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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
FIDE Chess Federation Transfers: Anna Muzychuk to Play for Ukraine, Anna Sharevich for USA, Nisipeanu for Germany
Hello Chess Blog friends, A quick chess federation changes' update for some of the well-known stars of the chess world! Several chess stars have changed their federation this year.
Notable chess players among them are Anna Muzychuk and Anna Sharevich. Anna Sharevich used to play for Belarus, but will now play for the USA. Anna Muzychuk has played for ten years for Slovenia and now returns to play for her country of birth, Ukraine. World Senior Chess Champion 2013 player Margarita Baliuniene moves from Lithuania to Denmark. World Cup player for Cuba, Fidel Corrales Jimenez moves to the USA. Sharanya Iyengar, who has played the World Youth for Girls U12 for Kenya, moves to India. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu who represented Romania will now play for Germany. For a complete list of chess federation transfers, check out this FIDE website link. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Anna Muzychuk is Women's World Blitz Chess Champion 2014
Hello everyone,
Anna Muzychuk has won the three-day super-exciting Women's World Blitz Chess Championship 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk. She scored 23/30 points with Nana Dzagnidze, in second place, a full 2.5 points away. Russia's Tatiana Kosintseva won the bronze after a last-day burst to earn 20 points. The FIDE Women World Blitz Championship 2014 was held from 26th to 28th April at the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Entering the third day of the Championship, Anna Muzychuk and Nana Dzagnidze were tied in first place with 15/20 points each.
Already in the 11th round Dzagnidze was held to 1-1 by Harika and Muzychuk beat Natalia Zhukova 2-0. Muzychuk continued the winning streak 1,5-0,5 against Elisabeth Paehtz and 2-0 against Anna Ushenina. Meanwhile, Dzagnidze could not make more than 1-1 against Alexandra Kosteniuk and Marina Guseva, respectively.
Following the 14th round 1-1 tie with Marina Guseva, Anna Muzychuk secured the title of Women's World Blitz Champion with one round to spare.
This result is immensely important for the young Slovenian, who many times finished joint first or second in the official events, but never before took home the trophy.
Dzagnidze still had to work to secure the silver and 1,5-0,5 against Inna Gaponenko in the 15th round was just enough to seal the 2nd place.
Tatiana Kosintseva defeated Guseva 2-0 to clinch the bronze medal.
A total of 34 women chess players from 13 countries competed for the title and prize fund of $50,000.
FIDE Chess Ratings December 1 Announced: Carlsen, Judit Stay No. 1; Kramnik, Kosteniuk Russia No. 1
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The latest FIDE chess ratings list has been announced. World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen remains the highest-rated human on the planet with 2782 - a record he had set in April 2013. Carlsen earned two rating points for beating Viswanathan Anand at the Chennai World Chess Championship 2013 recently.
Levon Aronian is the only player, besides Magnus, rated over 2800 elo though, the Armenian is still about 79 points behind. Vladimir Kramnik is third with 2793. Hikaru Nakamura of the US is at fourth place with 2786.
World Chess Ratings Top-20 1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2872 10 1990
2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2803 9 1982 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2793 0 1975 4 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2786 0 1987 5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2785 7 1975 6 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2783 8 1983 7 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2782 9 1992 8 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2777 0 1968 9 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2773 10 1969 10 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2758 11 1976 11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2757 8 1985 12 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2756 0 1990 13 Adams, Michael g ENG 2754 8 1971 14 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2754 0 1983 15 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2745 11 1990 16 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2741 0 1987 17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2740 10 1983 18 Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2737 9 1985 19 Wang, Hao g CHN 2735 3 1989 20 Giri, Anish g NED 2734 10 1994
In the women's list, Judit Polgar retains her number 1 spot with 2693. In second place is Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan with 2629. India's Humpy Koneru is third with 2607. Chessqueen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is back in the top-10 with a fantastic two months of hard work! Read all about it in her post at ChessQueen. She is now the #1 woman chess player in Russia and tied for world number 8 with a rating of 2527 along with Bela Khotenashvili. Vladimir Kramnik remains top Russian player in the men's group.
World Women's Chess Ratings Top-20 1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2693 8 1976 2 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2629 0 1994 3 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2607 3 1987 4 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2568 3 1985 5 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2566 0 1990 6 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2557 9 1987 7 Lagno, Kateryna g UKR 2543 9 1989 8 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2527 9 1988 9 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2527 8 1984 10 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2525 3 1963 11 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2514 9 1983 12 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2514 3 1991 13 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2513 9 1985 14 Gunina, Valentina g RUS 2509 10 1989 15 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2507 10 1980 16 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2503 8 1992 17 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2501 9 1986 18 Ushenina, Anna g UKR 2501 8 1985 19 Krush, Irina m USA 2499 12 1983 20 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2496 0 1986
For a full list of all ratings read this FIDE page. For a list of the progress chart, read this FIDE chess ratings list.
Koneru Humpy Wins Women's Chess Grand Prix in Dilijan ahead of Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
India's chess pride Grandmaster Koneru Humpy has won the FIDE Women’s Chess Grand Prix in Dilijan, Armenia, this Friday. She finished the tournament with a fantastic performance even piccking up a win in the final round against Mongolia’s Tuvshintugs Batchimeg.
The top seed from Vijayawada, India scored eight points from 11 rounds which was a full point ahead of Slovenia’s Anna Muzychuk, the second seed, and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Humpy was the only unbeaten player in the field that contained 12 of the top women chess players in the world. The other Indian chess player who attended the tournament, D. Harika, played well and finished with five points and tied for the sixth place, after drawing with former World Chess Champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria. The FIDE Grand Prix is a six-part series that will determine the challenger for the 2015 Women’s World Chess Championship. Koneru Humpy's victory at the Dilijan Chess Grand Prix included draw with D Harika, win over Elina Danielian, draw with Anna Ushenina, win over Tatiana Kosintseva, draw with Bela Khotenashvili, win over Anna Muzychuk, win over Anna Stefanova, draw with Viktorija Cmilyte, draw with Nana Dzagnidze, draw with Olga Girya and a win over Batchimeg Tuvshintugs. The final standings: 1. Humpy 8; 2-3. Muzychuk and Dzagnidze 7; 4. Kosintseva 6; 5. Ushenina 5.5; 6-8. Stefanova, Batchimeg & Harika 5; 9-11.Girya, Cmylite & Danielian 4.5; 12. Khotenashvili 4. (www.blackandwhiteindia.com)
Loving Chess, Good Memory Important for High-Level Chess: Anna Muzychuk
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
You are representing Slovenian Chess Federation since 2004. Wasn’t it difficult to take such kind of responsibility at the age of 14? As you said I was a girl of 14 and my parents made the decision for me.
How would you describe your game style in your early chess career?It’s a bit difficult for me to distinguish something, but at that time I liked to play more actively and used to attack more often.
In 2008 you won two important Open tournaments. Was that year the best in your chess career?Those were the two first strong tournaments where I won but later I had more impressive performances.
Has anything changed in your world outlook after becoming World Champion under-20? What memories do you keep from that event?Well, I can say nothing has changed after that victory. I am just happy that I managed to become a World Champion.
What would you identify as the most important traits of character besides talent to become a high level chess player? What characteristic features would you like to change in yourself, if any?I think first of all the person must love the game, as during the long years many lose their interest in chess because of hard training process. Also I think that having a good memory is a must. (Dilijan Chess Grand Prix 2013 official website)
Bela Khotenashvili Wins Foundation Neva Women's Chess Grand Prix in Geneva
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Georgia's Bela Khotenashvili has won the Foundation Neva Women's Chess Grand Prix 2013 in Geneva. Her nearest rival Anna Muzychuk had to win the game in order to catch the leader but Slovenian player didn’t get anything out of the opening and drew against 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.
“I’m very happy to win this tournament and consider this result as the best one in my career so far. I would like to thank Georgian chess federation, President of GCF Giya Giorgadze and our coach Davit Jojua for their help,” said Bela Khotenashvili at the final press conference.
Hou Yifan missed winning chances in the endgame and lost the game against Nana Dzagnidze. Tatiana Kosintseva had a very good position after the opening but was spending a lot of time and lost against Ju Wenjun. Viktorija Cmilyte outplayed Olga Girya. As a result, Nana Dzagnidze tied for the third place with Tatiana Kosintseva.
Congratulations to all the girls who gave us almost two weeks of great chess games and showcased how fighting spirit can make chess just so exciting. Some of the draws were amazing and left fans and spectators in awe. All around everyone shared the joy of great chess.
The awarding ceremony took place after the last game was finished and was attended by Under Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Tokayev, the founder of Neva Fondation Elena Timtchenko, FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg.
Sensational Chess Results in Khanty-Mansiysk: All Top Stars Hou, Kosteniuk, Koneru, Gunina, Lahno, Muzychuk Knocked out from World Championship 2012
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
Polish Grandmaster Monika Socko has knocked out Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan of China in the second round in Khanty Mansiysk. The Polish grandmaster told journalists about her victory against the World Champion: It certainly wasn’t easy. I expected a different line of the Sicilian, but Hou Yifan decided to play 6.Bb5, after which we both were out of book. The last moves I remembered were 5…Nc6 and 6…Nd7. I think 8.b3 is already a bit passive. Maybe she started to play for a draw, which is not always a good idea. My plan was very simple, and soon I had a bishop pair in an open position as well as a strong d-pawn.
Q: Hou Yifan usually plays quite actively. Did you feel her hesitation during this game? Maybe she started to play for a draw indeed, and such attitude was the main reason of her defeat?
– I was also surprised to see her playing like this. Maybe she simply did not expect the Sicilian and prepared for the French. I wasn’t sure about my opening choice until the very end, but fortunately made the right decision.This is my first victory against the World Champion in a classical game. Before that I could only beat her in rapid chess, and in classical chess I made two draws and lost a few times.
Players proceeding to Round 3 include: Monika Socko, Antoaneta Stefanova, Marie Sebag, Valentina Gunina, Nino Khurtsidze, Lela Javakashvili, Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Natalia Pogonina, Anna Ushenina, Huang Qian, Irina Krush, Ju Wenjun and Natalia Zhukova. It's just one of the most shocking World Chess Championship result to have all the top stars eliminated from Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lahno, Humpy Koneru and Valentina Gunina. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara: Koneru Humpy Wins Gold
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
Congratulations to GM Humpy Koneru for winning the sixth edition of the Fide Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara, Turkey. She is now placed second in the overall Grand Prix series after Hou Yifan. That is an interesting situation. If Hou Yifan were to retain her world chess title later this year, it would be Koneru Humpy again becoming her challenger. However, if Yifan were to lose her title, it would be Yifan challenging whoever is crowned the women's world chess champion this December!
The Chinese has already clinched the first place in the overall Grand Prix cycle and is a current World Champion among women. Round eleven was as thrilling as it was expected. All the attention turned to the games which would identify the winner of Grand Prix in Ankara.
Humpy Koneru confidently won against Monika Socko and had to wait for the final outcome of the game between Ruan Lufei and Anna Muzychuk. The victory could have given Slovenian player the second place in the Series but she missed a good chance for advantage and game was drawn.
Another important game for the final standings was played between Zhao Xue and Tatiana Kosintseva. A draw guaranteed Zhao Xue the bronze medal in GP in Ankara, which she earned. Both Turkish players Kubra Ozturk and Betul Yildiz lost in the 11th round to the higher rated Viktorija Cmilyte and Antoaneta Stefanova respectively. Munguntuul Batkhuyag won against Ju Wenjun and finished the tournament with +1.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Ankara R10: Humpy, Muzychuk in Joint Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Interesting things are happening at the Ankara Women's Chess Grand Prix. In the tenth round, Anna Muzychuk lost a good chance to get an advantage playing against Viktorija Cmilyte and game finished in a draw. Humpy Koneru confidently won against Kubra Ozturk to catch up Slovenian player. Thus both of them lead in the tournament with 7,5 points half a point above Zhao Xue, who won against Betul Yildiz and is placed third with one round to go.
Tatiana Kosintseva showed good preparation today and catch her opponent Ju Wenjun in the opening. Chinese player failed to find the exact moves which would lead the game to the force draw and as a result was outplayed by Russian player.
The games Stefanova-Socko and Batkhuyag-Lufei ended peacefully. The last round is going to decide the overall second place in Grand Prix. Humpy Koneru plays white against Monika Socko, who seems to be not in her best shape, while Anna Muzychuk is going to face Ruan Lufei, who plays with white and placed fourth in the tournament. Zhao Xue, who also got good chances to fight for medals, plays with white against Tatiana Kosintseva.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Ankara R9: Anna Muzychuk in Sole Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Koneru Humpy-Anna Muzychuk at
Ankara Women's Chess Grand Prix.
The Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara saw the top seeds clash in the ninth round. Anna Muzychuk beat overnight leader Koneru Humpy and is now in the lead. You can see the Humpy-Muzychuk with Chess King. Former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova scored the first full point in the tournament by winning against Kubra Ozturk who sacrificed a pawn in the middle game but didn't get enough compensation later on. Tatiana Kosinsteva committed three times the same mistake until Betul Yildiz found the winning move and converted the score in her favour. Zhao Xue was persistent in finding winning chances against Monika Socko and eventually succeeded in winning. Two more games could have been decisive if Viktorija Cmilyte and Ju Wenjun would have converted their advantage. Standings after nine rounds have Anna Muzychuk with 7 points, Koneru Humpy at 6.5, Zhao Xue at 6.0, Ruan Lufei at 5.5, Viktorija Cmilyte and Ju Wenjun at 5 each, Munguntuul Batkhuyag has 4.5 points, Tatiana Kosintseva 4 points and Antoaneta Stefanova has 3 points. Monika Socko and Kubra Ozturk have 2 points each. Two more rounds are to played.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Round 8: Koneru Humpy in Lead, Anna Muzychuk Half-Point Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The eighth round at the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara had all games drawn - which is quite a change considering the fighting chess that goes around at the event. The leader of the tournament Humpy Koneru, who had had 100% result with black pieces, gave away the first half point playing with black against Munguntuul Batkhuyag.
Munguntuul Batkhuyag-Koneru Humpy
The current leader of the tournament got quite a remarkable advantage in the middle game but didn't manage to convert it into more. Anna Muzychuk didn't use an opportunity to play for victory in the game against Antoaneta Stefanova and remains in the second place half-point behind Humpy Koneru.
Kubra Ozturk came very close to get the first full point in the game against Zhao Xue. Turkish player refused to repeat the position in the middle game, put the pressure on her opponent but missed some good chances. You can follow the live games at the official website.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Round 7: Koneru Humpy Beats Ju Wenjun, Takes Sole Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy beat Ju Wenjun of China in a complicated game during the seventh round at the ongoing Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara. This helped Koneru take sole lead.
Anna Muzychuk drew with Zhao Xue and is in second place, half-a-point behind Humpy. After an unpleasant start, Olympic Champion Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia won the second game in a row against Monika Socko and climbed to the middle of the table. The game between Turkish players Betul Yildiz and Kubra Ozturk finished peacefully as well as two other games: Stefanova-Batkhuyag and Cmilyte-Lufei. Zhao Xue and Ruan Lufei share the third place with 4.5 points. Watch the games live on the official website
Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara R6: Humpy, Muzyhuk in Joint Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Anna Muzychuk and Koneru Humpy are in joint lead at the sixth edition of the Fide Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara, Turkey. All games turned out to be decisive in the sixth round in Ankara.
Humpy Koneru won against another leader Ruan Lufei in the variation which happened already in the game Kosintseva-Koneru. Anna Muzyhcuk showed fighting spirit and managed to win against Betul Yildiz after 130 moves of tough fight. Both Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk have 5 out of 6 and keep on leading in the Grand Prix at the moment.
Monika Socko celebrated her first victory over Turkish player Kubra Ozturk. Tatiana Kosintseva defeated Viktorija Cmilyte in the rook endgame. Chinese players Ju Wenjun and Zhao Xue outplayed Antoaneta Stefanova and Munguntuul Batkhuyag respectively and share the third place in the tournament.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Women's Chess Grand Prix fourth round saw four decisive games on Wednesday. The only game to end as a draw was the Ruan Lufei-Zhao Xue match after the long battle.
Meanwhile, Humpy Koneru beat Tatiana Kosintseva and joined the shared lead with Lufei after four rounds. The Indian player was the only one who won her game with black pieces - all the other decisive games finished on favor of white.
Both Turkish players Betul Yildiz and Kubra Ozturk were overplayed by rating favorites of the matches Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk respectively. Monika Socko unexpectedly lost an equal endgame after she blundered the knight, playing against Munguntuul Batkhuyag.
Cmilyte Viktorija received comfortable position after the opening and outplayed Antoaneta Stefanova. Thursday is a free day. This is the sixth edition of the Women's Chess Grand Prix for the cycle 2011/12. Reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan has already won the series and it remains to be seen who would come second in the final standings. The fifth round of the sixth round of the chess grand prix resumes on Friday.
Women's Chess Grand Prix: Sixth Edition in Ankara from Sept 15
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The next strong chess tournament is to be held in Ankara, Turkey from September 15. It is the sixth edition of the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix 2011-2012. Twelve players are taking part in the round-robin chess tournament. Previous events have been won thrice by Hou Yifan, once by Zhao Xue, and one was shared by Anna Muzychuk and Koneru Humpy. The first round would be played on September 16.
The FIDE Women Grand Prix is a series of six chess tournaments for women to be held over a period of two years. The winner of each tournament wins 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros and the overall winner of the series wins a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. The official tournament website will have a live games' broadcast from September 16.
Ankara (historically known as Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country’s second largest city after Istanbul. Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city.
Fide Chess Ratings Aug 1: Carlsen, Judit Hold on to No. 1 Spot
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Find more great photos of World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at www.chesspics.com
The ratings list for August have been released by Fide. Magnus Carlsen continues to be No. 1 with a personal best of 2837. In fact he is 2846 in the live ratings! Aronian is the only other player who is still above 2800. New players to the current top list are Gawain Jones, Daniel Fridman, Wesley So, Romain Edouard, and Vadim Milov. The top 100 rating list has no inflation in the past year. The average of the players is 2701 ELO, two points less than July 2012, and no significant change since July-September 2011.
At the same time entering top 50 is “7 points more difficult” now. In July 2011 Riazantsev was 50th with 2688 ELO, while in August 2012 the same position is for Ding Liren with 2695.
FIDE Top 30 August Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Day 1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2837 0 1990-11-30 2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2816 0 1982-10-06 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2797 9 1975-06-25 4 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2788 0 1987-03-12 5 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2785 9 1990-01-12 6 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2780 0 1969-12-11 7 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2778 0 1987-12-09 8 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2773 15 1992-07-30 9 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2770 0 1977-07-18 10 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2769 0 1969-03-18 11 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2763 0 1983-10-31 12 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2752 0 1975-03-15 13 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2749 0 1976-06-17 14 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2746 9 1974-06-02 15 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2738 0 1968-06-24 16 Leko, Peter g HUN 2737 9 1979-09-08 17 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2737 0 1986-07-24 18 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2734 10 1971-12-14 19 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2734 9 1983-10-11 20 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2730 5 1987-07-01 21 Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2730 0 1983-11-26 22 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2729 8 1985-04-12 23 Wang, Hao g CHN 2726 11 1989-08-04 24 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2725 0 1983-09-23 25 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2722 16 1983-06-28 26 Adams, Michael g ENG 2722 10 1971-11-17 27 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw g POL 2717 0 1987-01-13 28 Andreikin, Dmitry g RUS 2715 14 1990-02-05 29 Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2714 0 1981-11-30 30 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2713 0 1976-08-29
Top 30 women Judit Polgar keeps her No. 1 place with 2698, while Anna Muzychuk is second as Yifan Hou has dropped 14 points.
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Day 1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2698 12 1976-07-23 2 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2606 0 1990-02-28 3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2603 22 1994-02-27 4 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2593 11 1987-03-31 5 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2549 22 1985-04-06 6 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2547 0 1987-01-01 7 Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2542 11 1989-12-27 8 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2530 0 1986-04-11 9 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2528 22 1991-01-31 10 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2524 11 1985-01-14 11 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2521 0 1986-10-15 12 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2520 13 1983-08-06 13 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2512 0 1978-07-17 14 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2509 16 1988-06-01 15 Gunina, Valentina m RUS 2507 18 1989-02-04 16 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2503 16 1963-04-23 17 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2503 13 1991-01-12 18 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2502 18 1979-04-19 19 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2492 11 1987-10-02 20 Zhu, Chen g QAT 2491 0 1976-03-13 21 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2489 14 1984-04-23 22 Paehtz, Elisabeth m GER 2483 8 1985-01-08 23 Danielian, Elina g ARM 2476 14 1978-08-16 24 Socko, Monika g POL 2467 10 1978-03-24 25 Krush, Irina m USA 2467 9 1983-12-24 26 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2466 12 1992-09-21 27 Galliamova, Alisa m RUS 2465 0 1972-01-18 28 Xu, Yuhua g CHN 2465 0 1976-10-29 29 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2464 0 1980-04-25 30 Moser, Eva m AUT 2459 7 1982-07-26
For the complete rating lists visit the official Fide website.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
GM Vassily Ivanchuk has won the ACP Golden Classic that introduced - rather brought back - the rule of adjournments in chess! Ivanchuk scored a near-perfect 5.0/6. The tournament was not rated so Ivanchuk would not have the excellent result reflect in his Fide rating. The second spot went to Gata Kamsky who finished half a point behind the champion.
ACP president Emil Sutovsky was third with 3.5. Anna Muzychuk had a fine result as well with a win over Krishnan Sasikiran. She was fourth. Fifth was Le Quang Liem, followed by Sasikiran and Baadur Jobava.
Here is also a nice video interview with GM Anna Muzychuk.
Association of Chess Professional Plans Return of Adjournments with Anna Muzychuk and 6 GMs
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) is going to try and interesting new idea at a chess tournament in Amsterdam next month. The games will be adjourned after move 40 and resumed the next day! The time control will also be like in the old days: 2.5 hours for the first 40 moves.
The chess tournament named "Golden Classic" will be held July 14-22 July in Amsterdam on the sidelines of the Dutch National Chess Championship and the SPA Chess Open.
The tournament will be a single round robin with seven players: Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR, 2764), Gata Kamsky (USA, 2741), Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2721), Krishnan Sasikiran (IND, 2720), Le Quang Liem (VIE, 2703), Emil Sutovsky (ISR, 2687) and Anna Muzychuk (SLO, 2598).
Tournament director will be Jeroen van den Berg who also runs the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee and the Univé Tournament in Hoogeveen each year. The tournament won't be rated. The players will be fighting for an overall prize-fund of US $35,000. The sponsor is private and doesn't want to be mentioned.
Do you know how adjournments work in chess?It's almost two decades since the adjournment rule went out of style and the rulebook. All games at top tournaments were adjourned after the after the time control (after either move 40 or 60). The player whose turn it was to move wrote the move on a piece of paper and the arbiter sealed it in an envelope. The players could then spend the day or a rest day as well analysing the position with their team. The game resumed with the arbiter opening the envelope and playing the move when the chess tournament resumed.
Blitz Chess Women's World Championship: Congrats to Valentina Gunina, Natalia Zhukova, Anna Muzychuk for winning top 3 places
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Valentina Gunina of Russia - Women's World Blitz Chess Champion
The women's world blitz chess championship has just concluded in Batumi, Georgia with Russia's Valentina Gunina virtually running away with the title. Gunina had cruised along in the just-concluded women's world rapid chess championship - that concluded a day ahead - but it seemed the European Women's Chess Champion had found her winning rhythm in the blitz section. Congratulations
Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk was a trifle unlucky as she missed the medals' tally by just half a point. But, Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk's overall score is possibly the best in both blitz and rapid (news to be updated soon). Here are the full results of the Batumi Women's World Blitz Chess Championship 2012.
Women's Chess World Rapid - Anna Muzychuk Top Seed in Batumi
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Women’s World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2012 is all set to be held from May 31 to June 6 at the Sheraton Hotel, Batumi, Georgia. It is an 11 rounds Swiss tournament with time control 25 mins + 10 sec per move.
Top Seed Anna Muzychuk
Every female player with the Elo of 2500+ in one of the official FIDE rating lists as well as all former World Champions and Olympic Champions have the personal right to participate in the Championship. Besides, every national federation can nominate one player for participation in the Championship. In addition, up to five more players can be nominated from the same federation, provided they have elo of 2300+ in one of the official FIDE rating lists in 2012. Anna Muzychuk, 2010 World Junior Champion and 2012 European medalist, is the top seed at the event. Participants also include European Women's Chess Champion Valentina Gunina, Women's World Chess Championship finalist Koneru Humpy, European women's chess silver medalist Tatiana Kosintseva, former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova, former world champion Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk US women's chess champion Irina Krush, and Armenia's No. 1 woman chess player Elina Danielian.
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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