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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French Chess Champions 2012 Title Jointly to Vachier-Lagrave, Bauer, Bacrot, Edouard

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


Hi everyone,

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Christian Bauer, Etienne Bacrot, and Romain Edouard have been declared the joint winners of the French National Chess Championship 2012.

Vachier-Lagrave, Bacrot, and Edouard, as a mark of respect and show of humane spirit, decided to not play the tiebreak, but share the French national chess title with the fourth joint leader, Christian Bauer. GM Bauer tragically lost his four-month-old son and abandoned the tournament before the last round. The last round was cancelled and the three remaining joint leaders were to play the tiebreak. However, they all agreed to share the title in a show of humane spirit and sportsmanship.

The French Chess Federation had earlier announced the tiebreak for Saturday, but cancelled it after the players' statements. 

Also read: Almira Skripchenko is French National Chess Champion for the Fifth Time!

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

Almira Skripchenko is French National Chess Champion for the Fifth Time!

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

Hi everyone,

In a performance marked by very strong and focused chess, Almira Skripchenko has won the French National Women's Chess Championship with a round to spare, according to the French Chess Federation website.  

In the penultimate round, Skripchenko went to play already with a lead of 1.5 points over the nearest player Sophie Millet. Skripchenko needed to simply draw, while Milliet needed to go for an outright win to have a chance at the title. Both games were drawn. This is Almira Skripchenko's fifth French National Women's Chess title. 

In the men's section, the last round had to be cancelled due to the tragic death of GM Christian Bauer's four-month-old son. He was in joint lead with three others. A tiebreak would now be played later between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Romain Edouard and Etienne Bacrot. 

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

French Chess Championships Begin; Fressinet, Skripchenko Top Seeds in Open and Women's Sections

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

Hi everyone,

The Men in Black & White

The latest chess news from France is that the national chess championships 2012 have begun. The 87th French Chess Championships are taking place from August 13-25 at the Palais Beaumont in Pau, near the Pyrenees National Park. The Championships consist of eight sections: National Tournament, National Women’s Tournament, Accession tournament, Veterans tournament, Open A tournament, Open B tournament, Open C tournament and Open D tournament.

Nearly 800 players from all regions are taking part in the Championships. The main event is the National Tournament, an 11-rounds all-play-all competition featuring the strongest players of France (average elo 2617). Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the defending champion.

National Men's Section
1. Laurent Fressinet 2714
2. Etienne Bacrot 2713
3. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2686
4. Christian Bauer 2682
5. Romain Edouard 2652
6. Andrei Istratescu 2647
7. Vladislav Tkachiev 2644
8. Hicham Hamdouchi 2627
9. Sébastien Maze 2573
10. Anatoly Vaisser 2556
11. Maxime Lagarde 2505
12. Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2404

National Women’s Tournament is a six-player double round robin. The average elo of the participants is 2324. Almira Skripchenko 2442, Sophie Milliet 2411, Anda Safranska 2298, Nino Maisuradze 2284, Silvia Collas 2261 and Andreea Bollengier 2253 compete.

Access the official website (French Chess Federation) for more details.

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

Super chess and poker thoughts by Almira Skripchenko

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


Hi everyone,


Who doesn't know her - the super girl Almira Skripchenko who's right there at the top in not one but two sports - chess and poker! She spoke to cardplayer.com about her life and chess and poker and more. Enjoy.

Tweet

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

Brussels host to Two Queens

Hello everybody!

Just 2 days ago Almira Skripchenko and I had a very good time in Monaco, giving a tandem simul for 46 players. Today we are in Brussels (Belgium), where we just gave one more duo-simul for 25 players. I have a special photo report for you about our trip to Brussels and of our simul "a quatre mains".

The event in Belgium today January 23rd was sponsored and held by the Computer Profile company, whose managing director Pierre Mercier was the heart and soul of this event. We were treated like queens and would like to thank Pierre and his wife Teresa for their hospitality and the warmest welcome we received. You will see a little bit later in this post about the wonderful surprise-dinner they prepared for us after the simul.

The simul itself was held in one of the Horta's house, which is just being renovated and thanks to the owner of this house Mr. Michel Gilbert we were able to play in such a historic place.

In order to get to Brussels, we first drove to Nice and then flew across the Alpes to Brussels.

In order to prepare for the simul we headed to... a hairdresser salon of course!

It was a very nice hair-dresser salon that looked more like a museum.

After our "home-preparation" we went to the house where the simul was going to be held.

We were greeted by nice flags and posters and.... the red carpet!

You see that the renovation works are still on the way.

When I was working on this post Milan Pein just sent me the link to the photos he took during the simul. You can view all the photos here. The photos are really nice and you see that a real professional took them. Below are my favorites:

The final result was +23=1-1. The only winner was Dirk Demarcke (2205, on the photo above), while Abelardo Rodriguez (1610) made a draw.

When we got back home we of course analysed the game that we lost:)

And then we were invited "à table".

To finish this post just one photo of the main course meal we had during this amazing dinner.

I won't tease you with the photos of dessert and will end my photo-report about the simul in Brussels. Tomorrow we will go by train to Paris and on Monday I will be flying to Gibraltar where I will take part in a very strong Gibraltar open.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Kosteniuk-Skripchenko in Tandem

Dear friends,

I have been charmed by the Principality of Monaco, tiny but amazingly beautiful! And I could sense a great love of chess, everybody so nice to me and Almira.

On Thursday Almira Skripchenko and I played a tandem simul in Monaco in the salon du Sporting Hiver. We played against 46 opponents, with the highest rated around 2300 ELO, and all players pretty strong! It was very much fun, with the exciting part trying to guess the ideas and plans of my partner Almira since we were alternating moves. The simul lasted for 4,5 hours. We had a very respectable result of +33 =9 -4 (against Van Hoolandt, Ruiz, Tersarkissok, Lomadong) and everyone was happy about how everything went.

Many important people of Monaco visited the simul, such as the vice-president of the Conseil National M. Bernard Marquet, the councilor of the Government for international affairs - M. Paul Masseron, the Minister of the education and sport - M. Claude Peri, the private councilor of the Prince M. René Novella, we also played a game against the former Minister of finance and now an Ambassador M. Henri Fissore.

We of course would like to thank very much Jean-Michel Rapaire the president of the Monaco Chess Federation and the President of the Monaco Chess Club for making this event real and organizing everything, who is doing so many wonderful things for promoting chess in the region!

You can see below a collage of photos of the event. You may recognize our friend Leo Battesti playing. He's the head of the Chess Federation of Corsica.

Tomorrow Almira and I are off to Brussels (Belgium) and will give another simul, photos and blog post to come very soon!

Happy chessing!

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Monaco Chess and Sunshine

Hello everybody!

After a long voyage I safely arrived to Monaco. Monaco is the second smallest country in the world; only Vatican City is smaller. It's so nice here. When you walk in the old city on a rock extending into the Mediterranean, known as the Rock of Monaco, or simply Le Rocher (the Rock), where the palace is located, it feels like you are in a movie, everything is so "minuscule" and beautiful.

Today, at 6pm local time my best friend Almira Skripchenko and I will give a tandem simul to 42 players right in the center of Monaco, next to its famous Monte Carlo Casino (you can see this Casino on the photos of this post). You can read a little bit more about simul on the official page of the French Chess Federation, here, and of course I will tell you more about it tonight.

Now I will go and prepare a little bit for the simul, since this is a tandem simul, it means that Almira and I will take turns in making moves so for that we need to discuss and prepare a special opening repertoire, which will suit Almira and I.

By the way, Almira, yesterday was awarded the trophy of "la joueuse de l’année" in Poker in France. You can read more about it here.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

January 23 Brussels Kosteniuk-Skripchenko Simul

Dear Chess Friends in and around Belgium!

I attach below a Press Release from our friends at Computer Profile. If you happen to be not far from Saint-Gilles in Belgium on January 23, come and see and Almira give a simul to 12 promising Belgium players!

On Saturday 23 January in an exceptional décor, the Horta Winssinger House, Alexandra Kosteniuk (World Chess Champion 2008) and Almira Skripchenko (European Chess Champion 2001) are set to challenge 12 promising Belgian chess players and 12 CEO's to a simultaneous game.

The chess event will be followed by an afternoon snack.

Doors : 1.30 pm

Start game : 2 pm

Expected end : 6 pm

Address :

Rue Hotel des Monnaies, 66

1060 Saint-Gilles

Belgium

Parking with shuttle

at your disposal

To confirm you will be attending, please subscribe here before 18 January.

To enable us to welcome you accordingly, please specify if you will be accompanied (first name and name).

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Almira Skripchenko visits Orphanage in Moldova

My best friend Almira Skripchenko sent me a few photos from her visit to an orphanage in Moldova.

Almira is originally from Moldova, but now lives in France. She was Women's European champion in 2001, three-times French champion, and represents France since 2002. Almira was rated as high as third woman in the world with a FIDE rating of 2498. She holds the titles of Woman Grand Master (WGM) and Men's International Master (IM).

She visited the kids orphanage #3 of Kishinev and was greeted by the traditional bread and salt.


Almira brought many presents for each kid: chess sets, books, and sports shoes.


Almira also gave a big TV to the orphanage. Every kid was very happy and excited to see a famous chess player and promised to start playing chess as for the next time Almira comes be able to give her a hard time over the board.

The article in Russian about this goodwill visit can be read here.

It's great to read such great news. If every day one such event would take place somewhere in the world there would be many more happy kids in the world.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women's World Chess Champion
www.chessblog.com