Kosteniuk Travels to Dagomys via Moscow

The winners of the Izvestia Chess Contest

Yes I'm on the photo too!

(photo courtesy: Izvestia)

Hello everybody!

Just a short note to tell you all that after a safe transatlantic flight from Miami through New York to Moscow and then to Sochi I arrived to Dagomys where the Russian Team Chess Championship will start tomorrow. The games will be transmitted LIVE and I will let you know how it goes.

Yesterday, after arriving from New York I went to congratulate the winners of the Izvestia Puzzle Chess Contest. If you know Russian, you can read the article here. I also passed by the Central Chess Club to say good-bye to the 7th world chess champion Vassily Smyslov.

There were also two terrible terrorist acts in the Moscow Metro with many people killed and wounded, I just want to give my sincere condolences to the families who lost their close family and friends. It's such a terrible thing that people in such a modern world still prefer to fight their conflicts by killing each other.

Let us wish and pray that in the future we will only have battles on the chess boards.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Izvestia Chess Puzzle Contest Winners

Photo courtesy Vladimir Suvorov/"Izvestia"

Hello everybody!

A few posts ago I let you know about the Puzzle Contest in the Russian newspaper "Izvestia". On March 3 the winners of this contest were announced and the solutions for the Puzzles#5 and #6 were posted:

Puzzle #5. A. Kosteniuk, 2009,

White to move and make a draw.

SOLUTION:

1. b8Q h1Q 2.Kd4+! Rс1 3.Qg3+ Kh5 4.Qh3+ Kg5 (4. .. Qh3 stalemate) 5. Qg3+ Kh6 6. Qh3+ Kg7 7. Qd7+ Кf8 8.Qd8+ Kh7 9.Qd7+ Kh6 10.Qh3+ Kg5 11. Qg3+ Kf5 12.Qh3+ Kf4 13.Qh4+ Kf3! 14.Qf4+ Kg2 15.Qg4+ Kf2 16. Qh4+ Ke2 17.Qf2+ Kd1 18.Qd2+ Kd2 stalemate

Puzzle #6, О.Pervakov, 2008,

White to move and win.

SOLUTION:

1.с3!

1.cb? doesn't win in view of Kh6! 2.Rg6+ Qg6 3.Bg6 Kg6 4.b4 Kf6 5.Kd2 Ke7 6.Ke3 Kd7 7.Ke4 Kc7 8.Kf5 Kb6 with a draw

1. ... b2+ 2.Kb2 Kh6! (2. ... Kh8 3.Rg8+!),

Now doesn't win 3.Bd3? in view of Qа4! 4.Rg6+ Kh7 5.Rg4+ e4! 6.Rе4 Qd1!

7.Bc2 Qg1! 8.Rg4+ Kh8! (9. ... Kh6? 10.Rg6+!) 9.Rg1 stalemate

The correct continuation is 3.Bс2!! Qс4! (3. ... Qd5 4.Rg6+ Kh7 5.Rd6+ winning the Queen and the game)

4.Rg6+ Кh7 5.Rg4+ e4! 6.Rе4 Qс7! 7.Re7+ Kh6 8.Rh7+! - winning

I hope you enjoyed solving these puzzles and can assure you that daily solving of different tactical and endgame problems and puzzles will increase you level of chess.

Link to the original Izvestia Chess Puzzle Contest 2010.

Solve many puzzles on my CHESS KILLER TIPS podcast page.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com

Izvestia Chess Puzzle Contest

Photo courtesy: Vladimir Suvorov "Izvestia"

Hello everybody!

I just got back from my St. Valentine's 5k run which I completed in 22:38, taking third place in my age group (26-29) and 7th overall woman.

To celebrate St. Valentine's Day I invite you to solve the following 6 puzzles which are the Puzzle Contest of one of the biggest Russian Daily Newspaper "Izvestia". This competition started on January 12 and consists of 3 rounds of 2 puzzles each. Right now is the final tour so you still have a chance to send the solutions of the two last puzzles till tomorrow to sport@izvestia.ru or by post to Russia, Moscow, 127 994, Tverskaia St., 18-1 mark "Chess Competition" on your envelope, but email will arrive faster for sure :-) For those of you who know Russian, here are the 3 links to the articles of this competition: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3. You will be able to find the solutions to the first 4 puzzles in these articles.

Above 1. Ruhlis, 1968. White to start and checkmate in 2 moves

Above 2. Zepler, 1930 White to move and checkmate in 3 moves

Above 3. Khavel, 1912. White to move and checkmate in 3 moves

Above 4. Vladimirov, 2005. White to move and checkmate in 4.

Above 5. Kosteniuk, 2009. White to move and make a draw.

Above 6. White to move and win.

I hope you will enjoy solving those puzzles. I will post the solutions to all puzzles before the end of February.

Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com