Cool Chess Wedding Ahead: WGM Baira Kovanova Engaged

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

Hi everyone,

This one's for all the fans of the Russian women chess players: Sorry, another one's taken! 

Our heartiest congratulations to WGM Baira Kovanova for getting engaged. The talented Russian player told www.chess-news.com about engagement right after her Round 5 victory at the Russian Chess Superfinal. 

When asked about the ring on her finger, she said the date of the marriage was to be finalised soon. Of course, she duly won the Round 5 game which you can see below with Chess King. Kovanova is currently rated 60th among women chess players in the world and her Russian national rank is 11.

Kovanova, Baira  -  Ubiennykh, Ekaterina 

Result: 1-0

Site: Moscow,RUS

Date: 2012.08.08

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.¤de2 ¥e6 8.¥g2 b5 9.h3 ¤bd7 10.g4 ¤b6 11.¤d5 ¤fxd5 12.exd5 ¥c8 13.b3 h5 14.g5 h4 15.f4 ¥e7 16.O-O exf4 17.¤d4 ¥xg5 18.¤c6 £f6 19.£e1+ ¢f8 20.¥xf4 ¥xh3 21.£e3 ¦e8 22.£xb6 ¥xg2 23.¦ae1 ¦a8 24.£b7 ¢g8 25.¥xg5 £xg5 26.¦f5

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

Camera in Russian Chess Girls' 'Locker Room'! (More Photos' Link Updated)

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

Hi everyone,

That's the Russian team for the Russia vs China
special chess match beginning on July 1 in
St Petersburg. Can you name all of them - the chess girls and their head coach?

The Russian men's and women's chess teams are all set for the special Russia versus China chess match from July 1-9, 2012 in St Petersburg, Russia.

This is a traditional chess team match between the two countries that has been taking place from 2001 in every year of the Chess Olympiad. The 2012 team chess match will be a practice friendly between both the men's and women's chess teams of both the countries before the Istanbul Chess Olympiad.

Each team will consist of six people – 5 players and 1 captain.

The tournament format is each plays each (Scheveningen), total 5 rounds of classical chess from the 2nd to 6th of July, additional two rounds of rapid chess will be played on the 7th and 8th.

Men's chess teams

Russia
Evgeny Tomashevsky (2738)
Dmitry Jakovenko (2736)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (2716)
Nikita Vitiugov (2703)
Maxim Matlakov (2668)

China
Wang Hao (2738)
Li Chao B (2703)
Wang Yue (2690)
Ding Liren (2679)
Yu Yangui (2626)

Women's chess teams

Russia
Valentina Gunina (2530)
Alexandra Kosteniuk (2457)
Natalia Pogonina (2447)
Olga Girya (2414)
Baira Kovanova (2391)

China
Zhao Xue (2549)
Ju Wenjun (2529)
Shen Yang (2419)
Huang Qian (2417)
Ding Yixin (2353)



Lots of more photos of the Russian women's team having fun in the beautiful sunshine of Peterhof park now at www.chessqueen.com. 


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

Why chess cannot be played against a friend!

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

WGM Baira Kovanova

Hello Everyone,

Yes, does that surprise you - Chess cannot be played against a friend! Actually, it's very tough when you end up facing your friend as an opponent in a tournament - that too the Women's World Chess Championship!

Ask Baira Kovanova. She might be the talk of the first round after knocking out Russian Superfinal runners-up (who tied for first) Natalia Pogonina but Kovanova is finding it hard to have beaten her friend.

The official website of the tournament carries an interview with Baira Kovanova.

"Natalia is a very good friend of mine and it was

very difficult to play against her"

• Anastasia Karlovich- You promoted to the second round winning against Natalia Pogonina in the first round. What do you feel about that result?

Baira Kovanova- I was really upset with the pairings. Natalia is a very good friend of mine and it was very difficult to play against her. She was even helping me and my father with tickets to Hatay. Organizers were contacting Natalia about my accommodation. When I played in the final of Russian cup she was helping me with preparation because at that moment I could not take a computer with me.
So I was really shocked when I knew we have to play against each other. It was very unpleasant but we had no choice.

• A.K- The impression was that you won the match very easily…

B.K- Well the first game was very nervous. Natalia didn’t play well in the opening, then we made some mistakes and everything was decided under the time trouble. Natalia is tired after Russian super final, it’s obvious. The second game I won very quickly.

• A.K- Is it a result of the serious preparation?

B.K- The preparation finished after several moves. I didn`t prepare with a coach to the first game but before the second one I started to worry about the result and even asked GM Sanan Siugirov to help me with preparation. We were checking variations till 3 a.m. I was expecting Spanish Defense but Natalia Pogonina didn`t start with 1…e5. The second game was very impressive.

• A.K- When did you feel you would win that game and the match?

B.K- I think Natalia had to accept the piece sacrifice. After Kh8 the game is lost and it was not very difficult to calculate following variations.

• A.K- Have you played with your next opponent Ju Wenjun before? How do you feel before the match?

B.K- I had met her at the board before – one year ago we made a draw in Grand Prix Psychologically it will be much easier to play tomorrow because I don’t have to play against my friend.

Find a nice review of the Kovanova-Pogonina games at www.chessbase.com.

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