Astana Chess R3: China, Russia Lead Women's World Team Event

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

GM Alisa Galliamova of Russia by Anastasiya Karlovich/official website 

The third round started with the symbolic move in the game Ju Wenjun-Anna Zatonskikh made by Chinese Ambassador Mr. Zhou Li. He came today to support his compatriots and it’s obviously helped the Chinese girls, who confidently won against the American team with 3,5-0,5 score.

“Turkish team came to learn and gain experience here,” the captain and coach of the team, Adrian Mikhalchishin, said in the interview. Everyone could notice that Turkey showed really stubborn defence in the previous rounds. Nevertheless luck was not on the side of Turkish girls today as they lost all the games in the match against Russia.

The outcome of the match Ukraine versus Kazakhstan was not easy to predict till the end. Katerina Lahno relatively quickly outplayed the leader of the team Guliskhan Nakhbayeva but on the last board Inna Gaponenko lost to Abdumalik Zansaya, the youngest participant in the tournament. In time trouble Inna lost good winning chances and made a few crucial mistakes. The world champion Anna Ushenina was also close to get into big troubles today but her opponent didn’t find very nice move 26…Kh8 and Anna Ushenina got a chance to force a draw. Once again Natalia Zhukova left alone in the playing hall and the outcome of the match depended on the result of her game. After a few hours of play Ukrainian IM got an advantage and played precisely till the end to save the match.

Georgian team has recovered after yesterday's defeat, and showed great result in the match against France. Silvia Collas was the only French player, who managed to grab half a point in the game against Nino Khurtsidze, while all the others were defeated.
The only match which finished in a draw was India versus Romania.

After the third round China and Russia continue to lead and play the fourth round against each other on Wednesday. Ukraine remains on the third place.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
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Khanty-Mansiysk Women's World Chess Championship Round 3: Socko, Galliamova, Zhukova Lose!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The Khanty-Mansiysk Women's World Chess Championship 2012 continued with its unpredictable streak in the third round that began on Saturday. The first games of the round were played with five of the eight games turning out to be decisive.

Results: Round 3, First Game
Alisa Galliamova - Marie Sebag 0-1
Mariya Muzychuk - Xue Zhao ½-½
Anna Ushenina - Natalija Pogonina 1-0
Lela Javakhishvili - Dronavalli Harika ½-½
Monika Socko - Antoaneta Stefanova 0-1
Qian Huang - Irina Krush 0-1
Tatiana Kosintseva - Nadezhda Kosintseva ½-½
Wenjun Ju - Natalia Zhukova 1-0

Monika Socko had knocked out reigning Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan in the previous round. She began Round  with a loss. Socko's 20th move was a blunder and she could not recover thereafter. Ironically, Natalia Zhukova who had knocked out top-rated player Humpy Koneru also lost. Alisa Galliamova, who had knocked out Valentina Gunina also lost. Replay the game in the Chess King applet in the extended post below.

In the position below, Socko plays 20.Qe3. Can you see the strong move from Black that eventually gave Stefanova her win as Black?

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Women's World Chess Championship 2012 Participants Announced

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

FIDE has announced the list of players who have confirmed their participation for the Women's World Chess Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk to take place from November 9-December 3, 2012. Meanwhile, one of our all-timefavourite chess videos!




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Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012: Grab Free Phone Apps; Russian Girls Head for Title Defense!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Just some more hours to go before the start of the mega event of the chess world - the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 (Aug 27-Sept 10). You can access the official website of the event at this link. Chess Blog will keep you updated with the exciting developments in the coming days.

For now, here are the iPhone and Android apps for your smartphones to help you enjoy the chess Olympiad on the go. The Android application: “World Chess Olympiad 2012” developed for 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, is available in Google Play Store. Use search or the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kocakcan.chessOlympiad

For the iPhone application, go to the Appstore and search or use the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chess-2012/id553296652?ls=1&mt=8 

Don't forget, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk, along with her Russian women's team, will be defending the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad title. Click on the photo to read the special Chess Blog post. (One change, Alisa Galliamova replaced by Natalija Pogonina.)

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

Russian Women's Chess Superfinal: Defending champion Alisa Galliamova retains title

Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010

Call me the Russian National Champion again: GM Alisa Galliamova

You can find great photos of the champion at www.chesspics.com

Hello Everyone,

Grandmaster Alisa Galliamova has become the Russian women's national chess champion for the second time after beating Natalija Pogonina in the speed chess tie-break in Moscow on Saturday.

Galliamova drew the first blitz game as White but won the second one with Black as her e pawn took her home to the championship title all the way to the seventh rank!

The last two rounds at the Russian Women's Superfinal lived up to the excitement that we witnessed throughout the tournament. In the penultimate round, Tatiana Kosintseva and Nazi Paikidze drew level with defending champion Alisa Galliamova to notch up a total score of 6.5 points each.

This happened because Tatiana beat Olga, Paikidze drew with Nadezhda and Galliamova lost to Gunina in the ninth round.

But the last round witnessed further ups and down like every round has. The eleventh and the last round ended with three players tied at 7 points. This happened because Galliamova and Tatiana drew their match while Paikidze lost to Nebolsina. On the other hand, Shadrina lost to Pogonina.

The three-way tie witnessed a blitz tie-break between Galliamova and Pogonina to decide the champion. Tatiana took the third place.

Final standings after Round 11

1-2. Pogonina, Galliamova 7

3. Kosintseva, Tatiana 7

4. Paikidze, Nazi 6.5

5. Kosteniuk, Alexandra 5.5

6-10. Gunina, Nadezhda, Shadrina, Nebolsina, Anastasia 5

11. Girya, Olga 4.5

12. Matveeva, Svetlana 3.5

You can find all the great games, photos and other details at the official website of www.russiachess.org.

Congratulations to Alisa Galliamova for a fine victory. Congratulations to all the lovely women who participated in this tournament, who gave us such exciting chess and who make Russia such a strong chess nation.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com