute on my clock I was able to hold it and even at the very end my opponent forfeited on time but I only noticed it after I proposed a draw and he agreed. A very hard-fought draw and I had one more round to play and of course I wanted to finish the tournament on a good note. In the sixth round I was playing Black against IM Daniel Fernandez. Interestingly enough I already met Daniel 5 years ago playing in the US open in Fort Lauderdale. That time I also played Black and won the game, so I was not against a small deja-vu. :) We started the game with the sharp Sicilian Defence, Daniel didn't play precisely and I got a very dangerous initiative.
White just played 21. Bg4 I continued the game with the nice 21. ... d3! White replied 22. Bh2
If White plays 22.Kb1 then after dxc2+ 23.Qxc2 Black can take on f4 Qxf4
and after 24.Bh2 to play Qxg4 because if White takes on b8 now 25. Bxb8 Black has a strong move Bb7! with double attack on e4 and the bishop on b8 and the game can continue like this: 26. Rd4 Rc8! 27. Bc7 e5 28. Rc4 Rxc7!!. If White plays 25.Rhg1 Qxh4 26.Bg3 Qxg5 Back to the game after 22. Bh2 I played 22. ... b3! White has to take 23. axb3 Rxb3 24. f5 Qc6
25. Be5
If White plays here 25. Kb1 then after Bb4 26. Qf2 Black can sacrifice the rook by playing 26. ... Rxb2! 27. Kxb2 Bc3+ 28.Kb3 e5 and White has no defence from coming Be6 and Rb8 since after 29. Qa7 Black plays Bd4, winning.
Qa4 26.Kb1 Rb5 27.Bc3 Qxe4 28.f6 Bb4 I completetly outplayed my opponent and am almost winning here but my opponent tries a very nice trick 29.Qxd3!?
It's Black to move now. Try to find the best continuation for Black.
Probably I was tired here since it was already the third game of the day or maybe for some other reasons but I calculated the following variation:
29. ... Qxg4 30. fxg7 Re8 31. Qd8 threatening to take on e8 with checkmate and I decided that I have nothing to do and started looking for some other moves. Instead I should have continued the variation with 31. ... Bxc3 and after 32. Qxe8 it's only a check since the pawn on g7 is not protected anymore and I can simply take the pawn32. ... Kxg7 and Black is winning since after 33. b3 Ra5 White has no defence from checkmate.
That's how I could have ended the game immediately, instead I found the very nice Queen sacrifice 29. ... Bxc3!? but unfortunately for me White doesn't have to take my Queen since after 30. Qxe4?? Black wins after 30. ... Rxb2+ 31. Kc1 Ra2 and in order to save from being checkmated White will need to give back his Queen.
My opponent replied 30. Qc3 and I had to start winning the game all over again which I managed to do in a nice way. You can watch the rest of the game simply by copying the moves below and pasting them into the pgnplayer.com
That's how my second day of the US open 2009 finished. Be sure to check the blog next week since I will try to prepare a story about the US open blitz championship as well as I will comment and post some videos with the games from the blitz championship to my YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/chessqueen .
I played a great US Chess Open 2009! In the first 6 rounds I took 5,5 out of 6, that's 5 wins and only 1 draw (against GM Mitkov).
For the last 3 rounds I decided to take 3 half point byes as is allowed in the rules, and I announced it on the first day. So my final result in the US Open is therefore 7 out of 9 points, and I should take one of the top spots in the tournament, I'm very happy about that!
I played a few interesting games and since many of you follow me on Twitter and on Facebook, I will tell you everything about my tournament here on my chessblog.
I started the tournament with a win over Charles Burress:
Black just played 8. ... d5
Before making the obvious 9. exd6 en passant, I spent some time calculating 9. Nxd5?! which seemed interesting at first since after cxd5 10. Bxd5 Rb8?? I'm winning after 11. Bxf7+! winning the Queen on d8. If Black plays 10. ... Bd7? I have another nice move which is 11. Qf3! double attack on the a8 Rook and f7 pawn, winning. But after some thought I realized that Black will just play 10. ... Be6 and after 11. Bc6+ Bd7 12. Bxa8 Qxa8 13. 0-0 even though my position is still better because I'm much better developed, but I decided that after
9. exd6 exd6 10. 0-0 I have the right to hope for more. Since here after 10. ... d5 I already have 11. Nxd5! exd5 12. Bxd5 and after Be6 13. Bc6 Ke7 is the only move but here my attack is unstoppable 14. Qf3 Rc8 14. Bg5 f6 15. Rfe1!, winning.
10. ... Be6 11. Re1 d5
Now, it's White to move. Try to find the best continuation for White. I will post the rest of the game below this post.
The second game was one the toughest of the tournament. I played Black against a talented young boy Kyle Shin.
My opponent played fast and well while I was spending time trying to complicate things in a position where normally one should think about equalizing. That's the position I had after my 22nd move:
I just played 22. ... Qc6, having about 15 minutes to finish the game I was prepared for a long battle for a draw, but suddenly my opponent played 23. Qb3? after the game he told me that he missed that after 23. ... Bd3 24. Rbd1 Bxe4 25. Bxc5 I have the intermediate move Bxf3, instead my opponent played 25. Ng5 and after a few more mistakes lost the game.
I won the third game against K. Barclay quickly after my opponent's bishop got trapped:
Black just played 12. ... Bg4? I replied 13. Qe1 and after 13. ... Nc4 14. b3 Nb6 15. f5 there is no way to save the bishop on g4 and after a few more moves my opponent resigned.
After the third win I decided to have a walk and to get some kind of a reward for my three wins. The first thing that I could think of is to come to the closest MacDonald's and to get an ice-cream. Since it was already past 10pm only the drive-through was open. So without hesitation I went by foot to the drive-through window and tried to order an ice-cream but it turned out that in order to order something through a drive-through windows you have to be in a car. So I was able to get an ice-cream only by asking people in the next car to order one for me.
So after that little story let's get back to my first game after 11. ... d5
I spent almost 20 minutes here calculating the variations after 12. Nxd5! and finally decided not to sacrifice the piece since even though I felt that there should be something after 12. ... cxd5 I didn't see the concrete way of winning the game after this sacrifice. Instead I played 12. Ba6!? which is also a strong move but not as beautiful as 12. Nxd5! cxd5 13. Bb5+ Ke7 14. Bd2! with the idea after 14. ... f6 (Black loses after 14...a5 15.Bc3 f6 16.Qg4 Qd6 17.Rxe6+ Qxe6 18.Re1 ) to play 15.Ba5! Qxa5 ( 15...Qc8 16.Qxd5 ) 16.Qxd5 - triple attack! With the ideas to take on e6, on a8 or to give a checkmate in 1 by playing Qd7#. Obviously, Black is not able to protect from that many threats.
Tomorrow I will let you know about my last three games of the US-open. I played them against a FM, a GM and an IM.
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
I just won my first game at the US-open. It feels a little weird to play serious chess again after such a long break.
Last night I gave a simul here in Indianapolis. I played against 17 opponents, drew three games, won 14, with no losses. The final score was +14=3-0. I will post more photos and games of this event soon.
I am preparing to fly to Indianapolis to play in the upcoming U.S. Open, and since I will also give a 50-board chess simul at 6PM on Wednesday August 5, I thought this might be a good time to give you my top 10 tips when playing a simul.
1. Don't forget to make your move only when the simul-giver is in front of you.
2. If you are not ready to make a move yet when the simul-giver is in front of you, you can ask for a pass, but don't pass more than twice during the simul. Usually the simul arbiter will announce before the simul starts how many times you're allowed to pass, in my experience it ranges from 0 to 3 times.
3. As always don't forget to write down the moves of your game. A game against a GM is always a good lesson, so after the simul you will have enough food for thought. Also, if you have a scoresheet of your game, after the game s finished, you can ask the GM to sign it, and if you actually manage to win, that scoresheet will be worth to you its weight in gold!
4. A simul-giver, according to the rules, has the possibility to change his/her mind after he/she made the move on the board until he/she makes a move on the next board. So if the GM after he/she already made the move on your board suddenly comes back to you board and makes another move instead of the previous one, don't argue, of course he/she knows the touch-move rule, but a simul is a special situation and you can be proud that you forced the GM to take the move back and thus proved that he/she made a mistake.
5. Play your main openings. You may not get another chance to play a GM for a while, and it's good to see if he or she can help you recognize some holes in your repertoire.
6. If it looks like a blunder, there's a good chance it is! Don't second guess yourself and snap that pawn off! A simul-giver has great instincts because he or she is a GM, but they often make tactical errors due to playing so many games at once.
7. Play for the win! A GM always prefers to play risk-free positions in simuls, so if you can, complicate the position. Since a simul-giver doesn't have much time to think, it will force him/her to make mistakes. Especially attacks of the simuls-giver's king are very dangerous.
Look at the following example:
U.S. Chess Trust Fundraising Simul, New York 2009 White: Kosteniuk , Alexandra Black: Paredes, Alexis
Position after move 18. ... Nxd4
I was completely winning with White. I could have played 19. Rh3 or even 19. h5 with the idea after Rxc3 to play 20. Kb1 with the following variation: 20. ... Rc2 21. h6 Kh7 22. Nxf8+ Kg8 23. h7+ Kxf8 24. h8Q+ Ng8 25. Qd8#, but I decided to make a safer move
19. Qd2?! it's still winning but after 19. ... Rxc3!? I suddenly panicked (yeah, that can happen to a GM as well). I spent quite a few time here and instead of playing a winning move 20. bxc3 I took with the Queen 20. Qxc3? and only by a miracle didn't lose this game and made a draw.
8. Always look for setting up tricks and traps. Your opponent doesn't have time to think and it's likely he will make the first move that comes in his mind, and you can surprise your opponent then by sudden tactical blow.
Here is one example of my last simul in Panama, I was playing against Raisa, Barria, that was the end of a very interesting and tense game and at the very end I almost made a blunder.
Position after 33. ... Qa8
I was about to play 34. Bf1? when suddenly noticed that after that Black has a very strong 34. ... Nxd4! and it's Black who is winning after that. Luckily for me I noticed it and played 34. Bd3! protecting the Queen on e4. As the 7th World Champion Vassily Smyslov once said: "Forks, pins and checks are the main tactical elements of the game of chess".
9. Respect your opponent. Of course, you get much more time than the simul-giver and sometimes your next move is too obvious but while waiting for the GM to come back don't talk too loud and don't discuss what is going on the other chess-boards. Also don't allow your parents or friends who are just behind you to comment your game and advise you what moves to make. After all it's your game and usually advice from onlookers is not so good.
10. Believe in yourself! There is nothing you can't do. Yes, a simul-giver has a lot of experience, higher rating and a lot of significant chess titles but you are playing a chess game and the titles don't mean anything, your opponent and you have the same number of chess pieces before the start of the game, and only your skills in this game matter.
Good luck!
It might still be possible to sign up for my simul. Reservations are still being accepted -- please email cbruce@uschess.org or call 931-787-1234 ex 147. You can also sign up at the USCF webstore. The cost is $50, but kids Under 18 and anyone who defeat me will get a free autographed DVD from Alexandra. The simul is capped at 50 players, so sign up today!
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
Women’s World Champion to Play in 110th U.S. Open By Jerry Hanken June 19, 2009
Reigning Women’s World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has graciously agreed to compete for the title of “U.S. Open Champion” in Indianapolis, Indiana this August. Alexandra, a first-rate journalist as well as a holder of the grandmaster (GM) title, has recently become a resident of Florida and has settled there with her husband and beautiful 2-year-old daughter.She will be giving a simultaneous exhibition on August 5th and reservations are now being accepted online. This is the first time in history that a reigning woman’s world champion has ever played in the most prestigious of the U.S. Chess Federation’s open events.This is only one reason to come to this great tournament. If you have never been to a U.S. Open, you have missed a great experience. The tournament will begin on Saturday August 1st and run through Sunday August 9th, and if you want to take a leisurely chess vacation with the family, you can play every evening for eight days (and Sunday afternoon) and have your days available for sightseeing or anything else you may wish to do. (For instance, how about a visit to the famous “Brickyard” where the Indianapolis 500 is run every year.) On the other hand, you can play in one of the faster schedules, starting on August 4th, 5th, or 6th. All the schedules merge for the last three rounds and compete for the same prizes.The U.S. Open is the last adult tournament of its size where all play in one big section. There are attractive class prizes for every 200 point class down to “E” and unrated. The guaranteed $40,000 will become $50,000 if a total of at least 500 play! (For full details see Tournament Life under “National Tournaments.”)The $8,000 first prize will draw some GMs, but the fact that there will be 300 World Chess Live (WCL) grand prix (GP) points will certainly draw some others. (There will also be WCL junior GP points available.) Five qualification spots will be awarded for the 2010 U.S. Championship, which will once again be at the St. Louis Chess and Scholastic Center and will have enhanced cash prizes. As there are only 24 spots available in that mega-event, we will see some more GMs and other strong players competing in this U.S. Open. With the exception of the online qualifier, there are no other open qualifying events planned for the next championship.The tournament will be held in the ballroom of the beautiful Indianapolis East Marriott, a superior venue with excellent lighting and luxurious sleeping rooms. The hotel rate is a very reasonable $99 for up to four in a room. (If you play the fastest schedule, you need to stay at the hotel for only four nights).The full press-release can be read here.
So I'm flying to Indianapolis on August 5th and will give a simul there the same afternoon. I have been very busy the last six months, writing my biographic chess book so the US open will be my first official tournament this year. I'm really looking forward to it!
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
I would like to let you know about my plans for this summer. Right now I'm in Paris and I just finished my new autobiographical book which should come out in Russian in September, in English by the end of the year.
In a few days I'll pass by Switzerland and on June 16 I will fly to Miami. On June 18 I'm going to Panama to participate in the inauguration of the new Cinta Costera. I will give an open air simul (on June 20), showing that chess is a healthy activity, suitable for the whole family. I will also visit the "Universidad de las Americas" on June 19 and will give a talk on how chess helps in life, and in business. I haven't been to Panama and am really looking forward to this interesting experience. I can promise you many photos from this event.
I'm coming back from Panama to Miami on June 21 and already on June 22 the first session of my first annual chess summer camp starts, which will take place at the historic Chess Hall of Fame and Chess Museum in Miami, Florida.
Kids from 5 to 18 are invited to take part in it. There will be 4 weekly camps (June 22-26, June 29-July 3, July 6-10, and July 13-17). I will run this camp myself and kids will not only get to know many useful chess things and improve in chess, but at the same time will have fun. On July 10-12 there will also be a tournament - The Alexandra Kosteniuk USA Chess Cup (for girls and boys U-8, U-11, U-14, U-18).
After the camp I'll be doing a lot of interesting things for chess fans such as writing books, recording my free audio podcast "Chess is Cool" as well as the free video podcasts "Chess Killer Tips" and will prepare for the 110th US open which will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana from August 1 till August 9. It will be my first serious competition in the USA 2009.
At the end of August I might play in the famous annual Moscow Blitz Championship.
I took part in it in 2005 and in 2006. On the photo above you can see me playing Morozevich, you can watch the whole photo album of the event of the year 2005 here.
In the year 2006 I played a few very interesting games which was recorded by my husband. One game was against GM Alexander Riazantsev. With a really speedy ending.
The other one was against GM Arthur Gabrielian.
I must say that I love blitz and I believe that the future of chess lies in tournaments with shorter time controls.
So this summer promise to be interesting, I will keep you posted about my activities as well as news on women's chess around the world.
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
Don't be shy about contacting me
to share women's chess news
or to propose collaboration
Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women's World Chess Champion
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
