Happy Chess Halloween to all Chess Friends
Five-TIme World Chess Champion Philosophy: You're Your Only Competition, Says Anand
Hello chess blog friends, former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand is looking at another world chess title this November. Anand told the Economic Times, he feels confident and is prepared well to challenge World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in Sochi from November 7.
"I am in competition with myself. Now it is the last mile of preparation," he says. Last time, in an interview to the ET, Anand said mentioned "Coffee & Coldplay" as his addictions. When asked, what has changed since then, he replied "Coffee has gotten better this time. Even I make good coffee nowadays. Although the music mix has remained the same. Five Little Ducks seems to be a new hit now and Peppa Pig is a tension reliever!"
"I can say I am happy with my chess" he says, "at Khanty my play was very much like how I liked to play. I am happy that I have been able to play the chess I want. Of course chess theory has no constant. It has been fun that we have so many high level events to follow."
"Theory" means the myriad ways in which a particular opening can be played. Grandmasters are constantly on the lookout for refinements and improvements played in tournaments all over the world. Anand explains, "When you prepare for a match you are afraid that two club-level players could upset your whole theory".
Has his assessment of Magnus changed since last year? "That is a question after the match is over" he parries. When pressed on the point he takes the big picture, "There have been new developments in chess and certain players like Fabiano have been exceptional achievers this year. This surely influences chess and how we players assimilate".
Anand refuses to be drawn into his opponent's mindgames, "My opponent has to be asked that question" he says, on why there was so much drama around the venue. He emphasizes, "After winning the Candidates I was clear on who I was working against" making it clear that he always thought that Carlsen would sign in the end. Anand, who has a good fan following in Russia, does not share Carlsen's apprehensions about Sochi. "Aruna has inspected the venue and the arrangements seem fine".
Anand says, "You keep running looking at the goal in front of you. Kilometres done, slope climbed. You try to increase your heart rate. When you are on it you only hear your breathing and you realize the only competition is your mind and body. In a way that is how I look at my career. I enjoy working on chess. I am happy that I have a good life. A bit of everything... makes life complete".
DOWN MEMORY LANE: WHEN WORLD CHAMPIONS MEET
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess video, Viswanathan Anand, world chess championship
World Mind Games Online Chess: Win TVs, Watches More!!!
Hello chess blog friends, are you playing chess online in the chess section of the SportAccord Countdown Online Tournaments yet?
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk Official Ambassador 2014
Big Prizes!!!
- Formula 1 grand prix tickets sponsored by presenting partner Alliance Renault-Nissan
- Watches from World Mind Games official partner Rado
- Samsung TVs, tablets and gift cards
- A total cash prize purse of $12,000 will be shared between the winners of the different tournaments
SportAccord has begun the countdown to the launch of the 4th edition of the World Mind Games Online Tournament on the 15th of September. The tournament, featuring Bridge, Chess and Go, is being organized by SportAccord in partnership with RSportz, the community-based global sports network and online platforms BridgeBase Online, Chess.com and Pandanet.
The online tournament marks the countdown to the 4th SportAccord World Mind Games to be held in Beijing from December 11-17 this year. Last year’s online tournament attracted over 700,000 players from all across the globe and SportAccord expects to comfortably attract a higher number of participants through the tournament online portal www.onlinewmg.com. The portal will be the gateway for participants and enthusiasts for game rules, registration and all further information surrounding the SportAccord 2014 World Mind Games Online Tournament.
Like in 2013, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk - the 12th Women's World Chess Champion and several-time champion at the World Mind Games - is the official ambassador at the event in Beijing for 2014 as well! Click on graphic (on left) to see some of last year's victory videos of GM Alexandra Kosteniuk.
SportAccord 2014 World Mind Games Online Tournament partners, Bridgebase Online, Chess.com and Pandanet will operate the online hosting of the disciplines of Bridge, Chess and Go, respectively.
SportAccord, the Union of International Sports Federations, operates and is in the process of organising 4 multi-sports games- the World Combat Games, the World Beach Games, the World Urban Games and the World Mind Games. The 4th edition of the SportAccord World Mind Games will be organized in Beijing from December 11-17, 2014, featuring Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi in cooperation with the respective international sports federations. The SportAccord World Mind Games unite the world’s best players in a quest for glory and prize money. SportAccord is constantly looking to engage more people in mind sports in a fun and exciting way through cultural programs and online games.
Online tournament dates: September 15 – November 15 Website: www.onlinewmg.com Official hashtag: #mindgames2014
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also
see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Channel
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, online chess, world mind games
World Chess Championship 2014: Will Sochi be more exciting than Chennai?
Hello chess blog friends, Come November 7 (Sochi World Chess Championship) and World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen will not be meeting the same Viswanathan Anand he met a year back in Chennai for the summit clash.
Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand is a brand new version of himself. That was evident when he won the Khanty Mansiysk Candidates to set up a return title match with Magnus Carlsen. Just a few weeks back, Anand convincingly won the Bilbao Grand Slam Chess Masters event. Seeded second, Anand had to draw with Ruslan Ponomoriov in the fifth round to take the title. Anand won the title with a round to spare!
That was the last chess event before the Indian takes on Magnus Carlsen who is half his age. But, at 44, Anand couldn't be looking better - fitness-wise and chess-wise.
In Bilbao chess, Anand finished ahead of top seed and defending champion Levon Aronian of Armenia, Francisco Vallejo Spons of the host nation and Ukraine’s Ruslan Ponomariov. Anand garnered three wins, two draws and the only loss to Aronian in the last round having already won the title in the previous round.
On the other hand, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen had a a not too good warm-up (by his standards) by standing second behind Fabiano Caruana in St. Louis where Caruana set up a record of sorts by winning seven straight games.
Sochi is going to be much more exciting than Chennai was. Magnus Carlsen is a fighter and he knows how to take the last drop of blood out of his opponent. Anand has upped his chess form to an inspirational level. Neither is the underdog now. The gap on the FIDE rating list between the two has narrowed as well. The Sochi World Chess Championship is far more evenly matched than Chennai was.
Just a month to go for the World Chess Championship 2014 and chess lovers across the world just can't wait!
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also
see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube
Channel
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Magnus Carlsen, sochi chess, Viswanathan Anand, world chess championship 2014
Chess Queen's precious chess suitcase now in Russia's 1st Chess Museum in Moscow
Hello chess friends, you've got a very chess reason to visit Moscow now! The first Russian Museum of Chess has opened. In Moscow, on September 25, a grand ceremony was attended by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and other dignitaries.
The Fide website states, "The basic collection of the new Museum includes rare chess sets of different cultures and eras. Collection consists of personal belongings of the great Grandmasters: Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Petrossian: old books, posters, paintings, gifts of chess fans and celebrity guests, trophies of the Soviet and Russian Champions.
It also has on display rare chess sets of the 17th-21st centuries, including the artworks of world level, some of them the envy of the big art museums.
"Masterpieces made of ivory and ebony are there, side by side with strict cardboard chess of besieged Leningrad, the bent wire made Gulag chess, simple chocolate-beige plastic of a space chess set: the one used for the first in the history game of the crew of Soyuz-9 in Space-to-Earth chess game. The Museum exhibits show how deeply chess is rooted in the World and Russian culture. The history of chess reflects heroic and tragic pages of the history of Russia."
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| Maria Fominykh, Alexander Morozevich and Murad Amannazarov |
Whoa... that's Alexander Alekhine's chess set!
Click photo to find out what's special about these chess girls! Of course, you remember... don't you?
12th Women's World Chess Champion Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk giving her precious chess suitcase to the museum. Her father Konstantin Kosteniuk had given it to her in 1990 with the message: "To Sasha, the future world champion in chess !!!" GM Kosteniuk went on to win the world title in 2008.
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, konstantin kosteniuk, russia chess museum
Chess and Peace, No War: We need to Compete in a Friendly Way, says Chess Queen
Hello chess blog friends, it's a beautiful world and sports, including chess, is the most amazing way to talk about peace. Why not take a special vow of peace as a chess player? Wherever you are, and whoever you are... if you are reading this, vow to nurture peace in thought and action. We would love to hear your ideas on chess and peace as well so don't forget to leave a comment.
This photo features 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia during her trip to Peru and the Machu Picchu to play with U-16 World Champion Deysi Cori. More photos at www.chesspics.com.
Chess Queen™ Kosteniuk is also ambassador for Peace and Sport. You can read her posts on peace and sports at www.chessqueen.com = her personal chess blog. Here is a nice video from one of her posts:
WHY ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK IS A CHAMPION FOR PEACE
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Queen, sport and peace, world peace
Funny Chess Moments Video: Kasparov Blunders vs Anand
Kids' Chess Lecture Video: GM Finegold on King+Pawn Endgames
Hello chess blog friends, here's a cool new chess lecture by GM Benjamin Finegold from the St Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Centre YouTube video channel. GM Finegold covers King and Pawn Endgames in this lecture for kids. Meanwhile, we have another cute video of Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk introducing chess to a class full of kids! Enjoy.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Ben Finegold, chess lecture, Chess video, king pawn endgame, saint louis chess
From the Archives YouTube Chess Video: Tarrito Rojo Chess Talent
Complete FIDE Regulations for Chess960 Tournament Play
Hello chess friends, are you familiar with the chess960 rules? Here are the FIDE regulations that govern chess960 play in tournaments. We are sure you would find them useful.
From the FIDE Handbook
Appendix F. Chess960 Rules
F.1 Before a Chess960 game a starting position is randomly set up, subject to certain rules.
After this, the game is played in the same way as standard chess. In particular, pieces and pawns have their normal moves, and each player's objective is to checkmate the opponent's king.
F.2 Starting-position requirements
The starting position for Chess960 must meet certain rules. White pawns are placed on the second rank as in regular chess. All remaining white pieces are placed randomly on the first rank, but with the following restrictions:
a. the king is placed somewhere between the two rooks, and
b. the bishops are placed on opposite-coloured squares, and
c. the black pieces are placed opposite the white pieces.
The starting position can be generated before the game either by a computer program or using dice, coin, cards, etc.
F.3 Chess960 castling rules
a. Chess960 allows each player to castle once per game, a move by potentially both the king and rook in a single move. However, a few interpretations of standard chess rules are needed for castling, because the standard rules presume initial locations of the rook and king that are often not applicable in Chess960.
b. How to castle
In Chess960, depending on the pre-castling position of the castling king and rook, the castling manoeuvre is performed by one of these four methods:
1. double-move castling: by making a move with the king and a move with the rook,
or
2. transposition castling: by transposing the position of the king and the rook, or
3. king-move-only castling: by making only a move with the king, or
4. rook-move-only castling: by making only a move with the rook.
Recommendations
1. When castling on a physical board with a human player, it is recommended that the king be moved outside the playing surface next to his final position, the rook then be moved from its starting position to its final position, and then the king be placed on his final square.
2. After castling, the rook and king's final positions should be exactly the same positions as they would be in standard chess.
Clarification
Thus, after c-side castling (notated as 0-0-0 and known as queen-side castling in orthodox chess), the king is on the c-square (c1 for white and c8 for black) and the rook is on the d-square (d1 for white and d8 for black). After g-side castling (notated as 0-0 and known as king-side castling in orthodox chess), the king is on the g-square (g1 for white and g8 for black) and the rook is on the f-square (f1 for white and f8 for black).
Notes
1. To avoid any misunderstanding, it may be useful to state "I am about to castle" before castling.
2. In some starting positions, the king or rook (but not both) does not move during castling.
243. In some starting positions, castling can take place as early as the first move.
4. All the squares between the king's initial and final squares (including the final square) and all the squares between the rook's initial and final squares (including the final square) must be vacant except for the king and castling rook.
5. In some starting positions, some squares can stay filled during castling that would have to be vacant in standard chess. For example, after c-side castling 0-0-0, it is possible to have a, b, and/or e still filled, and after g-side castling (0-0), it is possible to have e and/or h filled.
Here is a nice video featuring 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk who is also won the Women's World Chess360 Chess title twice over.
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk has also held a 20-board chess960 simul! Read all about it at www.chessqueen.com.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess960
An Island, Speed Chess and a Dangerous Gal... Will you Dare Go?
Dear chess friends, we're just in time to help you plan your summer holidays if Europe is on your mind. You are sure not to miss this - the island of Corsica, Blitz Chess and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk - the 12th Women's World Chess Champion - along with other strong chess players of the planet will be playing in the Corsica Blitz Chess Tournament scheduled for July 13.
Click on the poster to read all about the exciting chess event!
Corsica is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains make up two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, corsica chess blitz 2014
Tromso Chess Olympiad Aug 2014: Take a Cruise to Norway!
Hello chess friends, how about taking a cruise to the Chess Olympiad in Tromso this August? Here's a cool new offer via the official website for the Chess Olympiad. By the way, don't forget, Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk is also the ambassador for the Chess Olympiad.
Vestland Classic has partnered with the Tromsø 2014 Chess Olympiad to offer both a unique cruise up the Norwegian coast from Trondheim to Tromsø and a floating hotel and tournament venue during the Olympiad itself.
Experience the high summer
along the Norwegian coast on board
MS Nordstjernen
TRONDHEIM – TROMSØ 28 JULY – 1 AUGUST 2014
Join us on a voyage to Tromsø and the Chess Olympiad
Day 1 (28 July) TRONDHEIM
Depart Trondheim at 17.00.We sail out of the Trondheimfjord and take a northerly course across Folda towards Helgeland and Vegaøyan.
Day 2 (29 July) VEGA
Morning arrival in Vega.
In 2004 Vegaøyan was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage Sites. On Vega you may join a hike in this unique egg and down site and also visit the ‘E-house’, a museum and documentation centre for eider ducks.
Depart Vega at 15.00. We sail across the Vestfjord to the Lofoten Islands and Reine.
Day 3 (30 July) REINE – HENNINGSVÆR
Morning arrival in Reine.
Reine is a beautiful fishing village comprising 350 inhabitants in Moskenes municipality. You may join a guided coach tour from Reine to Henningsvær, an idyllic fishing village in Vågan municipality. The ship sails to Henningsvær in the afternoon. Overnight stay at the dockside in Henningsvær.
Day 4 (31 July) HENNINGSVÆR – TROLLFJORDEN
Depart Vega at 13.00. Before departure we would recommend a visit to Galleri Lofotens Hus, which houses the largest collection of paintings from North Norway.
We sail from Lofoten and Henningsvær through the Raft Sound, where the highlight of the day is the Trollfjord. This fjord is 2 km long and scarcely 100 metres wide. The Trollfjord is renowned throughout the world as one of the most beautiful fjords along the Norwegian coast. The voyage continues north towards Tromsø.
Day 5 (1 August) TROMSØ
We sail along the outer side of Senja, Norway’s second largest island, towards our destination, Tromsø, where we arrive at 07:00. In Tromsø, the MS Nordstjernen will function as a hotel ship during the Chess Olympiad from 1 – 17 August.
Rates
28 July – 1 August 2014
Trondheim – Tromsø from NOK 6,000
Prices include ticket, double occupancy cabin and full board. Excursions and beverages for meals are not included. Single cabin supplement NOK 400 per day
For further information and to make a booking, contact:
booking@vestlandclassic.com
Tel: +47 909 37 808
www.vestlandclassic.com
Floating hotel
During the Chess Olympiad we can be your hotel room. Book your hotel room in Tromsø at: https://viaregi.no/nordstjernen
MS Nordstjernen chess tournament
In partnership with the Chess Olympiad we are planning to hold one or more chess tournaments on board the ship. For further information on the tournaments, please visit www.tromso2014.no
MS Nordstjernen – a floating, national cultural monument
The ship has an intimate and historic atmosphere. Its saloons, restaurant and cafeteria have been preserved with their original artwork and style from the 1950s.
The MS Nordstjernen was given its beautiful name after the star the Vikings called the lodestar, the star that shines in the north
The ship was built in Hamburg in 1956 for Bergenske Dampskipselskap
The ship can carry 290 passengers
Number of beds: 150
Number of cabins: 72
Artwork: Paul René Gauguin
The ship was listed in 2012
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, chess cruise, ms nordstjernen, tromso chess olympiad
May 2014 Chess Ratings: Carlsen, Polgar No. 1; Grischuk, Kosteniuk Top-Rated Russians at No. 3 and 8!
Hello everyone,
The May FIDE chess ratings list is out and World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway maintains his No. 1 slot. Also maintaining his second spot is Levon Aronian of Armenia. Alexander Grischuk is now the highest rated Russian at No. 3 followed by former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Grischuk added a whopping 15 points to his rating to get to the No. 3 slot while Vladimir Kramnik fell following the Candidates.
In the women's list, Judit Polgar of Hungary, Hou Yifan of China and Koneru Humpy of India keep the top three slots. Alexandra Kosteniuk remains the top Russian woman chess player and actually improves on her previous month's no. 9 slot by moving up to no. 8 by earning five rating points. Hou Yifan has earned 11 rating points. Viktorija Cmiylte has done well to earn 14 points and jump up to 10th position in the women's list.
Russia is still the strongest chess country in the world according to ratings in the elite of the chess world. Three Grandmasters from Russia - Alexander Grischuk, Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin are in the top-10 of the men's list. There is one Russian Grandmaster in the top-10 of the women's list as well - Alexandra Kosteniuk. China could be next as they have three Grandmasters in the top-10 of the world, but these are in the women's list only - Yifan, Zhao and Wenjun.
Top 20 women chess players in the world
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2685 0 1976
2 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2629 11 1994
3 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2613 0 1987
4 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2561 13 1990
5 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2541 11 1987
6 Lagno, Kateryna g UKR 2540 11 1989
7 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2538 11 1985
8 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2532 11 1984
9 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2526 3 1991
10 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2525 8 1983
11 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2521 4 1992
12 Khotenashvili, Bela g GEO 2518 3 1988
13 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2513 0 1985
14 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2509 1 1980
15 Gunina, Valentina g RUS 2507 9 1989
16 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2507 0 1963
17 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2503 9 1991
18 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2503 0 1987
19 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2501 6 1985
20 Ushenina, Anna g UKR 2495 11 1985
Top 20 men chess players in the world
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2882 1 1990
2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2815 3 1982
3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2792 7 1983
4 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2785 0 1969
5 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2783 0 1992
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2783 0 1975
7 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2772 0 1987
8 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2772 0 1975
9 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2770 7 1990
10 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2768 6 1983
11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2760 0 1985
12 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2758 0 1990
13 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2753 6 1976
14 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2753 0 1968
15 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2753 0 1969
16 Adams, Michael g ENG 2750 3 1971
17 Giri, Anish g NED 2746 4 1994
18 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2742 6 1987
19 Leko, Peter g HUN 2737 7 1979
20 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2735 6 1990
The FIDE chess ratings website can be accessed at the official website.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, fide chess ratings may 2014, Hou Yifan, Judit Polgar, koneru humpy, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen
Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2014: Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk Tie for First
Hello everyone,
The Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2014 has concluded in Khanty Mansiysk with three days of most exciting chess. It all came down to the last round and ironically, the world title was decided by a one-move checkmate-in-one blunder in the last round on the top board!!!
Five players went into the last round - 15th - with 9.5 points each: Kateryna Lahno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tatiana Kosintseva, Anna Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova.
Kateryna Lagno (centre) at the press conference after winning the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2014 with a tiebreak over Alexandra Kosteniuk. Both scored 10.5 points over 15 rounds.
Only two players could conclude the tournament with 10.5 points each. Kosteniuk beat Pia Cramling round and square. Gunina actually blundered away a mate-in-one to Lagno from an almost-winning position. Stefanova could only draw with Khotenashvili. Muzychuk also drew with Gaponenko. Kosintseva, however, lost to Dzagnidze! Meanwhile, Olga Girya did well to come in third.
Lagno has just played Kh6. Here Valentina Gunina played Kh3... can you spot the checkmate in one?
Of drama, destiny and tiebreak rules
With only Lagno and Kosteniuk completing the event on 10.5, the tiebreak rules came into play. Even though Kosteniuk had a whopping 10 wins earned over 15 rounds as compared to Lagno's 9 wins, the gold goes to Lagno as she had won the direct encounter between the two.
There's plenty of high-exciting chess from the world's top women players still to come in Khanty Mansiysk: |The Women's World Blitz Chess Championship 2014 begins in Khanty Mansiysk from tomorrow.
Speaking at the press conference, Lagno did mention that lesser rounds with more players could suit the Women's Rapid World Chess Championship better. She said even though men play over 15 rounds (the open blitz world chess championship), women have lesser stamina and that showed in the drop in quality of games towards the last few rounds... particularly in the last round where her opponent squandered the game with a mate-in-one blunder.
Kateryna said she had been Women's World Blitz Champion in 2010, but she remembers her own blunder to Stefanova in Batumi at the Women's World Rapid Championship where she had been leading and lost. So, title this year is special in that sense to her.
Pia Cramling just resigned her game to Alexandra Kosteniuk in Round 15 when White played Rc6. Can you see the nice tactical trick there...?
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, kateryna lagno, women's world rapid chess championship 2014
Khanty Mansiysk Women's Chess GP Top Three Winners - Hou, Girya, Kosteniuk!
Hello Chess Blog friends,
12th Women's World Chess Champion and her successor meet once again for an exciting draw and the third and first place at the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE Grand Prix...
... and, Olga Girya in the background earning the second place with a very strong performance! Photos: Nikolay Bochkarev
Here's some exciting chess news from Khanty Mansiysk where the FIDE Women's GP has just concluded. The top three winners are reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan of China, Olga Girya of Russia (who picks up a GM norm) and 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk!
Eleven rounds of exciting chess had Hou Yifan win the event with a strong 1.5 points, but the Russian girls were right behind all along. The last round witnessed a fierce struggle between Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk, but the game was drawn.
Local Russian player Olga Girya proved to be the hero of the event playing above her rating and picking up an important GM norm. Alexandra Kosteniuk - with her fans cheering on twitter - played her usual killer chess to claim the unshared third place. She was the only one against whom Hou Yifan seemed to be under any pressure during the tournament.
Two players tied for fourth with six points - Anna Muzychuk and Kateryna Lagno.
FINAL STANDINGS
The prize distribution photos will be available soon. You can also look forward to a nice post by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk on her personal blog soon enough. Great round-wise reports by Alina l'Ami, along with nice photos by Nikolay Bochkarev, are available on the official website.
But, don't go away yet from Khanty Mansiysk! Tomorrow begins the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship followed by the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Hou Yifan, khanty mansiysk chess, olga girya, Women's Chess Grand Prix
Dangerous Chess Girl - OMG She can Control Animals Going Wild! (Name the animal!)
Hello Chess Blog readers,
Are you preparing for the goodwill chess simul with Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk for Day of Sport for Peace on April 6? Find more details at www.chessqueen.com.
Yes, we know, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk is "dangerous" on the chess board. She can be a killer of wild things in any tournament! Proof: Here's a cool pix -- Name the animal (be specific)! ;)
This photo is brought to you from our fantastic albums, including those of some of the world's best chess players, available online at www.chesspics.com.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess
Queen™
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Channel
This is a course for club players based on a textbook by a distinguished Russian chess trainer Victor Golenishchev. The source material is supplemented with examples of play by lead chess players from the latest major contests and is organized in chess lessons. The course is designed for 1 year and contains 75 lessons, including theoretical material and practical exercises. The theoretical part includes more than 400 examples of play. The practical part includes more than 200 exercises of varying difficulty.
- The course allows you to:
- Study the theoretical material and test your knowledge
- See changes in your rating
- Keep track of your progress
- Play against computer starting with a set position
- Print exercises
Language: English.
System requirements: IBM-compatible PC, 256 Mb RAM, hard disk 100Mb, Windows XP/Vista/7/8.
Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, chess trivia photo, day of sport for peace
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