Alexandra Kosteniuk's CHESSBLOG.COM

Today's Stars - Jovanka Eric and Monica Socko

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:51:00 +0000

The first move on the board of the future winner

of the 8th of March Women's Chess Tournament

Hello everybody!

Jovana Eric (on the photo below)

is the winner of the 42nd annual 8th of March Women's Grandmasters Tournament that took place from March 3 to March 12, 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia. Margarita Voiska scored the same number of points as the winner - 6,5 but was second on tie-breaks. The bronze went to Grabuzova Tatiana from Russia.

Here are two nice wins by the winner:

White just played 14. Kh1, what is the best move for Black?

[Event "42nd WGM"]

[Site "Belgrade SRB"]

[Date "2010.3.4"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Petrenko,S"]

[Black "Eric,J"]

[Result "0-1"]

[Eco "B92"]

[Annotator ""]

[Source ""]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3

Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.f4 b5 10.Bf3 Bb7 11.a3 Nbd7 12.f5 Qc7 13.Qe2

Nc5 14.Kh1 Na4 15.Nd1 d5 16.Nf2 Rac8 17.c3 Qc4 18.Na5 Qxe2 19.Bxe2

Ba8 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Bd1 Bd8 22.Nb3 Bb6 23.Nd2 e4 24.Nh3 e3 25.Nf3

Bc4 26.Re1 Ng4 27.b3 Nf2+ 28.Nxf2 exf2 29.bxc4 fxe1=Q+ 30.Nxe1

Nxc3 31.Bf3 Rxc4 32.Nc2 Ne2 33.Be3 Bxe3 34.Nxe3 Rc1+ 35.Rxc1

Nxc1 36.g4 Nd3 37.Nd5 Ne5 38.Be2 Rd8 0-1

Black just played 9. ... h6, what is the best continuation for White?

[Event "42nd WGM"]

[Site "Belgrade SRB"]

[Date "2010.3.8"]

[Round "6"]

[White "Eric,J"]

[Black "Petrovic,Mari"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Eco "B06"]

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Be3 d6 5.Qd2 Nd7 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Bd3

Ngf6 8.O-O Ng4 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxe7 Qc7 11.Bh4 Ngf6 12.e5 Nh7 13.exd6

Qb8 14.Qe3+ Kf8 15.Qe7+ Kg8 16.Bxg6 1-0

The European Women's Individual Chess Championship 2010 is in full blossom right now.

7 rounds have been played so far and Monica Socko (on the photo below playing White against Tatiana Kosintseva) is in the lead with 6 points out of 7.

She is followed by Antoaneta Stefanova, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Viktorija Cmilyte, Lilit Galojan, Pia Cramling and Yelena Dembo, all with 5,5 out of 7. Tomorrow, March 13, is a free day and on March 14 the tournament will continue with 4 more rounds to go.

The shortest decisive game of the championship so far is the encounter between Aginian and Goslawska which lasted for only 16 moves:

[Event "11th EICC Women"]

[Site "Rijeka CRO"]

[Date "2010.3.6"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Aginian,N"]

[Black "Goslawska,C"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Eco "C66"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.c3 Be6? 5.d4 Bd7 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1

g6 8.Nbd2 exd4? 9.cxd4 Bg7 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nd5 12.Ne4 Nde7??

13.Nf6+ Bxf6 14.exf6 Be6 15.Qxd8+ Rxd8 16.fxe7 1-0

The longest game has been the game between Baira Kovanova and Monica Socko which lasted for 129 moves:

[Event "11th EICC Women"]

[Site "Rijeka CRO"]

[Date "2010.3.8"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Kovanova,B"]

[Black "Socko,M"]

[Result "0-1"]

[Eco "B30"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Ne7 6.d3 Ng6 7.Nc3

d5 8.b3 Bd6 9.Ba3 O-O 10.Re1 f6 11.Na4 Qe7 12.Qd2 Rb8 13.c4 e5

14.h3 Nf4 15.exd5 Qf7 16.Bxc5 Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Bxh3 18.g3 cxd5 19.d4

Qh5 20.Nh2 Rbd8 21.dxe5 fxe5 22.Qe3 Rde8 23.gxf4 Rxf4 24.Kh1

Bg4 25.Kg2 Ref8 26.Nd3 Bf3+ 27.Nxf3 Qg4+ 28.Kf1 Qh3+ 29.Ke2 Rxf3

30.Qxa7 Rxd3 31.Rg1 Qf3+ 32.Kf1 g6 33.Qb6 Qh3+ 34.Ke1 Qf5 35.cxd5

Rxd5 36.Rc1 Rd4 37.Rg2 Rh4 38.Rg1 Rh2 39.Rc2 Qxc2 40.Qe6+ Rf7

41.Qe8+ Kg7 42.Qxe5+ Rf6 43.Qe7+ Rf7 44.Qe5+ Kf8 45.Qb8+ Ke7

46.Qxh2 Qb1+ 47.Ke2 Qxa2+ 48.Kf1 Qb1+ 49.Kg2 Qe4+ 50.Kf1 Kf8

51.Qd6+ Re7 52.Qd1 Kf7 53.Qg4 Qd3+ 54.Kg2 Qxb3 55.Rc1 Qd5+ 56.Qf3+

Qxf3+ 57.Kxf3 h5 58.Kg3 Kf6 59.Rc5 Re5 60.Rc6+ Kf5 61.Rc8 Ra5

62.f3 Kg5 63.Rc4 Rf5 64.f4+ Kh6 65.Rc3 Rd5 66.Rb3 Kg7 67.Ra3

Kf6 68.Rb3 Kf5 69.Ra3 Ke4 70.Ra6 Rd3+ 71.Kg2 Kf5 72.Kh2 Rf3 73.Kg2

Rxf4 74.Kg3 Re4 75.Ra5+ Re5 76.Ra8 Re3+ 77.Kg2 g5 78.Ra2 g4 79.Ra8

h4 80.Rf8+ Ke4 81.Re8+ Kd3 82.Rg8 Rg3+ 83.Kf2 Rf3+ 84.Kg1 g3

85.Rh8 Rf4 86.Kg2 Ke3 87.Re8+ Re4 88.Rf8 Rd4 89.Kh3 Rf4 90.Ra8

Rd4 91.Re8+ Kf2 92.Rf8+ Ke3 93.Re8+ Kd3 94.Rg8 Re4 95.Rf8 Re1

96.Rd8+ Ke2 97.Kg2 Ke3 98.Re8+ Kd2 99.Rd8+ Kc3 100.Rc8+ Kd4 101.Rd8+

Kc5 102.Rd2 Re4 103.Kh3 Rd4 104.Re2 Kd5 105.Re8 Re4 106.Rd8+

Ke5 107.Re8+ Kf5 108.Ra8 Kf6 109.Ra2 Rf4 110.Ra6+ Kg5 111.Ra5+

Rf5 112.Ra4 Rf4 113.Ra5+ Kf6 114.Ra6+ Ke5 115.Ra5+ Kd6 116.Ra6+

Kc5 117.Ra2 Kb4 118.Re2 Kc3 119.Ra2 Rd4 120.Ra3+ Kd2 121.Ra8

Ke3 122.Re8+ Kf3 123.Rf8+ Rf4 124.Ra8 Kf2 125.Ra4 Rf3 126.Ra2+

Kg1 127.Ra1+ Rf1 128.Ra2 Kh1 129.Rg2 Rf2 0-1

If you want to watch the games interactively, the best way to do so is to COPY the moves (in the case above 1. e4 c5 etc.) and PASTE them in my PGN PLAYER, then you'll be able to play the games on-screen.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Chess Diva Haiti Fundraiser

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Chess Diva episode #8 from Lauren Goodkind

You’re invited to the “Chess Diva” Chess-Haiti Fundraiser!

Nationally ranked chess players Barbara and Lauren Goodkind, producers of the award winning local access TV show, “Chess Diva” will play 5 minute blitz games with the public. Non chess players will find it entertaining to watch! Parents, bring your kids!

 Suggested donation per game is $5.

  When: Saturday and Sunday, March 20th and 21st, 10 am to 4:30 pm  Where: Lytton Plaza, 202 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA. (next to Pizza My Heart)

 All proceeds will go to UNICEF.

Lauren and Barbara Goodkind,

the producers of "Chess Diva"

About the Producers (from their website):

Lauren has been playing in chess tournaments for about 8 years. Her current United States Chess Federation is 1859. After graduating recently from a 4 year university with a BA in communications, she decided to work with the chess community and pursue a career in media production at the same time. "Chess Diva" is one of her first projects. She gives a lot of credit to the Media Center in Palo Alto, which made this effort possible.
Barbara was first of the sisters to play in chess tournaments. She currently attends a 4 year university to obtain her BA degree.

Lauren and Barbara Goodkind are ranked among the top 100 females in the United States (see top rating list).

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Chess Olympiad 2012 Logo and History

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:08:00 +0000

Hi everybody!

I just got back from Colombia and am preparing a post about it for you. Before that, I'd like to share the following with you, about the Chess Olympiads:

The organizers of the 40th Chess Olympiad which will take place in 2012 in Istanbul, invite you till the 31st of March to vote for your favorite logo of the event, here.

The Chess Olympiad is a very special event. A tournament where one can really feel the moto of the FIDE - Gens Una Sumus!

A little bit of history about the Chess Olympiads:

The first world team competition took place in Paris in 1924 and was reported as the 'Chess Olympic Games.' It is not, however, counted as one of the official 'Chess Olympiads'; on the one hand it was not organised by FIDE, while on the other the method of scoring was different from that worked out later.

The year 1924 is a milestone in chess history not so much because of this competition but because it saw the formation of the International Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs) by the players present in Paris. The first President of FIDE, Dr Rueb, of Holland, was also elected in Paris, and for a quarter of a century he fulfilled this important office with great skill and diplomacy.

In 1927, representatives from sixteen countries assembled in London to take part in the first of the series of international team competitions which have become known as Chess Olympiads. The naming of FIDE's team championship as the "Chess Olympiad" is of historical origin and implies no connection between this event and the Olympic Games, which means that, unfortunately, chess Olympiad medals are not Olympic medals, and a clear distinction should be made about it. Therefore it is misleading and untrue to call the medals earned in chess Olympiads as "Olympic".

In the first three Olympiads the board order of the players was not fixed and therefore was not necessarily identical with their strength. But since 1931 it has been the rule that the playing order submitted with the entry must be adhered to throughout the competition. If a player is rested, those below him have to play a board higher.

The first women's chess olympiad has been held in 1957, and from 1972 it takes place every two years together with the men's chess olympiad.

The full table of the men's and women's olympiads you can find on the olimpbase.org

The 2008 Olympiad was held in Dresden, Germany. The 2010 Olympiad is going to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia in September this year. The 2012 Olympiad is going to be held in Istanbul, Turkey. There is already a bid for the 2014 Olympiad by Tromso, Norway. The host for the 2014 Olympiad will be decided during the General Assembly of FIDE in Khanty-Mansiysk this year.

I already took part in 5 Olympiads. In 1998 I took part in my first ever Olympiad which took place in Elista, Russia. I played for the Russia-3 team which was also called the team of Kalmykia. Our team was seeded 33rd at the beginning of the event but we managed to do very well and at the end shared 6-9th places. I scored 10 out of 13 and took the silver medal on my board. In 2002 I played in my second Olympiad but it was my first Olympiad for the national team of Russia. Our team took silver medals, behind the Chinese women. In 2004 in my third Olympiad, I played for the first time on the first board. I met over the board against 3 former (Xie Jun, Maia Chiburdanidze, Susan Polgar) and one reigning (at that time) World Champions (Antoaneta Stefanova) and lead my team to the bronze medals. In 2006 in Turin I played once again on the first board for Russia and this time we took silver medals behind the team of Ukraine. In 2008 in Dresden I played on the first board for Russia once again. For the first time since the Olympiad in Moscow in 1994 our women's Russian team didn't take medals. We shared the third place but was fourth on tie-breaks. So this year we will try to do our best in Khanty-Mansiysk and I'm sure it will be a great event.

See photos of most women's teams from the Torino 2006 Olympiad

But for the moment go to the official web-site of the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul and vote for the logo you like most.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Alexandra teaches Chess CD-ROM PC/Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:17:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

Everyday I get several emails from parents asking me what is the best way to introduce chess to theirs kids. How to make it fun and attract children to this wise game? My answer is try to make the first steps as cool as possible. In order to make kids interested, parents should create challenges, games, puzzles, everything that will make kids want to learn more about chess.

Being a chess educator as well as a teacher myself, I'm constantly looking for new and interactive ways to attract more children to this wonderful game. That's why some time ago I published a special interactive chess CD for kids - "Alexandra Teaches Chess" both for PC's and for Macs (both versions on the same CD). It's a fun and fascinating game for children which leads them from the very first steps on the chess board to the first moves and games that they will be able to play after going over this CD.

Below you will see one of the emails and a lovely photo of a very cute girl playing my CD-game. It made me very happy:

Below is an email which I recently got:

"Dear GM Alexandra,

I purchased your software for my daughter. I have been teaching her myself and she is doing well but the addition of your software in her training has made a big jump in her enjoyment of the game. I have included a shot of her practicing. I thank you for being such a positive role model and mentor to so many people.

Regards,

WS"

So if you'd like to introduce your child to the wonderful game of chess, I can recommend to buy my "Alexandra Teaches Chess" PC/Mac Interactive CD. Your child is guaranteed to have many hours of fun learning chess.

Special bonus by request, free Autographed magazine "Chess Life for Kids"!

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

March 8 International Women's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:01:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

March 8 is a big holiday in Russia. It is called the International Women's Day. If you come to Russia on the 8th of March then you will see that almost every man is bringing flowers (mostly mimosas) to his loved ones. Everybody congratulates women, girls, moms.

I would also like to congratulate women's chess players with this wonderful day! Let me wish all of us happiness and love! Let us wish that our children will be happy and healthy and we always have loved ones next to us.

What is the best way to celebrate this special day? To organize a chess tournament, of course! A women's chess tournament to be precise. That's probably why, every year since 1965 in March there is a very strong women's international chess tournament. The 42nd Women's International 8th of March Tournament is taking place right now in Belgrade, Serbia.

The history of this tournament is fascinating:

The First Women's International March 8 Tournament was organized between March 8 and 24, 1965, in honour of The International Women's Day - March 8.

The International March 8 Tournaments have become a tradition in Belgrade, and with the exception of 1980 and 1984, have been held every year. In 1980, the tournament wasn't held at all due to financial reasons, and in 1984, it was played according to the Swiss system, but only with the participion of local players.

Almost all the leading women chess players have competed in the March 8 Tournaments, including many world champions. The legendary Nona Gaprindashvilli was the seven-times winner and in 1971 she scored 100% - 13 points in 13 games!

Today the organizer of the tournament, the Belgrade Chess Association, tried to save tradition of the tournament and has managed to do that.

This year, the 42nd International Women's Grandmaster Chess Tournament is being held from the 3rd to the 11th of March.

Below is the list of the winners of the Tournament so far:

1. 1965 E. Bilek

2. 1966 N. Gaprindashvili i A. Nicolau

3. 1967 T.Zatulovskaya

4. 1968 N.Gaprindashvili

5. 1969 N.Aleksandria

6. 1970 A.Kushner

7. 1971 N.Gaprindashvili

8. 1972 A.Nicolau / M.Lazarevic

9. 1973 A.Nicolau

10. 1974 N.Gaprindashvili

11. 1975 Z.Veroci / V.Kozlovska / A.Georgieva

12. 1976 N.Gaprindashvili

13. 1977 Z.Veroci / I.Levitina

14. 1978 N. Gaprindashvili

15. 1979 N.Aleksandria

16. 1981 LJ. Zajceva

17. 1982 E.Akhmilovskaya

18. 1983 Z.Veroci

19. 1985 S.Matveeva

20. 1986 N.Gurieli

21. 1987 M.Litinska / S.Matveeva

22. 1989 Z.Veroci

23. 1990 N.Gurieli / N. Bojkovic/ M.Voiska

24. 1991 N.Gaprindashvili

25. 1992 M.Chiburdanidze

26. 1993 I. Umanskaia

27. 1994 A.Galjamova

28. 1995 S.Prudnikova

29. 1996 M.Chiburdanidze

30. 1997 A.Benderac

31. 1998 N.Zhukova

32. 1999 G. Markovic

33. 2000 E.Kovalevskaya

34. 2001 I.Chelushkina

35. 2002 I.Chelushkina

36. 2003 S.Prudnikova

37. 2005 LJ.Drljevic / I.Chelushkina / G.Olarasu / S.Petrenko

38. 2006 S.Petrenko

39. 2007 S.Petrenko

40. 2008 N.Bojkovic

41. 2009 I.Čoluškina

5 rounds have been played so far and Margarita Voiska from Bulgaria is in the lead right now with 4 points out of 5. You can follow how is it going on the official web-site, here.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Angora WGM Chess Tournament 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:09:00 +0000

Turkish women's team

The Turkish Chess Federation is one of the most active members of FIDE.

It organizes many interesting and important chess events every year. From different world and European youth championships to the women's and men's world chess championships. For example, the year 2010 started with the world team chess championship in Bursa and will end with the women's world chess championship in Ankara. There will be even more events in 2011, including the Women's European Chess Championship.

For the talented turkish chess players, the TCF organizes year-round trainings with world-renowned trainers such as Adrian Mikhalchishin, Mikhail Gurevich and others. The results can already be seen. The latest youth world and European chess championships brought many medals to Turkey by young players in several age categories. During my visit to Bursa in January I met two 8-years old girls who won several tournaments in their age-category. They said that they have special chess trainings up to 30 hours per week.

From February 14 to February 20, 2010 the international WGM Angora Chess Tournament took place in Ankara.

It was organized by the Turkish Chess Federation in the Nevzat Süer hall in the New Chess Federation Center. There were two teams (A - 5 foreign players and B - 5 Turkish players). The participants were IM(WGM) Angela Borsuk, IM(WGM) Sopio Gvetadze, WGM Anna Burtasova, WGM Anastasia Karlovich, WIM Nargiz Umudova, WIM Betul Cemre Yildiz, WIM Kubra Ozturk, Kaya Emel, Sop Selen and Menzi Ezgi. The tournament was played using the Double Scheveningen System with 10 rounds.

One of the participants of this event - Anastasia Karlovich wrote a very interesting article about this tournament with the photos of the event, you can read it on chessbase.com.

Here is one upset by the Turkish chess player Betul Cemre Yildiz (2244) over the WGM from Georgia Sopio Gvetadze (2342).

Black just played 39. ... Bd8, White to move.

Here is the PGN of the game. If you'd like to use it in your chess software, just copy the text characters from [Event... down to the result of the game 1-0 save the file as text and change the extension to .pgn then you will be able to successfully open it and view the game with your favorite chess database software!

[Event "Angora Chess Tournaments-WGM"]

[Site "Ankara"]

[Date "2010.2.17"]

[Round "5.11"]

[White "Yildiz, Betul Cemre"]

[Black "Gvetadze, Sopio"]

[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.c4 O-O 7.Nc3

d6 8.O-O a6 9.Be3 Qc7 10.Rc1 b6 11.f3 Bb7 12.Qd2 Nbd7 13.Rfd1

Rac8 14.Bf1 Qb8 15.b3 Bd8 16.g4 Kh8 17.Qf2 Bc7 18.Qh4 Ne5 19.Qh3

Ng6 20.g5 Nd7 21.Nde2 Rce8 22.f4 Nc5 23.f5 Ne5 24.Bg2 Qa8 25.Rd4

Ncd7 26.Nf4 Bc8 27.g6 Nf6 28.gxf7 Rxf7 29.fxe6 Rff8 30.Ncd5 Bd8

31.Rf1 Nfg4 32.Rdd1 Qb7 33.Bd4 b5 34.c5 dxc5 35.Bxc5 Rg8 36.Bd4

Bf6 37.Rc1 Bg5 38.Rc7 Qa8 39.Qh5 Bd8 40.Rxg7 Rxg7 41.Qxe8+ Rg8

42.Qh5 Rg5 43.e7 Bxe7 44.Qe8+ Rg8 45.Qxe7 Qb8 46.Nf6 Bf5 47.Nxg8 1-0

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Izvestia Chess Puzzle Contest Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:23:00 +0000

Photo courtesy Vladimir Suvorov/"Izvestia"

Hello everybody!

A few posts ago I let you know about the Puzzle Contest in the Russian newspaper "Izvestia". On March 3 the winners of this contest were announced and the solutions for the Puzzles#5 and #6 were posted:

Puzzle #5. A. Kosteniuk, 2009,

White to move and make a draw.

SOLUTION:

1. b8Q h1Q 2.Kd4+! Rс1 3.Qg3+ Kh5 4.Qh3+ Kg5 (4. .. Qh3 stalemate) 5. Qg3+ Kh6 6. Qh3+ Kg7 7. Qd7+ Кf8 8.Qd8+ Kh7 9.Qd7+ Kh6 10.Qh3+ Kg5 11. Qg3+ Kf5 12.Qh3+ Kf4 13.Qh4+ Kf3! 14.Qf4+ Kg2 15.Qg4+ Kf2 16. Qh4+ Ke2 17.Qf2+ Kd1 18.Qd2+ Kd2 stalemate

Puzzle #6, О.Pervakov, 2008,

White to move and win.

SOLUTION:

1.с3!

1.cb? doesn't win in view of Kh6! 2.Rg6+ Qg6 3.Bg6 Kg6 4.b4 Kf6 5.Kd2 Ke7 6.Ke3 Kd7 7.Ke4 Kc7 8.Kf5 Kb6 with a draw

1. ... b2+ 2.Kb2 Kh6! (2. ... Kh8 3.Rg8+!),

Now doesn't win 3.Bd3? in view of Qа4! 4.Rg6+ Kh7 5.Rg4+ e4! 6.Rе4 Qd1!

7.Bc2 Qg1! 8.Rg4+ Kh8! (9. ... Kh6? 10.Rg6+!) 9.Rg1 stalemate

The correct continuation is 3.Bс2!! Qс4! (3. ... Qd5 4.Rg6+ Kh7 5.Rd6+ winning the Queen and the game)

4.Rg6+ Кh7 5.Rg4+ e4! 6.Rе4 Qс7! 7.Re7+ Kh6 8.Rh7+! - winning

I hope you enjoyed solving these puzzles and can assure you that daily solving of different tactical and endgame problems and puzzles will increase you level of chess.

Link to the original Izvestia Chess Puzzle Contest 2010.

Solve many puzzles on my CHESS KILLER TIPS podcast page.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

European Chess Championship 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:14:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

Tomorrow, March 6, 2010, the very strong European Women's Chess Championship will start in Rijeka, Croatia. This championship is a qualification tournament for the Women's World Chess Championship 2012. For that reason, this year the championship has attracted most of the strongest women chess players in Europe who would like to qualify for next world championship cycle.

The reigning European champion right now is Tatiana Kosintseva who won the European championship 2009 in Saint-Petersburg in March last year.

The full starting list of the European chess championship 2010 are, in order of rating:

No.		Name	FideID	FED	RtgI
1	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2902257	BUL	2555
2	IM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	4134974	RUS	2554
3	IM	Muzychuk Anna	14111330	SLO	2533
4	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	4133471	RUS	2524
5	GM	Cramling Pia	1700030	SWE	2523
6	GM	Sebag Marie	617822	FRA	2506
7	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	13300601	ARM	2503
8	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	13601458	GEO	2500
9	WGM	Zhukova Natalia	14101513	UKR	2492
10	IM	Danielian Elina	13300210	ARM	2491
11	GM	Hoang Thanh Trang	12400149	HUN	2487
12	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	4641833	GER	2486
13	IM	Cmilyte Viktorija	12801259	LTU	2485
14	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	13601903	GEO	2479
15	IM	Gaponenko Inna	14101181	UKR	2472
16	IM	Melia Salome	13602446	GEO	2467
17	GM	Socko Monika	1106619	POL	2465
18	IM	Rajlich Iweta	1108166	POL	2459
19	IM	Dembo Yelena	723916	GRE	2457
20	WFM	Gunina Valentina	4167570	RUS	2457
21	IM	Skripchenko Almira	13900145	FRA	2456
22	IM	Tairova Elena	13503383	RUS	2455
23	IM	Ushenina Anna	14110911	UKR	2452
24	IM	Khotenashvili Bela	13602640	GEO	2448
25	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	13600168	SCO	2447
26	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	14114550	UKR	2444
27	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	4116704	RUS	2438
28	IM	Moser Eva	1607456	AUT	2437
29	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	13600320	GEO	2434
30	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	1200496	ROU	2433
31	IM	Vasilevich Tatjana	14101610	UKR	2414
32	IM	Romanko Marina	4149351	RUS	2409
33	WGM	Zawadzka Jolanta	1122320	POL	2404
34	GM	Peng Zhaoqin	1004786	NED	2401
35	IM	Milliet Sophie	623725	FRA	2391
36	WGM	Savina Anastasia	4196872	RUS	2391
37	WGM	Zdebskaja Natalia	14109956	UKR	2390
38	IM	Lomineishvili Maia	13600656	GEO	2385
39	WGM	Kovanova Baira	4164083	RUS	2385
40	IM	Bojkovic Natasa	908550	SRB	2384
41	WGM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	4181751	RUS	2384
42	WGM	Galojan Lilit	13301314	ARM	2380
43	IM	Matveeva Svetlana	4119827	RUS	2373
44	WIM	Molchanova Tatjana	4132203	RUS	2369
45	WGM	Majdan Joanna	1121979	POL	2364
46	WGM	Girya Olga	4195752	RUS	2362
47	IM	Dworakowska Joanna	1107445	POL	2356
48	WGM	Iljushina Olga	4152280	RUS	2356
49	WIM	Severiukhina Zoja	24108065	RUS	2355
50	WGM	Motoc Alina	1210246	ROU	2348
51	WIM	Nikolova Adriana	2908689	BUL	2348
52	IM	Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino	4623614	GER	2346
53	WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	1201590	ROU	2346
54	IM	Gvetadze Sopio	13601440	GEO	2342
55	IM	Borsuk Angela	2806452	ISR	2338
56	WGM	Charkhalashvili Inga	13601431	GEO	2338
57	WGM	Cherednichenko Svetlana	14105551	UKR	2337
58	IM	Sedina Elena	812153	ITA	2334
59	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	4198026	RUS	2332
60	WIM	Tsatsalashvili Keti	13603434	GEO	2326
61	WIM	Paikidze Nazi	13603620	GEO	2322
62	IM	Zimina Olga	4132190	ITA	2319
63	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	928615	SRB	2319
64	WGM	Manakova Maria	927007	SRB	2315
65	WGM	Vega Gutierrez Sabrina	2219026	ESP	2314
66	WIM	Schneider Veronika	721530	HUN	2314
67	WGM	Kochetkova Julia	4139690	RUS	2313
68	WGM	Zakurdjaeva Irina	4135504	RUS	2313
69	WGM	Kadziolka Beata	1119990	POL	2311
70	WGM	Nebolsina Vera	4163591	RUS	2310
71	WIM	Borosova Zuzana	14905779	SVK	2307
72	IM	Klinova Masha	2802015	ISR	2303
73	WGM	Paulet Iozefina	1213261	ROU	2303
74	WGM	Stojanovic Andjelija	928682	SRB	2301
75	IM	Purtseladze Maka	13602659	GEO	2299
76	WGM	Berend Elvira	4000510	LUX	2299
77	WFM	Mammadova Gulnar Marfat Qizi	13403508	AZE	2299
78	WGM	Doluhanova Evgeniya	14112035	UKR	2297
79	WGM	Aginian Nelly	13300628	ARM	2296
80	WGM	Calzetta Ruiz Monica	2204185	ESP	2296
81	WGM	Kursova Maria	4129709	RUS	2296
82	WGM	Vojinovic Jovana	937266	MNE	2296
83	WGM	Kostiuk Tatiana	14107449	UKR	2294
84	WIM	Arabidze Meri	13604040	GEO	2292
85	WIM	Dolzhykova Kateryna	14113414	UKR	2290
86	WGM	Mamedjarova Zeinab	13401521	AZE	2289
87	WGM	Medic Mirjana	14501619	CRO	2279
88	WGM	Sandu Mihaela	1204327	ROU	2277
89	WGM	Melnikova Yana	4136632	RUS	2272
90	WGM	Semenova Irina	4118367	RUS	2272
91	WGM	Mamedjarova Turkan	13402005	AZE	2269
92	WGM	Guramishvili Sopiko	13602888	GEO	2266
93	WGM	Nemcova Katerina	322750	CZE	2264
94		Papp Petra	739049	HUN	2263
95	WIM	Pertlova Sona	318787	CZE	2262
96	WIM	Tarasova Viktoriya	4175840	RUS	2261
97	WIM	Ozturk Kubra	6302599	TUR	2260
98	WIM	Toma Katarzyna	1119907	POL	2259
99	WIM	Videnova Iva	2907763	BUL	2258
100	WFM	Lomako Anna	4164725	RUS	2258
101	WIM	Sikorova Olga	307033	CZE	2256
102	WGM	Przezdziecka Marta	1123009	POL	2254
103	WIM	Fakhiridou Ekaterini	4202848	GRE	2252
104	WIM	Drljevic Ljilja	928879	SRB	2248
105	WIM	Franciskovic Borka	14507943	CRO	2245
106	WIM	Worek Joanna	1118080	POL	2245
107	WIM	Yildiz Betul Cemre	6302920	TUR	2244
108		Mrvova Alena	14902036	SVK	2239
109	WIM	Jelica Mara	14504111	CRO	2235
110		Haast Anne	1017292	NED	2235
111	WIM	Papadopoulou Vera	4205472	GRE	2228
112	WIM	Gromova Iulia	4152832	RUS	2226
113	WGM	Makropoulou Marina	4200187	GRE	2225
114	WIM	Isgandarova Khayala Ilqar Qizi	13401823	AZE	2224
115	WIM	Schut Lisa	1019481	NED	2224
116	WIM	Fuchs Judith	24605611	GER	2222
117	WGM	Shaydullina Sandugach	4140389	RUS	2218
118	WIM	Ivakhinova Inna	4185641	RUS	2218
119	WIM	Brunello Marina	822590	ITA	2217
120	WIM	Hoolt Sarah	24606812	GER	2215
121		Djukic Sandra	931390	SRB	2214
122	WIM	Kazimova Narmin Nizami Qizi	13402951	AZE	2212
123	WIM	Umudova Nargiz	13402137	AZE	2211
124	WFM	Bogumil Tatiana	4110579	RUS	2201
125	WIM	Danelia Mariam	13603671	GEO	2199
126	WIM	Van Weersel Arlette	1009877	NED	2197
127	WFM	Semenova Elena	24125148	RUS	2195
128	WIM	Butuc Maria	13902911	RUS	2194
129	WIM	Solic Kristina	14507323	CRO	2192
130	WFM	Ziaziulkina Nastassia	13505211	BLR	2188
131	WIM	Kopinits Anna-Christina	1614142	AUT	2183
132	WIM	Trofimova Antonina	4123441	RUS	2182
133	WIM	Makka Ioulia	4205316	GRE	2180
134	WFM	Efroimski Marsel	2810964	ISR	2178
135	WGM	Partac Elena	13901001	MDA	2172
136	WFM	Kushka Alena	24111481	RUS	2164
137	WGM	Kouvatsou Maria	4203593	GRE	2161
138	WIM	Sargac Rajna	14507250	CRO	2157
139	WFM	Baciu Diana	13903284	MDA	2146
140		Abdulla Khayala Mardan Qizi	13401807	AZE	2141
141	WFM	Kharmunova Nadejda	4195876	RUS	2136
142		Pavlidou Ekaterini	4213262	GRE	2135
143	WFM	Coimbra Margarida	1901192	POR	2123
144		Kharatyan Anahit	13302574	ARM	2117
145	WFM	Cherednichenko Elena	14105560	UKR	2100
146	WFM	Berke Ana	14510359	CRO	2097
147		Ikonomopoulou Maria	4209958	GRE	2081
148		Brunello Roberta	822205	ITA	2043
149		Tonel Giulia	821268	ITA	2023
150		De Seroux Camille	1305620	SUI	2019

The complete statistics during the tournament can be found here. The games LIVE can be found on the official web-site of the organizers, here. I'm sure it will be a very exciting event and I will keep you posted about how the tournament goes.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

The Chess Queen Becomes Champion for Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:46:00 +0000

PRESS RELEASE RELEASED MARCH 3, 2010

by PEACE AND SPORT & CHESSQUEEN:

The Chess Queen Becomes Champion for Peace

MONACO, MARCH 3, 2010 – WOMEN’S WORLD CHESS CHAMPION ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK TODAY JOINED "CHAMPIONS FOR PEACE”, A CLUB OF TOP INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES COMMITTED TO SERVING PEACE IN THE WORLD THROUGH SPORT.

Champions for Peace, an initiative from “Peace and Sport, l’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport” is now delighted to count 39 heroes from the winner’s podium who actively or symbolically help to create a genuine culture of peace throughout the world using sport. They represent 24 nationalities, 25 Olympic and non-Olympic sports disciplines, 49 World Champions, 20 Olympic Champions and more than a hundred national and regional titles.

At 25, reigning women’s world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk brings her international reputation and her numerous victories to promote this noble cause. Initiated to the game of chess at 5 years old, she started collecting international awards from the age of 10, became world champion Girls U-12 in 1996, Women’s European Champion in 2004, Russian Champion in 2005, before winning the supreme women’s world title in 2008. The same year she won the first-ever gold medal in ‘Mind Sports Games’. Alexandra holds the highest title available to men and women chess players – Grandmaster.

Beyond her talent and performance, through her leadership in chess education excellence, Alexandra brings unprecedented experience and motivation to the Champions for Peace initiative. For over 10 years, her high moral standards, ethics and charisma have made her an inspiration and role model for her generation and for millions of fans all over the world. A true ambassador for chess worldwide and on the web, Alexandra has always worked to ensure that her favourite sport serves peace, human development and social progress.

In her role of "Champion for Peace", she will travel to Colombia in the near future to launch a program for peace and social cohesion, initiated by Peace and Sport in partnership with the NGO Colombianitos and the International Chess Federation (FIDE). This program will over time enable 4,000 children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in cities in Colombia to learn chess.

"I am very pleased to be part of the Peace and Sport movement,” declared Alexandra Kosteniuk. “I want to give back to the world the love and happiness that I have received through the wonderful game of chess. I firmly believe that chess serves the cause of peace by improving the lives of young people. I have seen firsthand how chess helps students to develop the skills they need to be successful in life."

Joel Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport, himself a World Champion and Olympic Medallist, added: "We are deeply honoured that the Chess Queen has joined the Champions for Peace family. Alexandra has proved to the world that "Chess is Cool". It’s a real pleasure to be able to count on her enthusiasm, determination and intelligence to inform new audiences and convince policy-makers that sport can and must contribute to sustainable peace."

Other Champions of Peace include such sporting legends as SERGEY BUBKA (Olympic Champion and six-times World Champion, Pole Vault, Ukraine); FRANKIE FREDERICKS (double World Champion, 100 and 200 metres, Namibia); CATHY FREEMAN (Olympic Champion and double World Champion, 400m, Australia); YELENA ISINBAYEVA (double Olympic Champion and double World Champion, Pole Vault, Russia), CHRISTIAN KAREMBEU (World Champion, Football, France) BRADLEY MCGEE ( Double Olympic Champion, World Champion, cycling, Australia), PAULA RADCLIFFE (World Champion, Marathon, United Kingdom) as well as many more.

Press contacts

Peace and Sport

press@peace-sport.org

www.peace-sport.org

Diego Garcés

diego@kosteniuk.com

www.kosteniuk.com

About Peace and Sport

“Peace and Sport, L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport” is a neutral and apolitical international initiative based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Peace and Sport puts sport and its structuring values at the heart of development projects led within communities in crisis around the world. With interventions in areas of post-conflict, extreme poverty or lacking social cohesion, Peace and Sport makes sport a vehicle for tolerance, respect, sharing and citizenship at the service of sustainable peace.

Supported by governments, world sport governing bodies, international organizations, major international companies in the private sector and international sports champions, Peace and Sport creates synergies between various different stakeholders to carry out four types of action:

 Organizing an annual International Forum (next edition in Monaco, 1 - 3 December 2010)

 a Resource Centre for sport and peace,

 The Peace and Sport Awards, to reward individuals and initiatives contributing to peace,

 Locally-Based Projects; concrete actions in different regions of crisis in the world.

Today, Peace and Sport has operations in Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Israel-Palestine, Timor Leste, Colombia and plans to intervene in Haiti in the near future.

Peace and Sport was founded by Joel Bouzou, current President of the organisation. Mr. Bouzou is an Olympic medallist, world champion of Modern Pentathlon and current Secretary General for the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM). He is also Advisor to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Alexandra Kosteniuk’s Web Resources

Web sites:

www.chesskillertips.com

Social sites:

www.youtube.com/chessqueen

www.facebook.com/chessqueen

www.Twitter.com/chessqueen

Read/Download Press Release in English

Read/Download Press Release in French

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

March 2010 FIDE Chess Women's Rating List

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

FIDE today published the new rating list for top players. Below are the top ladies:

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2682	0	1976
2	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2622	10	1987
3	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2570	18	1994
4	Stefanova, Antoaneta	g	BUL	2555	10	1979
5	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2554	18	1985
6	Muzychuk, Anna	m	SLO	2533	13	1990
7	Kosintseva, Tatiana	g	RUS	2524	18	1986
8	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2524	10	1984
9	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2523	21	1963
10	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2518	0	1989
11	Chiburdanidze, Maia	g	GEO	2514	0	1961
12	Sebag, Marie	g	FRA	2506	9	1986
13	Mkrtchian, Lilit	m	ARM	2503	0	1982
14	Javakhishvili, Lela	m	GEO	2500	19	1984
15	Ju, Wenjun	wg	CHN	2500	9	1991
16	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2496	7	1985
17	Zhukova, Natalia	wg	UKR	2492	10	1979
18	Danielian, Elina	m	ARM	2491	2	1978
19	Zhao, Xue	g	CHN	2490	18	1985
20	Galliamova, Alisa	m	RUS	2487	9	1972
21	Hoang Thanh Trang	g	HUN	2487	0	1980
22	Paehtz, Elisabeth	m	GER	2486	9	1985
23	Cmilyte, Viktorija	m	LTU	2485	10	1983
24	Dzagnidze, Nana	g	GEO	2479	20	1987
25	Ruan, Lufei	wg	CHN	2479	0	1987
26	Xu, Yuhua	g	CHN	2478	0	1976
27	Zhu, Chen	g	QAT	2476	7	1976
28	Harika, Dronavalli	m	IND	2473	24	1991
29	Gaponenko, Inna	m	UKR	2472	5	1976
30	Melia, Salome	m	GEO	2467	31	1987
31	Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman	m	IND	2466	11	1979
32	Qin, Kanying	wg	CHN	2466	0	1974
33	Socko, Monika	g	POL	2465	8	1978
34	Tan, Zhongyi	wg	CHN	2464	0	1991
35	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2461	24	1983
36	Zatonskih, Anna	m	USA	2461	10	1978
37	Rajlich, Iweta	m	POL	2459	8	1981
38	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2457	18	1989
39	Dembo, Yelena	m	GRE	2457	0	1983
40	Polgar, Sofia	m	HUN	2457	0	1974
41	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2456	0	1976
42	Tairova, Elena	m	RUS	2455	0	1991
43	Hunt, Harriet V	m	ENG	2452	0	1978
44	Ushenina, Anna	m	UKR	2452	0	1985
45	Khotenashvili, Bela	m	GEO	2448	13	1988
46	Korbut, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2448	0	1985
47	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan	g	SCO	2447	10	1968
48	Atalik, Ekaterina	m	TUR	2445	0	1982
49	Muzychuk, Mariya	m	UKR	2444	13	1992
50	Shen, Yang	wg	CHN	2444	0	1989
51	Huang, Qian	wg	CHN	2439	0	1986
52	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2438	9	1974
53	Moser, Eva	m	AUT	2437	7	1982
54	Zhang, Xiaowen	wg	CHN	2437	0	1989
55	Cori T., Deysi	wm	PER	2434	27	1993
56	Khurtsidze, Nino	m	GEO	2434	13	1975
57	Repkova, Eva	m	SVK	2434	0	1975
58	Foisor, Cristina-Adela	m	ROU	2433	9	1967
59	Munguntuul, Batkhuyag	wg	MGL	2428	9	1987
60	Li, Ruofan	m	SIN	2423	0	1978
61	Ovod, Evgenija	m	RUS	2421	24	1982
62	Khukhashvili, Sopiko	m	GEO	2421	16	1985
63	Vasilevich, Tatjana	m	UKR	2414	0	1977
64	Peptan, Corina-Isabela	m	ROU	2411	0	1978
65	Romanko, Marina	m	RUS	2409	27	1986
66	Matnadze, Ana	m	GEO	2406	9	1983
67	Zawadzka, Jolanta	wg	POL	2404	8	1987
68	Jackova, Jana	m	CZE	2403	0	1982
69	Tsereteli, Tamar	wg	GEO	2402	12	1985
70	Peng, Zhaoqin	g	NED	2401	19	1968
71	Stockova, Zuzana	m	SVK	2401	0	1977
72	Tania, Sachdev	m	IND	2393	26	1986
73	Houska, Jovanka	m	ENG	2392	19	1980
74	Savina, Anastasia	wg	RUS	2391	27	1992
75	Milliet, Sophie	m	FRA	2391	21	1983
76	Zaiatz, Elena	m	RUS	2391	8	1969
77	Alexandrova, Olga	m	ESP	2391	0	1978
78	Zdebskaja, Natalia	wg	UKR	2390	17	1986
79	Maric, Alisa	m	SRB	2387	0	1970
80	Turova, Irina	m	RUS	2386	0	1979
81	Lomineishvili, Maia	m	GEO	2385	12	1977
82	Kovanova, Baira	wg	RUS	2385	9	1987
83	Madl, Ildiko	m	HUN	2385	0	1969
84	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wg	RUS	2384	27	1992
85	Bojkovic, Natasa	m	SRB	2384	0	1971
86	Pokorna, Regina	wg	SVK	2382	0	1982
87	Shadrina, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2382	0	1974
88	Galojan, Lilit	wg	ARM	2380	9	1983
89	Stepovaia, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2375	8	1965
90	Matveeva, Svetlana	m	RUS	2373	9	1969
91	Michna, Marta	wg	GER	2373	7	1978
92	Gara, Anita	m	HUN	2370	0	1983
93	Molchanova, Tatjana	wm	RUS	2369	16	1980
94	Vajda, Szidonia	m	HUN	2369	0	1979
95	Karavade, Eesha	wg	IND	2366	25	1987
96	Goletiani, Rusudan	m	USA	2366	0	1980
97	Majdan, Joanna	wg	POL	2364	8	1988
98	Lanchava, Tea	m	NED	2364	2	1974
99	Girya, Olga	wg	RUS	2362	9	1991
100	Gaprindashvili, Nona	g	GEO	2360	0	1941

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Ladies Shine in the Dragon

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Black to move

Hello everybody!

Right now I'm working on my new opening DVD series. And the first DVD in that series will be about How to play the Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defense.

During my work I found one magnificent game played by a WGM. I'm sure you will enjoy the attack by WGM Beata Kadziolka who won in brilliant style against GM Bakre Tejas:

Below you will find this game with the comments by Beata, as well as the pgn a little below that. You can find the full comments in the 91st chess informator.

[Event "Pardubice"]

[Date "2004"]

[White "Bakre T"]

[Black "Kadziolka B"]

[Result "0-1"]

[Eco "B78"]

[Annotator "Kadziolka,B"]

[Source "91/191"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3

O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Bxa7

(13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.exd5 a5 16.a3 b4 17.axb4 axb4 18.Qxb4

Kg8 19.Rhe1 Rb8 20.Qc3 Qb6 (20...Re8 {90/(188)}))

13. ... b4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qa5 16.Bd4 Rxc2+!! (Novelty, see the diagram)17.Bxc2

( 17.Kxc2? Bf5+ -+) ( 17.Qxc2!?)

Qxa2 18.Qf2?!

(18.Qxb4? Bh6+ 19.Rd2 Qa1+ 20.Bb1 Bf5 -+)

(18.Bxg7? Qa1+ 19.Bb1 Rc8+ 20.Bc3 Bf5 -+)

(18.b3? Rc8 19.Bxg7 ( 19.Qf2 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 Qa1+ 21.Kd2 Rxc2+!!-+) Bf5 20.Bb2 Qxb3 -+)

(18.Qe3 Rc8 19.Kd2 Rxc2+!! 20.Kxc2 Qc4+ 21.Kd2 Bxd4 22.Qxe7 ( 22.Qd3 Qxd5 23.g4 Bb5 -+) Bb5 with compensation)

18. ... Rc8 19.Kd2 Rxc2+!! 20.Kxc2 Qc4+ 21.Kd2

(21.Bc3 Bf5+ -+)

21. ... Bxd4 22.Qe2 Bc3+!! 23.Ke3 Qc5+ 24.Ke4 Bf5+ 25.Kf4 Be5+ 26.Kg5 f6+ 27.Kh4 g5+ 0-1

( 27...g5+ 28.Kh5 Bg6+ 29.Kh6 ( 29.Kg4 Qc8#) Qc8 with the idea of Qf8#)

[Event "Pardubice 91/191"]

[Site ""]

[Date "2004"]

[Round ""]

[White "Bakre T"]

[Black "Kadziolka B"]

[Result "0-1"]

[Eco "B78"]

[Annotator "Kadziolka,B"]

[Source ""]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3

O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Bxa7

b4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qa5 16.Bd4 Rxc2+ 17.Bxc2 Qxa2 18.Qf2 Rc8

19.Kd2 Rxc2+ 20.Kxc2 Qc4+ 21.Kd2 Bxd4 22.Qe2 Bc3+ 23.Ke3 Qc5+

24.Ke4 Bf5+ 25.Kf4 Be5+ 26.Kg5 f6+ 27.Kh4 g5+ 0-1

Chess News

From February 22-25, 2010, in South Carolina, USA a very interesting Sicilian theme match (Dragon, Scheveningen, Najdorf or Sveshnikov) is played between Judit Polgar and Gregory Kaidanov. You can find the photos of the match here. After 3 games Kaidanov is in the lead with 2 to 1. But in the second game Judit won a nice game in the Dragon. Here it is:

[Event "Sicilian Theme Match"]

[Site "Hilton Head USA"]

[Date "2010.2.23"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Polgar,Ju"]

[Black "Kaidanov,G"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Eco "B78"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3

Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4

h5 14.g4 hxg4 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Rdg1 e6 17.Bh6 Qf6 18.fxg4 Bxh6 19.Qxh6

Qg7 20.Qd2 Nf6 21.g5 Nh5 22.Nce2 Nc4 23.Bxc4 Rxc4 24.b3 Rc5 25.Ng3

Nxg3 26.Rxg3 Rec8 27.Rgh3 e5 28.Rh4 exd4 29.Qh2 Kf8 30.Qxd6+

Kg8 31.Qxd7 d3 32.c4 Qc3 33.R4h2 b5 34.e5 Qxe5 35.Rh7 R5c7 36.Qd6 1-0

It's always nice to see such nice games in the Dragon, I hope you enjoy them as well!

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

www.kosteniuk.com

See my previous posts:

• Martha Fierro Goodwill Events

• I want you to join the CJA today!

• Fitness is good for your chess

Martha Fierro FIDE Goodwill Chess Events

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:14:00 +0000

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess (WOM) will be organizing in March 2010 several goodwill lectures and simultaneous exhibitions: in San Juan – Puerto Rico; in Guayaquil – Ecuador; and in Detroit – United States to help promote chess among female chess players.

The events will be given by WGM Martha Fierro, reigning Women Continental Champion and Secretary of the WOM. The events are free, Martha is donating her time to promote chess.

I am thankful to Martha for this beautiful initiative, if every woman chess champion would work as she does for the promotion of chess, it would be great! So if you're a woman champion, try to follow her example, at least once in awhile. And if you're a chess fan in the locations visited by Martha, go and visit her and give her your support!

Planned events:

Puerto Rico:

March 9, 2010 - Two days full training sessions with young talent CM Danitza Vasquez (10 years old)

March 11, 2010 - Simultaneous Exhibition at the Club de Ajedrez Guaynabo

Ecuador:

March 16-17, 2010 - Various visits to schools to give an impulse to girls to play chess

March 18, 2010 Lecture at the Federacion Deportiva Del Guayas

March 19, 2010 Simultaneous Exhibition at the Federacion Deportiva Del Guayas

United States:

March 23, 2010 Lecture for girls, Detroit (exact place to be confirmed)

March 24, 2010 Simultaneous Exhibition, Detroit (exact place to be confirmed)

The FIDE Commission for women’s chess thinks that these good-will events will encourage the participants to increase their interest in chess and will play an important role in promoting chess in general and women’s chess in particular in the world.

The WOM is working on organizing different good-will events around the world every year, if you think your federation or local club who are doing a lot for chess but need an additional push to make chess even more popular, might be interested in hosting a FIDE Goodwill event, let us know by sending an email to Alexandra or to Martha.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

Co-Chair of the FIDE Commission on Women's Chess

www.chessblog.com

Speak to me so that I can see you

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:25:00 +0000

Dear friends,

It's with pleasure that I republish the poem I wrote when I was 15 years old, with the beautiful illustration above by Mister M, whom I thank wholeheartedly!

Those were beautiful years growing up, with my family always close, chess keeping me busy and eternally learning, school in between tournaments, and the birth of love in my heart.

Speak To Me So That I Can See You

Speak to me, so that I can see you,  
So that the Sun begins to shine more brightly,  
So that I'm later not regretting  
That time ran out before I told your story. 
The story of the leaves that quietly whisper,  
Of dew drops twinkling on morning grass,
 Of wind that comes in Spring, and one that's strong,  
Of February skies without a cloud,  
Of happiness that comes at sunrise,  
As those first rays of lilac turn to red.
 And what is happiness? We all say "happiness" so often…
 So much about it can be said. 
One day, it will arrive without a warning 
And change the way your eyes perceive this world.
 You'll see the world in fairy tales enclosed, 
You'll see it wrapped in tender, rosy Spring. 
And then within that Spring, whose entrance will be sudden,  
With ringing laughter, you will outpour your love, 
And as around the snow your scatter cherry roses,  
A burning fire will ignite in people's hearts.  
Speak to me so that I can see you.  
So that I always feel this thrilling passion,
 This gust of freshest wind that came upon me roughly.
 The gust of love, of fantasies, and hopes.

11.26.1999

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion (2008-present)

www.kosteniuk.com

www.chessblog.com

I was tricky after my Spanish Lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:38:00 +0000

Hello my friends!

Week-ends normally are very quiet, I receive fewer emails and phone calls than usual and I can dedicate myself to do some fun new things.

On Saturday I had my Spanish lesson. I'm learning Spanish since in April and in May I'm planning to visit Colombia again and Peru for the first time and I want to be able to understand and speak with people there. It's great to learn a new language, in a sense it's like learning to play chess, new words and expressions are like chess moves and combinations.

My lesson was in Bayside in Miami, outside in the patio of a coffee shop. During my lesson I noticed a man sitting at a chess board, playing some moves on his own. He looked sad not to have any partner to play with.

After my lesson I went over to him and offered to play a game with him. He asked me if I knew how to play chess, and I said "Well, a little" ;-)

He agreed to play and I suppose was surprised that "a girl" was giving him trouble, at the end of the game he was very disappointed to lose. He was wondering how to tell his friends that he had lost against a girl. So I told him that I'm the women's world champion and he didn't look that sad any more after that!

A little tricky from my side, was it not? :-)

On Sunday I took part in another 5K race, this time in Miami Beach. It's such a great feeling and atmosphere to start your day with a run on Ocean Drive with several hundreds more people. This time I improved my time and finished the run in 22:01 which is in 37 seconds better than last Sunday. I'll write more about my race with photos in a future post very soon.

How fast do you run a 5K? Or you have other favorite distances or sports to do?

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.kosteniuk.com

www.chessblog.com

I want you to Join the CJA today!

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Dear chess friends and chess Journalists!

I am addressing this post to all of you out there who love chess, who have ever played chess, or written about chess in any way or form. Yes, that's you, reading these lines!

Nowadays the bounds and methods of journalism have grown considerably. According to Wikipedia,

Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and opinion via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone.

I love the word "widening"! That means that any of you, who have ever written about chess in any medium, not only in the printed media, such as books, magazines, and newspapers, but also in new technologies, such as video (video podcasts, YouTube, video sharing sites), audio (songs, audio podcasts), photographs (photography sites), blogs, home pages, social sites (Twitter, Facebook) are journalists in some way, and at the very front of chess promotion! Yes, again, I'm speaking about YOU reading this post!

It's now possible from one's cell phone to update one's blog or Twitter account in seconds and that's one of the fastest way to relay or receive information. I read "tweets" every day from chess enthusiasts around the world with the freshest chess news. Today chess lovers can find out in real time how their chess heroes are playing, watch their games, and see tournament results tables. Even webcams are often installed in chess tournament halls, it makes you feel you're right there with the players, all this is journalism of the 21st century, and we are all part of it!

I thank every single one of you who has ever created any such kind of chess journalism. You are making the game cooler, younger, more alive! I want you all to join the CJA! But let me first start with the beginning.

I first become acquainted with the CJA thanks to its president, Jerry Hanken, who came to me in August of 2004 at the US Open in Fort Lauderdale and introduced me to the organization he cared so much about, the CJA. He told me all the benefits of being a member, and how I could not afford not to be a member. Jerry and I even played in that 2004 US Open Blitz tournament (Nakamura won the tournament, I came in second), and gave me a real fight in his favorite English opening. I immediately then joined the CJA, and since then have always been proud to be a member.

When Jerry invited me to become Vice-President of the CJA 2 years ago, he told me not to worry, as long as he's around, I won't have to do much. Jerry called me often to discuss new articles (read his article about me) and work went on as usual. He was very strong in his opinions, and always faithful to putting chess #1 in all his decisions. Suddenly the unthinkable happened, on October 1, 2009, I got the sad news that Jerry passed away, from complications of diabetes (read USCF post and a blog post). I had just spoken to him while he was in the hospital some days earlier and he was in good spirits, hoping to go home soon. In memory of Jerry Hanken, I will be holding high the torch for the CJA, to help it prosper and to continue to promote chess, with your help!

The CJA stands for "The Chess Journalists of America", but I don't want you to think it's limited depending on where you live, this is truly a worldwide association, and I intend to do my best to help promote it to the whole chess world.

One of the very best features of the CJA is its fantastic yearly AWARDS PROGRAM. One of the main goals I have as President of the CJA is to recognize any of you who really do something to promote chess, in any positive, original way you do so.

There are close to 20 awards categories in the Awards Program, such as (I use the 2009 categories, these may change a little for 2010):

• Chess Journalist of the Year

• Best Chess Column

• Best Achievement in Correspondence Chess

• Best Chess Art

• Best Chess Photograph

• Best Tournament Report

• Best Regular Newspaper Column

• Best Chess Web Site

• Best Historical Article

• Best Interview

• Best Editorial

• Best Review

• Best Analysis

• Best Instructive Lesson

• Best Humorous Contribution

• Special Recognition Award

I will gladly consider other categories upon request, due to new technologies, such as best Chess Podcast, best Chess YouTube Channel, best Chess Tweet, best chess poem, best chess iPhone app, best chess playing site, best live chess viewer, or any other you can think of. This will be difficult for the judges, but I will do my best to help. Feel free to add any comments to this post if you have any suggestions.

The CJA Awards are very prestigious. The winners get recognized officially with a beautiful certificate, of course also on the web, and in the most widely circulated chess magazine in the world, Chess Life (both printed and online versions). I have the honor of having won the 2009 "Chess Journalist of the Year" award, succeeding eminent chess journalists Macauley Peterson (2008), Mig Greengard (2007), Peter Tamburro (2006), Frisco del Rosario (2005), Andrew Soltis (2004), Fred Wilson (2003), Yasser Seirawan (2002), Hanon Russell (2001), Al Lawrence (2000). Don't you want to try to be the next "Journalist of the Year"?

Before becoming CJA President, I have applied for several awards, and have won "Best Chess Art" (see my chess comic on the cover of the CJA Magazine #130), "Best Chess Video or Podcast" (for my Chess Killer Tips free video podcast, "Best Deep Analysis" (for my game Huss-Kosteniuk, which I commented in a magazine and also on video), so I'm sure you can also apply for an award, and get recognized for what you do for chess.

This should be plenty to convince you to become CJA members. The good news is that the cost to become a CJA member (and also get the quartely CJA magazine) at this time is only $10 for the USA and $15 for any other place in the world! That's a very low price for all the benefits you get from being with equally minded colleagues.

To make it easier for people to sign up to the CJA or renew their memberships, there are now additional options, perfect for people outside the USA who don't find it convenient to send a check.

a) Send a check made for $10 (USA) or $15 (outside USA) made out to CJA, c/o Randy Hough, 1826 W. Garvey Ave. #5, Alhambra, CA 91803, USA

b) Pay by Paypal (Paypal does not require registration, any credit card should work) via my webshop, all monies received will be transferred to the CJA:

Link for Paypal $10.00 (USA), click or press the button

Link for Paypal $15.00 (World), click or press the button

If you have any questions about the CJA and have any doubt about should you become a member or not, feel free to contact me by email, and I will gladly personally answer your questions. More information can also be found on the CJA web site.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

Chess Journalist of the Year

CJA President

www.chessblog.com

www.chessjournalism.org

Fitness helps your Chess!

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:23:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

Many people ask me what's the best way to improve at chess and how to prepare for chess tournaments. What should their training day look like, how much time spent on openings, middle game, etc.

I cannot stress enough how important physical preparation is before chess tournaments. Chess competition is tough, requires many hours spent at the chess board, with maximum concentration. You need all your strength and nerves to be in top form. Nothing will prepare you better than being in best physical form. All you need for that is to do some kind of sport regularly, and keep in mind that watching sports on TV, even the Olympics does not count! ;-)

I try to start every day with a 5K run. Above you can see me at the Valentine 5K run from last week, where I ran in 22:38 minutes (my record is just over 21 minutes a couple years ago).

As for chess training, I recommend solving a lot of chess middle game puzzles, to bring up to speed your tactical skills. Remember chess is a game where "pattern recognition" is key, so solving many puzzles really helps, especially to be sharp right before competition. Don't concentrate too much on the openings, as in my opinion the only goal of the opening is to enter a "playable" middle game, and all you need for that is to follow simple chess opening principles. It's in the middle game where you can show you superiority over your opponent, by outplaying him or her, by putting your pieces on better squares, by managing a nice King-side attack for example. Studying the end game is also very important, so that you will know when you can exchange pieces to reach a winning endgame, and if you reach one such "winning" endgame, to win it with certainty.

So good luck in your chess preparation, but remember to go out and do some sports, it will help your chess, I guarantee it!

Mens sana in corpore sano :-)

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Nalchik hosts Women Chess Grand Prix

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:43:00 +0000

I found out today from the FIDE site that Nalchik will host the Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik, from April 25 to May 8, 2010.

The final dates for the event in Nalchik are 25 April (arrival) to 8 May (departure) 2010. For further information concerning visas and air tickets, the participants should contact the local organising committee.

The preliminary list of participants for Nalchik is as follows:

Koneru, Humpy

Yifan, Hou

Cramling, Pia

Dzagnidze, Nana

Xue, Zhao

Kosintseva, Tatiana

Chen, Zhu

Danielian, Elina

Batkhuyag, Munguntuul

Yildiz, Betul

Mrktchian, Lilit

Kovanova, Baira

The following women's Grand Prix are planned as follows:

The 4th Grand Prix will take place in Jermuk, Armenia, on 23rd June – 6th July 2010

The 5th Grand Prix will take place in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia, on 29 July - 12 August 2010

The 6th Grand Prix will take place in Santiago, Chile, on 27th October – 9th November 2010

I am marking my calendar and will follow the next Grand Prix with great interest. Expect some "tweets" from me on a regular basis on my Twitter page.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

January 2010 Best Chess Games

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

As usual once a month IM Maxim Notkin from the Russian professional chess site www.chesspro.ru sent me the best 24 chess games of January (you can find a photo of Maxim and my younger sister Oxana here). I am one of the judges, and I need to vote for the best 10 among them and I'm happy to announce that I decided to include a very nice win by the lady from India WGM Swaminathan Soumya in the top 10.

Below you will find 3 positions from that beautiful game and a playable applet to replay the game. The game is a Sicilian Defense with a nice attack by white, lots of sacrifices, nice tactics and a great finish. I am sure you will enjoy it!

Above: before the 18th move of White.

Above: before the 20th move of White.

Above: The final position of the game: checkmate!

[Event "Corus C Wijk aan Zee NED 1/16/2010"]

[Date "2010.1.27"]

[Round "10"]

[White "Soumya, Swaminathan"]

[Black "Grandelius N"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Eco "B90"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3

b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 Nb6 10.a4 Nc4 11.Bxc4 bxc4 12.a5 Bb7 13.Na4

d5 14.g5 Nd7 15.O-O-O dxe4 16.fxe4 Rb8 17.Rhe1 Ba8 18.Nf5 Bc6

19.Qc3 Bxa4 20.Rxd7 Qxd7 21.Nxg7+ Bxg7 22.Qxg7 Qe7 23.Qxh8+ Qf8

24.Qe5 Qb4 25.Bd2 Qb5 26.Qh8+ Kd7 27.Qd4+ Kc8 28.Bf4 Rb7 29.Rd1

Qd7 30.Qxc4+ Qc6 31.Rd4 Bb5 32.Qb4 Qe8 33.Qc5+ Qc6 34.Qf8+ Qe8

35.Rc4+ Kd7 36.Qd6# 1-0

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Photo Finish in Aeroflot Chess Open 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:06:00 +0000

Nadezhda Kosintseva, courtesy of the Aeroflot open 2010

Hello everybody!

Every chess tournament, even the most exciting one has its end. And often only a photo finish or some kind of tie-breaks can name the winners of an event. The A1 Aeroflot chess tournament had an only winner - the vietnamese GM Le, Quang Liem, who finished in clear first place with 7 out of 9.

However, there was a tie between the best ladies players. Hou Yifan, Tatiana and Nadezhda Kosintseva all finished with 4 out of 9, which is a very respectful result in this strong tournament.

The full standings of the A1 tournament can be found here. Below is an example of the Hou Yifan win over the russian GM Stanislav Novikov. Hou Yifan is playing Black and it's her turn to move. White was doing OK until the last move where Novikov played 35. Bb2??, trying to exchange the strong dark-squared bishop on d4

Hou Yifan continued the game with 35. ... Re5! and White realised that there is no way to keep this bishop on b2 protected. The game continued for a few more moves 36.Qd3 Qd5+ 37.Kh3 Bxb2 38.Qc2 Ba3 39.f6+ Qe4 40.Qxe4+ and White resigned.

Rxe4 41.Ra1 Bb4 42.f7 Re5 0-1

In the A2 tournament Evgenia Ovod and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya finished the tournament with 5 out of 9, the results can be seen here.

In the B tournament Gulnar Mammadova shared the first place overall with 7 out of 9. The full standings can be found here.

In the C tournament, Alexandra Nikolaeva took bronze overall with 7 out of 9. The full table is here.

Melia Salome continued her nice tournament stroke. After winning the Women's Georgian Championship and sharing the first place in the Moscow open, she now won another strong women's tournament in Romania. She took 6 points out of 9 and was followed by Maria Muzychuk with 5,5 and Corina Peptan with 5 points. The full table can be found here.

In 2 weeks the European Championships 2010 for men and women will start in Rijeka, Croatia. I'm sure we will witness for exciting chess over there. So stay tuned!

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Elizabeth Vicary Tucson Chess Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:54:00 +0000

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.

Hi everyone!

I just found out from the 9Queens web site that Elizabeth Vicary will be the host of a free chess workshop in Tucson on Saturday February 20.

Here is the announcement:

Tucson chess players, coaches, parents, teachers and enthusiasts come by Lineweaver Elementary School on Saturday February 20 to meet Elizabeth Vicary- nationally renowned chess teacher from IS 318 Brooklyn and star of the upcoming documentary Chess Movie. Beginning at 12 noon Elizabeth will answer questions and provide information on how to create and sustain your own chess club, regardless of your skill level or experience. For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:00:00 +0000

* Chess Release Press Release * Chess Release Press Release *

"The Sport for the Mind"

INDIALANTIC, Florida, February 16, 2010

World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and the organizers of the Space Coast Open Chess Festival jointly announced today that Grandmaster and reigning Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk will play a 50-board simultaneous exhibition at the 17th Space Coast Open (SCO) Chess Festival (Indialantic, FL, April 23-25, 2010).

World Champion Kosteniuk’s simul begins at 8 AM on Saturday, April 24 at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Oceanfront Resort and Spa, Indialantic, FL. The entry fee is $40. The event is free for spectators. Challengers can register on-line now for the SCO and for a board at the simul via the event website, http://sco2010.eventbrite.com.

A portion of the boards for the simul will be reserved for local students. The remaining reservations will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. GM Kosteniuk’s exhibition’s often sell out quickly, so don't wait! GM Kosteniuk will also sign her books at the event including her latest, Diary of a Chess Queen.

In announcing GM Kosteniuk’s appearance and her simultaneous exhibition at the Space Coast Open, Space Coast Chess Foundation President, Dr. Peter Koretsky said, “We are thrilled to have World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk at the Space Coast Open Chess Festival. The chess world could not ask for a more charismatic World Champion than Alexandra. She is an energetic promoter of chess and its many positive aspects, and serves as an outstanding role model for our young players. For many of our local scholastics players this will be the only time they have an opportunity to both meet and play against a reigning World Champion. We are especially honored as Alexandra will be celebrating her 26th birthday during our festival weekend. The Space Coast Chess Foundation looks forward to partnering with Alexandra and her family to create an unforgettable experience for all who participate.”

About Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Kosteniuk is the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion. She learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father. She earned the Women Grandmaster title in 1998 and the men’s Grandmaster title in 2004. She became the World Champion by winning a series of matches at the Women’s World Championship held in Nalchik, Russia in 2008.

Alexandra promotes chess by traveling around the world giving simultaneous exhibitions in front of large crowds. Her goal is to show the world that “chess is cool”. Alexandra has combined her promotion of chess with fashion modeling and also played a part in a movie. She is also a prolific and popular chess journalist (books, DVDs and web) and in 2009 she was named the Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. For more information about Alexandra, see www.kosteniuk.com and www.chessblog.com.

About the 17th Space Coast Open and the Space Coast Chess Foundation

The Space Coast Open is sponsored by the Space Coast Chess Foundation and is Brevard County’s longest running chess tournament. The 17th Space Coast Open is open to all and is offering projected prize fund of $10,000. It will be held at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Oceanfront Resort and Spa, 2605 N. Hwy A1A, Indialantic, FL from April 23-25, 2010. The tournament schedule has been flexibly organized such that players may easily participate in both the tournament and the simultaneous exhibition. Details and entry information are available at http://sco2010.eventbrite.com.

The Space Coast Open is sponsored by the Space Coast Chess Foundation (SCCF), a community supported organization dedicated to the promotion of scholastic chess in Brevard County, FL. SCCF provides sponsorship for the Brevard County Scholastics Chess Grand Prix and provides free chess sets to Brevard County schools. SCCF also subsidizes needy scholastic chess players unable to afford Chess Festival events.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Free Chess Magazine for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:07:00 +0000

Dear Chess Moms and Dads!

I have received a box of the most recent CHESS LIFE FOR KIDS Magazine from the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and have decided to give them away for free to chess loving kids!

The Chess Life for Kids magazine is 24-pages long, has lots of articles of interest to kids, chess puzzles, also a competition with prizes, and a list of chess tournaments of interest to kids.

So if you'd like to have one, just send me an email with your postal address and I will send it to you and to your kid absolutely for free!

UPDATE: Due to the 100's of requests I have received from all over the world in the last 12 hours, and due to high costs to mail the magazine abroad, the free magazine offer is for USA only, and for the rest of the world still free magazine but only with any order to compensate for high mailing costs. Thanks for your understanding! Offer valid while supplies last.

If you'd like to order at the same time something from my web shop I would be grateful to you, that will allow me to put it in the same envelope, but that's not at all obligatory, you can simply send me your address and I will send you the magazine absolutely free, with my autograph on the cover (yes you guessed it, it's me on the cover when I was a kid, on the left it's when I was 11 years old right right after a tournament in France, I was at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and on the right I was 7 years old, and I was playing in the Moscow youth championship. That tournament got me my first title: Moscow champion among girls Under-8 :-)

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

www.kosteniuk.com

Please become a subscriber to my YouTube channel!

Please become my Facebook fan!

Please follow me on Twitter!

Chess Fever DVD Free Shipping

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:11:00 +0000

Dear Friends!

I just heard from the company that manufactures my DVD that my new DVD "Chess Blitz Fever" will be ready in less than 4 weeks. So before it comes out, I offer free shipping to anybody who orders it, regardless of where it has to be shipped, from Alaska to Tumbuktu. I will ship the DVD to you the day it comes out.

The DVD has a whole section of useful tips on how to better play blitz chess, and is followed by the dual screen presentation of my 8 best wins at the recent World Blitz championship in Moscow, against (the linked names go to YouTube samples on my channel):

• Magnus Carlsen

• Vishy Anand

• Alexander Morozevich

• Alexander Grischuk

• Vugar Gashimov

• Levon Aronian

• Arkadij Naiditsch

• Judit Polgar

There is more than 2 hours of video on the DVD, and I guarantee it is both entertaining and instructive. I am very happy about how the DVD came out, the quality is the best I have ever done, and I hope you will like it! You will become a better chess player after watching my DVD!

You may want also to buy my new book "Diary of a Chess Queen", and I will write a personal autograph for you or your loved one. This book contains not only 64 of my career best games, but also is the story of how I started to play chess 20 years ago and how it led to my becoming the 12th women's world chess champion.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Chess TV Episode 284

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:47:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

I'd like to share with you episode 284 of CHESS TV, which talks about:

• Extreme Chess

• Accelerated Dragon opening

• my game against Judit Polgar

• Caissa FIDE Award

• Aruna Anand inspection report

• Other Chess news

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Kosteniuk Comments LIVE Aronian - Topalov on CHESSDOM

noreply@blogger.com (Alexandra Kosteniuk) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:31:00 +0000

Hello everybody!

Right now I'm commenting LIVE on www.chessdom.com the game between Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov from Linares 2010.

I invite you to look at this exciting encounter together!

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion