Alexandra Kosteniuk Chess Camp Session 3

The 3rd session of my chess camp is over, tomorrow the 1st Alexandra Kosteniuk's USA CHESS CUP for KIDS will take place. Here is some info about the tournament:

11 July 1st Alexandra Kosteniuk USA KIDS Chess cup tournament

Tournament location: Miami Chess Academy

5880 SW 8th St, West Miami, FL, 33144-5036 (305) 262-2700

5 Rounds Time Control: Game/25 minutes

Trophies: Top 3 individuals in each age group + 1 top girl in every age group.

4 age groups
Girls and Boys Under 18 – Born after July 11th, 1991
Girls and Boys Under 14 – Born after July 11th, 1995
Girls and Boys Under 11 – Born after July 11th 1998
Girls and Boys Under 8 – Born after July 11th 2001

Prizes: 1st - $200 in chess prizes + 1 private lesson with Alexandra, 2nd - $100; 3rd - $50 in chess prizes

Registration Saturday 11-11:50am. First round starts at 12pm.

After this tournament I will go for a deserved vacation to Disney World and then will start preparing for the US-open that will take place from August 1 till August 9, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN.

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

Chess is Cool in Chess Camp

Yesterday I had a chance to enjoy the 4th of July parade and the fireworks. Although it was very hot in Miami I spent a wonderful time with my family.

On Friday, July 3rd, the second session of my Chess is Cool Camp finished.


Here is what we studied with the kids in these two weeks:

CHESS MATERIAL STUDIED IN THE CHESS IS COOL SUMMER CAMP AT THE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME WITH THE WOMEN’S WORLD CHESS CHAMPION ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK:

1. Chess Notation

2. How to win a chess game

3. Checkmating the lonely king with a queen, with two rooks, with a rook.

4. How to make a draw: a- stalemate; b- insufficient checkmating material; c- –50 moves rule; d- threefold repetition

5. Basic opening principles

6. Basic middle game principles

7. Basic endgame principles

8. 4 moves checkmate (also known as the scholar’s mate) and how not to be checkmated in 4 moves.

9. Protecting the weakest link of the starting position: – the squares f2 and f7.

10. Pawns are the soul of chess. What you need to know about pawns: en-passant, pawn promotion, pawns game.

11. Chess tactics: double-attack and forks, pins and skewers, discovered checks and attacks.

12. Castling

13. Free stuff

14. Batteries in chess

15. Back-rank mates

That's only the main topics we studied, we also went over many useful instructional chess games of great chess players, played many tournaments, solved hundreds of useful chess problems and had fun studying and playing chess.

From July 6 to July 10 I will have my last chess camp session and then my family and I are planning to go for a vacation trip to the Disney World in Orlando!!!!

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Chess is Cool in Chess Camp

Hello all!
The first session of my first annual chess camp is coming to its end. I run this camp myself and teaching kids is a new experience for me, which keeps me very busy. This camp is very exciting, the kids not only have fun but also study many new things about chess.
During this camp we went over many useful and important questions for improving our chess. One position that I like the most during our lessons is the following:

In this position White played 1. Rxf6, you need to give the evaluation of this move.
On July 11 I will run my first Alexandra Kosteniuk's USA Chess Cup for kids. There will be lots of prizes and chess fun.
By the way, we put the photos of my trip to Panama to www.chesspics.com You can have a look at the photos and vote for your favorite ones!

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

Kosteniuk Summer Plans 2009

Dear Chess Friends!

I would like to let you know about my plans for this summer. Right now I'm in Paris and I just finished my new autobiographical book which should come out in Russian in September, in English by the end of the year.

In a few days I'll pass by Switzerland and on June 16 I will fly to Miami. On June 18 I'm going to Panama to participate in the inauguration of the new Cinta Costera. I will give an open air simul (on June 20), showing that chess is a healthy activity, suitable for the whole family. I will also visit the "Universidad de las Americas" on June 19 and will give a talk on how chess helps in life, and in business. I haven't been to Panama and am really looking forward to this interesting experience. I can promise you many photos from this event.

I'm coming back from Panama to Miami on June 21 and already on June 22 the first session of my first annual chess summer camp starts, which will take place at the historic Chess Hall of Fame and Chess Museum in Miami, Florida.

Kids from 5 to 18 are invited to take part in it. There will be 4 weekly camps (June 22-26, June 29-July 3, July 6-10, and July 13-17). I will run this camp myself and kids will not only get to know many useful chess things and improve in chess, but at the same time will have fun. On July 10-12 there will also be a tournament - The Alexandra Kosteniuk USA Chess Cup (for girls and boys U-8, U-11, U-14, U-18).

After the camp I'll be doing a lot of interesting things for chess fans such as writing books, recording my free audio podcast "Chess is Cool" as well as the free video podcasts "Chess Killer Tips" and will prepare for the 110th US open which will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana from August 1 till August 9. It will be my first serious competition in the USA 2009.

At the end of August I might play in the famous annual Moscow Blitz Championship.

I took part in it in 2005 and in 2006. On the photo above you can see me playing Morozevich, you can watch the whole photo album of the event of the year 2005 here.

In the year 2006 I played a few very interesting games which was recorded by my husband. One game was against GM Alexander Riazantsev. With a really speedy ending.

The other one was against GM Arthur Gabrielian.

I must say that I love blitz and I believe that the future of chess lies in tournaments with shorter time controls.

So this summer promise to be interesting, I will keep you posted about my activities as well as news on women's chess around the world.

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