Time to Observe New Things in Other Parts of Life: Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan has said winning the title against Anna Ushenina "was not as easy as people think!" In an interview with Anastasiya Karlovich for the official website, Hou Yifan also said there was so much else to "expand life" for her like her education, life and other interests. She hinted that she might not defend her title next year. Hou Yifan was also all praise for Ushenina even though she blanked out the latter with three wins and four draws.

The closing ceremony of the World Women’s Chess Championship 2013 match was held in the Taizhou Hotel in Taizhou, China on the morning of the 23rd of September.

The distinguished guests, among who were Continental President from Americas Jorge Vega, FIDE Vice President Mr. Nizar Ali Elhaj, FIDE official David Jarett, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, Mrs. Xiao Min, General Secretary of Chinese Chess Assosiation GM Ye Jiangchuan, Delegate & Vice General Secretary Mrs. Abigail TIAN, the organizers and sponsors from “China Medical center” congratulated the new World Champion Hou Yifan and former world champion Anna Ushenina.

Mrs. Xiao Min, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau officially сlosed the Women’s World Championship Match 2013.
Pictures from the closing ceremony.

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Hou Yifan is Women's World Chess Champion 2013

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

China's Hou Yifan has won the Women’s World Championship by beating Anna Ushenina of Ukraine in seven rounds with a score of 5.5 – 1,5.

The match was to consist of 10 games but Hou Yifan got the decisive 5,5 points in 7 games. In the last, seventh round, Anna Ushenina needed to draw or win to stay in the match, but the Chinese player got stable advantage after the opening and was accurate to not to give chances for her opponent. The closing ceremony will be held on the 23rd of September at 10 a.m. at the Taizhou Hotel. Replay the seventh and other games of the world chess championship 2013 with Chess King.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013: Hou Yifan beats Anna Ushenina again; Extends Lead by 3 Points

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Is this going to be a whitewash at the Women's World Chess Championship 2013? Hou Yifan has won her third game with Black against Anna Ushenina - the reigning Women's World Chess Champion. Yifan needs just one point to win the title she had first won as a 16-year-old. How possible is that Ushenina win at least three of the remaining four games just to stay in the match?

The position became very complex after the opening and as in the previous games Anna had time troubles before the first time control. Hou Yifan masterfully used her chance and went for a sharp continuation. Anna started to make mistakes and her position became lost. The World Champion made the 40th move on the board but lost on time. (Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich)

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Round 5: Hou Yifan draws, Keeps 2-Point Lead over Anna Ushenina

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The fifth game of the Women’s World Chess Championship Match ended in a draw. Challenger Hou Yifan of China had white pieces for the second time in a row and the game steered into the Keres Attack. Anna Ushenina managed to get a promising position, but missed her chances to fight for an advantage. Hou Yifan defended accurately and the game was drawn.


Challenger Hou Yifan continues to hold on to her two point lead in the championship. She has won two games of the five games played so far. All the other three games have been drawn. Official website http://taizhou2013.fide.com/.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Round 4: Hou Yifan holds on to 2-point Lead over Anna Ushenina

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The fourth game of the Women’s World Championship Match finished in a draw. Sicilian, Keres Attack appeared in the game and already after 14 moves the queens were traded. Former World Champion could have tried to create more problems for her opponent to solve but preferred playing without risk and the game finished in a draw after three-time repetition. Every draw brings the challenger closer to her goal, while the World Champion needs to start seeking victories to catch up with Hou Yifan.

After 4 games Hou Yifan is leading with 3 points. Anna Ushenina has 1 point.

On the 16th of September the players have a rest day. The match will continue on the 17th of September. Hou Yifan will have white pieces again. The measure of changing the colors after the fourth game has a goal to prevent the same player to have white pieces after each of the rest days throughout the match because this might give her an advantage in preparation. 

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Women's World Chess Championship Round 3: Hou Yifan Leads by Two Points

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Former Women's World Chess Champion, Hou Yifan appears to be heading for a one-sided victory as Challenger against reigning Women's World Chess Champion Anna Ushenina.

Hou Yifan won the third game of the Women’s World Championship Match on Saturday and is now two points ahead of Anna Ushenina. The event is being held in Taizhou, China. Although both opponents seemed well-prepared in the sharp line of Nimzo-Indian, Black’s 15...Rc8 forced World Champion to sink into deep thought. 

After 40 minutes Anna Ushenina came up with a dubious decision which turned out to be the start of her troubles. Hou Yifan didn’t miss her chance to fight for initiative, made few very precise decisions and after 24 moves the game was over. You can replay the game with Chess King.

Here is another nice chess video that we recall and you would enjoy watching for sure:

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Women's World Chess match Game 1: Anna Ushenina loses to Hou Yifan after Time Struggle

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone, 

The first game of the Women's World Chess Championship between Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan has been won by Black in China. Ushenina, playing White, managed to get a good position with white pieces in the first game, but her time management got her into serious trouble. 

The position was about equal when the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion lost track and let her opponent get in with a dangerous attack on the Kingside. The first game of the Match has finished after 41 moves. You can replay the full game with Chess King. But, before that, can you try and checkmate in three with Black from this position?

Anna Ushenina has just played 40.BxRd3. 
How did Hou Yifan win? Replay the game with Chess King.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Anna Ushenina vs Hou Yifan begins in Taizhou, China

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013  

Hi everyone, 

The opening ceremony of the Women's World Chess Championship 2013 between Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and Hou Yifan of China was held at the Taizhou Hotel. Xiao Min, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, declared the Women’s World Championship Match open. 

The drawing of the colour for the first game was the important moment of the ceremony. FIDE Vice President Mr. Chu Bo was offered to choose from two red boxes and found the name of Hou Yifan. That meant she was the one to choose from two other boxes which hid black and white queens inside. Hou Yifan got a black queen – this means that the World Champion Anna Ushenina will have white pieces in the first game.

Yang Junan, the President of Chinese Chess Association welcomed everybody to Taizhou and pointed out that Taizhou is a city with chess traditions. “Through years’ development, under the lead of government and chess association, chess in Taizhou is very popular and contributes a lot to the development of chess in China. Here also comes out many excellent chess players among whom Hou Yifan is the outstanding representative. I believe that this event held in Taizhou will further raise the reputation of Taizhou and promote chess in this city,” said Yang Junan.

FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov congratulated everybody with the start of the Match, expressed his gratitude to Ms. Xiao Min, the Vice president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, the Mayor of Taizhou city Mr. Xu Guoping, FIDE Vice-President Mr. Chu Bo, the President of Chinese Chess Association Mr.Yang Junan, for the attention which chess receives here.

After the opening ceremony the Women’s world champion Anna Ushenina, FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov and guests were invited for the excursion to impressive China Medical City.

In the evening the world champion Anna Ushenina and challenger Hou Yifan inspected the playing venue and checked the lighting. The Chief Arbiter Panagiotis Nikolopoulos drew the attention of the participants to time control, "zero tolerance" rule and the absence of any restrictions concerning draw offer. The members of the Appeals Committee Chairman Jorge Vega, David Jarett and FIDE Supervisor Ali Nihat Yazici were introduced to players.

The first game will start at 3 p.m. local time on 11th of September.

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FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship begins Sept 10 in China

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

Women’s World Chess Championship Match 2013 between the current World Champion Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and her challenger, Hou Yifan of China (former World Champion 2010-2012), is scheduled to start on September 10.

The drawing of colours will be conducted during the opening ceremony which will take place at 3 p.m. The player getting the white colour in game one plays game five with the black pieces). The time control is: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

The winner of the ten-game match is the first player to reach 5.5 points or more. If the scores are level after the regular ten games, after a new drawing of colours, four tie-break games will be played, with 25 minutes for each player and an increment of ten seconds after each move.

If the scores are level after the four rapid games, then, after a new drawing of colours, a match of two games will be played with a time control of five minutes plus three seconds' increment after each move. In case of a level score, another two-game match will be played to determine a winner. If there is still no winner after five such matches (i.e. after ten games), one sudden death game will be played. This involves a drawing of lots, the winner being able to choose the colour. The player with the white pieces receives five minutes, the player with the black pieces four minutes, with an increment of three seconds per move from move 61 on. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

The prize fund for this match is 200,000 Euros and will be split between the players as follows:
60% for the winner and 40% to the loser if the match ends within the 10 regular games. In case the winner is decided by tie-break games, she will receive 55% and loser 45%.

Anna Ushenina holds the title after the 2012 Women's World Chess Championship (knockout format) in Khanty-Mansiysk while Hou Yifan had a right to challenge her after she became first in the Grand Prix Series 2011-2012. 

Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan played their first game in 2006 during World Chess Olympiad (Turin, Italy) and the game ended in a draw. In 2007 another draw was signed during Russian team championship. Hou Yifan took the lead in their encounter in 2007-2008 when she won three games in a row. However, in the end of 2008 Anna Ushenina managed to outplay Chinese prodigy during the European Club Cup. Another draw in 2009 and the players stopped meeting over the board for the next 4 years, till 2013! Anna Ushenina defeated Hou Yifan with black pieces in their last encounter during Geneva Grand Prix.

Games between these two have been consistently hard-fought. Hou Yifan is one point ahead according to overall results. For her part, however, Anna Ushenina played 7 out of 8 games with Black and has victory in their last game at Geneva GP in 2013.

According to FIDE rating Hou Yifan (2609) holds the second position among women after Judit Polgar. Anna Ushenina (2500) is on 17th place.

The official hotel and playing venue: http://www.chunlanhotel.com/
The official website: taizhou2013.fide.com

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Anna Ushenina vs Hou Yifan: FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong to Inspect Venue Options

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong was appointed by the World Championship & Olympiad Commission to inspect the venue and facilities for the Women’s World Championship between World Champion Anna Ushenina and Grand Prix Winner Hou Yifan. The only bid came from Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, China.

On 26 & 27 April, Mr Leong visited three 4 & 5 hotels as the potential venues for the Match. All 3 choices offer excellent living conditions, variety of cuisine and high level tournament venue facilities. He held two long meetings with the highest ranking officials of the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Sports, the Chinese Chess Association and the Jiangsu Chess Association. After lengthy discussions, a general consensus was reached to have the Match held at the 5-star Taizhou Hotel where the players will also stay. The event is being sponsored by the China Medical City. 

Left to right: Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Sports Deputy Director Mr Wang Jian, Chief Director Mr Ge Zhihui, Deputy Director Mdm Fan Rong with Mr Leong. 

Not in the picture were Chinese Chess Association General Secretary GM Ye Jiangchuan, CCA Vice General Secretary Ms Abigail Tian, Jiangsu Province Chess Association Director IA Tang Jianming and the Chief Financial Director from Taizhou City.

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Women’s World Chess Championship Match 2013 Anna Ushenina - Hou Yifan in Taizhou, China September 10-27

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The Women’s World Championship Match 2013 between the reigning World Champion Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and her challenger Hou Yifan (China) will be organized by the FIDE and Chinese Chess Association on 10-27 September 2013, in the city of Taizhou, China. The winner of the FWWCM 2013 will be declared Women’s World Champion for the period 2013-2014. Hou Yifan, who already was World Champion on 2010-2012, qualified from the FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix 2011-2012.

The match will consist of 10 classical games and if necessary, tie-break games. The time control will be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

If the scores are level after the regular ten games, after a new drawing of colors, four tie-break games will be played. The starting time will be 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move. If the scores are level after the rapid games, then, after a new drawing of colors, a match of 2 games will be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. In case of a level score, another 2-game match will be played to determine a winner. If still there is no winner after 5 such matches (total 10 games), one sudden-death game will be played. The prize fund is at least 200,000 EUR net. As the match is being held in the country of one of the players, Anna Ushenina is entitled to receive 5% of the prize fund, after which the remaining sum will further be divided as 60% for the winner and 40% to the loser if the FWWCM ends within the 10 regular games. In case the winner is decided by tie-break games, the winner will receive 55% and the loser 45%. The official website will be fwwcm2013.fide.com, according to a Chessdom.com report.

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First Official Advanced Chess Match in Ukraine ends in Thrilling Draw

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Women's world chess champion Anna Ushenina

Here's an interesting chess report from Ukraine. Kyiv’s Radisson Blu hotel hosted the nation’s first officially sanctioned advanced, or computer-assisted, chess match on April 2 between reigning women’s chess champion Anna Ushenina and women’s international master Olena Boytsun, according to a report by Kyivpost.com. The match ended in a 40-move draw after Boytsun, playing white, held the initiative for most of the game that put Ushenina uncomfortably on the defensive in a sharp position that originated in the Slavic Defense.

Both players “teamed up” with computer chess programs to play a high-quality game, virtually blunder-free. No player could look at their opponent’s computers, however. The idea is to use a chess program to help evaluate candidate moves during the course of the game, but the human player ultimately decides which move to make and is always in control.

“Advanced chess is the synthesis of creative chess play and latest computer technology,” said Kirsan Ilyumzhinov via video link, president of FIDE, the world’s chess governing body.

Advanced chess was first introduced after then world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost a chess match in 1997 to IMB’s Deep Blue computer program.

In 1998, he played the world’s first advanced chess match against Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov in Spain. Both used the ChessBase information search program combined with the Fritz-5 chess program, that ended in a 3-3 draw.

Rated 2477, Ushenina became Ukraine’s first women’s chess champion after winning the title in December 2012 in Russia. She overcame Bulgarian Antoaneta Stefanova in a tie-breaker.

She also was an integral part of Ukraine’s gold medal-winning national chess team, which took top honors in March at the World Women’s Chess Olympiad held in Kazakhstan.

Boytsun is rated 2264, and is a recognized economist and founder of the Chess for Children charity in Dnipropetrovsk.

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Top Chess Stars in Women's World Team Event March 2 in Astana: Alexandra Kosteniuk to Lead Russian Challenge

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

The Women’s World Chess Team Championship will take place from 2nd-12th March at the Duma Hotel in Astana, Kazakhstan. The best teams of the world will participate in the Championship.

Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk - the 12th Women's World Chess Champion - will lead the Russian challenge. The Russian team also includes Valentina Gunina, Natalija Pogonina, Alisa Galliamova, Olga Girya with Sergey Rublevsky as the captain.

Astana can easily boast of gathering at least 50 of the best women chess players from 10 countries (China, Russia, Ukraine, USA, India, France, Turkey, Georgia, Romania and Kazakhstan): Among them are the three teams that were ranked as the best at the World Chess Olympiad, five continental champions, the country-organizer and one team elected by the FIDE President.

Every team consists of five players and the team-winner will be determined in a round-robin event after 9 games. Time control is 90 minutes per 40 moves and thirty minutes until the end of the game plus 30 seconds increment per move.

 

The Chinese team has won all the championships in the past. Reigning women's world chess champion Anna Ushenina will also be playing for play for Ukraine and it will be her first official event since she won the world title.

The top-seed of the tournament will be the Georgian team.

Teams:
1. Georgia FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 13601903 Dzagnidze, Nana 2555
2 13602640 Khotenashvili, Bela 2499
3 13601458 Javakhishvili, Lela 2461
4 13600320 Khurtsidze, Nino 2437 2488.0
5 13602446 Melia, Salome 2403
6 Captain Gurieli, Nino

2. Russia FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 4128125 Kosteniuk Alexandra 2495
2 4167570 Gunina Valentina 2490
3 4147855 Pogonina Natalija 2475
4 4129752 Galliamova Alisa 2459 2479.8
5 4195752 Girya Olga 2441
6 Captain Rublevsky Sergey

3. Ukraine FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 1411091 Ushenina, Anna 2477
2 14109336 Lahno, Kateryna 2547
3 14114550 Muzychuk, Mariya 2471
4 14101181 Yanovska (Gaponenko), Inna 2405 2475.0
5 14101513 Zhukova, Natalia 2471
6 Captain Brodsky, Michail

4. China FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 8603006 Ju Wenjun 2505
2 8602689 Huang Qian 2478
3 8603642 Tan Zhongyi 2466
4 8604002 Guo Qi 2431 2470.0
5 8603162 Shen Yang 2415
6 Captain Ye Jiangchuan

5. USA FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 14101572 Anna Zatonskykh 2491
2 2012782 Irina Krush 2460
3 13301918 Tatev Abrahamyan 2300
4 1212915 Sabina Foisor 2313 2391.0
5 11602252 Viktorija Ni 2263
6 Captain Michael Khodarkovsky

6. Romania FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 1200496 Foisor Cristina Adela 2389
2 1201590 Cosma Elena Luminita 2332
3 13903063 Bulmaga Irina 2355
4 1210246 Lami Alina 2362 2359.5
5 1206729 Voicu Jagodzinsky 2281
6 Captain Szabo Gergely Andras Gyula

7. India FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 5013623 Gomes Mary Ann 2394
2 5012600 Karavade Eesha Sanjay 2391
3 5004330 Mohota Nisha/H 2327
4 5029295 Rout Padmini/H 2307 2354.8
5 5016193 Swaminathan Soumya 2291
6 Captain Sahu Sekhar Chandra

8. France FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 623725 Sophie Milliet 2408
2 13601717 Nino Maisurasze 2331
3 2902265 Silvia Collas 2286
4 11600209 Anda Safranska 2322 2336.8
5 642002 Natacha Benmesbah 2266
6 Captain Pavel Tregubov

9. Kazakhstan FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 13704788 Nakhbayeva Guliskhan 2353
2 13700090 Saduakassova Dinara 2301
3 13703595 Davletbayeva Madina 2272
4 13702971 Dauletova Gulmira 2265 2297.8
5 13703544 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2184
6 Captain Kotsur Pavel

10. Turkey FIDE ID Full name Rating Avg
1 6302920 Yildiz, Betul Cemre 2368
2 6302599 Ozturk, Kubra 2281
3 6325670 Cemhan, Kardelen 2025
4 6300278 Sop, Selen 2028 2175.5
5 6306411 Kaya, Emel 1995
6 Captain Mihalcisin, Adrian

Official website

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Women's World Chess Champion 2012 Anna Ushenina Felicitated

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

Hi everyone,

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych congratulated Anna Ushenina on winning the Women’s World Chess Championship 2012 and awarded her with the Order of Princess Olga. “It is a pleasure that such a great person was born in Ukraine. I hope this award is not your last,” the President said.

According to the Head of State, the victory of Anna Ushenina was a special one. The athlete is not only the 14th world chess champion, but also the first Ukrainian who has won this title since Independence of Ukraine.

President of Ukraine awards Order of Princess Olga to world chess champion Anna Ushenina

The meeting was also attended by President of the International Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Head of the Youth and Sports State Office Ravil Safiullin.

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NY Times Chess Roundup 2012

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

Hi everyone,

Here is the very nice New York Times Chess Roundup for 2012. Aptly titled "A Veteran Hangs on to His Title, but a Young Champion Is Dethroned" by DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN, the articles covers it all with an interesting insight: A changing of the guard was anticipated in the top ranks this year. It was the men’s champion, now 43, whom many thought to be vulnerable. But it was the teenage women’s champion who was dethroned.

The men’s titleholder, Viswanathan Anand of India, successfully defended the championship in May in a grueling match against Boris Gelfand, an Israeli grandmaster. Still, there are signs that Anand’s time at the top is coming to an end. Magnus Carlsen, 22, is now the world’s top-ranked player, and he will have a record high rating when the next rankings are released on Tuesday.

On the women’s side, Hou Yifan — who became the youngest world champion when she won the title in 2010 at 16 — failed to defend her crown in November. Hou was eliminated in the second round of a championship tournament, and Anna Ushenina of Ukraine became one of the unlikeliest champions in history, with a ranking of just No. 37.

But by winning the Women’s Grand Prix, Hou did place herself in contention to recapture the title next year against Ushenina. The two games, the New York Times, pegs as the games of the year are: Viswanathan Anand beating Boris Gelfand in the eighth game of the World Chess Championship 2012 after having lost the previous game and Fabiano Caruana failing to save his game against Levon Aronian at the Tata Steel Chess.

The article also discusses several other interesting aspects of the chess world in 2012. You can read the full article here.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013: Fide Releases Details of Bidding Procedure

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

Hi everyone,

 

BIDDING PROCEDURE FOR THE FIDE WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH 2013

1. The FIDE Presidential Board decided to open a bidding procedure for the FIDE World Women’s Championship Match 2013 between the current World Champion Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and challenger Hou Yifan (China).

2. Each bid shall contain the following particulars as minimum:

a) Acceptance of exact dates for the event between 10 to 28 September 2013.
b) Proposed venue of the event.
c) Proposed prize fund for the players (minimum 200,000 euros & should be offered net of any applicable local taxes).
d) The contribution to FIDE (net of any applicable local taxes and not less than 20% of the prize money) as stipulated in Article 13.2 as well as the financial obligations stated in Article 14 of the Rules & Regulations of the World Women’s Championship Match 2013.
e) Commitment to cover all the other financial obligations to FIDE, in accordance with the Rules & Regulations of the World Women’s Championship Match 2013.
f) Commitment to cover all organizational costs, in accordance with the match regulations.
g) Category of official hotel (minimum 4- stars), and name if possible, with special room rates for visitors (including meals).
h) A statement that the applicant accepts the regulations of the match without any reservations.
i) An invitation for 2 (two) members of the FIDE Commission for World Chess Championships and Olympiads to inspect the proposed venue and examine the other conditions, with all travel/hotel expenses paid by the bidder.
j) The applicant's name, signatures and authentication.

3. In order for a proposed bid to be considered, it should be accompanied by a 6-month term bank guarantee covering the amount of prize fund (minimum 200,000 euros), the FIDE contribution (20% over and above the prize fund), 5% for the WCOC budget, 5% for the commercial rights (not including live broadcast) and 32,500 euros covering stipends of Principals as described in article 14.5 of the match regulations. This guarantee should be of irrevocable form and from a bank that FIDE bankers, UBS of Switzerland, are able to confirm as acceptable.

Alternatively to the above paragraph, a bidder can deposit in FIDE’s bank account the amount of 100,000 euros by the deadline of 29 March 2013, refundable if the bid is rejected, and the remaining payments will be finalized in the signed contract between FIDE and the organizer(s).

4. A bid is considered valid if it is accompanied with a non-refundable Bid Fee of 1,000 euros payable to FIDE.

5. No bidder can propose a sponsor which shall be in conflict with the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

6. Τhe commercial agency of FIDE (CNC) reserves all rights for the live transmissions of the event and its games. The organiser of the event can have its own website and if the organiser wishes to implement the live transmission of the games, CNC must be consulted beforehand.

7. The bids, including all original documents and particulars, shall arrive by registered post to the FIDE Secretariat, post address: 9 Syggrou Ave., 11743 Athens - Greece. The bidding process will close on 29 March 2013, 13:00 GMT.

8. When the deadline has expired, the FIDE President or his representative shall open the received envelopes in order to assess the bids. FIDE will announce the results within 20 days after the deadline. After the organizer has been selected, FIDE and the organizer shall sign a contract covering the organization of the FWWCM, the terms of payments and all other financial and technical requirements.

9. FIDE reserves the right to accept a bid based on the evaluation of all criteria under article 2 of the present bidding procedure and not only that of the prize fund. FIDE also reserves the right not to award any bid at all, however favourable it might be.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

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Caissa Chess Awards in Moscow: Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is Media Person of the Year 2012!

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

Hi everyone,

Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk has been declared 'Media Person of the Year 2012' at the Caissa Awards Night in Moscow on December 17. As you know, GM Kosteniuk is in Beijing right now to complete her tournaments at the Sport Accord World Mind Games 2012, where she has already won the Gold Medal in the Blitz event just on December 17. So, you can expect more details on the Caissa Award later on her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com. (Photo: Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk with the women's Gold medal and GM Sergey Karjakin - also of Russia - with the men's gold medal in the Sport Accord Blitz.) 

The 12th Women's World Chess Champion is an extremely Internet-savvy Grandmaster with a verified Twitter account, host of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LiveJournal accounts. Her Chess Blog has been voted best blog in the USA. She is regular at staying in touch with fans and promotes chess around the world with the latest chess news, views, and chess-learning tips. Her summary RSS page with links to all the accounts are at kosteniuk.com: Follow them all for the latest in chess news and World Champion's chess views/training!

The Caissa Chess Awards Night was held at the Central House of Literature in Moscow. The tradition was renewed after a long break in April of this year thanks to the charity Our Heritage Fund, with special thanks to Vladimir Palikhata, businessman and president of the Moscow Chess Federation, and Victoria Korol, president of the fund.

The Award was given to 16 individuals. The splendid glass statues of the Chess Goddess Caissa were given not only to famous chess players, but also to politicians, businessmen and journalists who ensured chess has a place of honour in the life of the Russian capital.

“The Central House of Literature has a long history, a part of which is the tradition of regular chess nights. Last time we opened the intellectual game hall, which is now in use. Our Caissa Award is a sign of gratitude to people who have made substantial contributions for chess, for its development and popularisation, said Vladimir Palikhata in his opening address.

“Chess development is an integral part of our fund’s efforts which we accomplish jointly with the Moscow Chess federation and the Russian and international chess federations. This evening is devoted to the first Caissa Award ceremony for contribution to the development of this wise game in our capital. This ceremony will be annual and we hope the most prestigious in the world of chess,” said Victoria Korol, president of Our Heritage Fund.

Eminent guests on the occasion included FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian Federation First Deputy Prime Minister Arcady Dvorkovich, Russian Federation Parliament First Vice Speaker Alexander Zhukov, the First President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, and other famous politicians, businessmen, athletes, members from intellectual circles and the media.

Sergey Karjakin, who has this year won the World Rapid Chess Championships, was recognised as the best chess player of 2012. Valentina Gunina, playing for the Russian National Team helping them take two Olympiad championships as well as winning European Individual Chess Championship titles and the World Blitz Chess Championship, was recognized as the best female chess player of the year.

Hosts Margarita Mitrofanova and Mark Glukhovsky granted awards to former multiple World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov, distinguished Grandmaster and 12-time Moscow Champion Evgeni Vasiukov, Russian Federation First Deputy Prime Minister Arcady Dvorkovich, Russian Federation Duma First Vice Speaker Alexander Zhukov, Moskomsport First Vice President Nikolay Gulyayev, businessman Andrey Filatov. Awards were also given to the company Rosneft and its president Igor Sechin and Businessman Gennady Timchenko.

A special guest of the event was the new Women’s Chess Champion Anna Ushenina. She also was presented a Caissa for Brightest Foreign Chess Player. The statue was handed to the champion by none other than the former USSR president, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. “It’s really nice winning an award like this,” said Ushenina. 

“I would like to thank all those who are selflessly and faithfully supporting the development of chess in Moscow and throughout Russia. It’s just fantastic. It was thanks to the Russian school of chess that there was a nudge of development for the whole chess world. And it’s doubly nice that it is under continued support and development at the governmental level.”

In the course of the evening Anna played two “pair versus pair” games against the Russian Valentina Gunina, European champion. In the first game Ushenina’s partner was Vladimir Palikhata, with Alexander Zhukov playing for Valentina. For the second game, Palikhata joined Gunina against Ushenina and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of FIDE. The moves were split between the teammates by turns, played in blitz format. The first game ended in a win for Gunina-Zhukov, the second was drawn.

Also of interest was a collection of chess and other cultural rarities open for viewing in the Our Heritage Gallery.

Annual Caissa Chess Award Recipients

1. Best Chess Player – Sergey Karjakin
2. Best Female Chess Player – Valentina Gunina
3. Best Journalist – the Kommersant, Alexey Dospekhov
4. Best Chess Journalist – Sergey and Marina Makarychev
5. Contribution to the Development and Promotion of Chess in Moscow and Worldwide – Anatoly Karpov
6. Mediaperson of the Year – Alexandra Kosteniuk
7. Best New Talent – Yuri Eliseev (World Champion under 16)
8. Partner of the Year – Moskomsport
9. Best Use of Chess Images in the Press – RBC Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Anton Popov
10. Chess Dynasty – Vladimir Yakovlevich Dvorkovich (posthumously), Galina Lvovna Dvorkovich, Arkady Dvorkovich
11. Greatest Contribution to Education of Future Generation – Company Rosneft and its President Igor Sechin
12. Development of “Chess Parliamentarism” – Alexander Zhukov
13. Best Television Coverage of Chess in the Capital – Moscow 24
14. Special Award “Our Heritage” – Evgeny Vasyukov
15. Event of the Year in Moscow – World Championship Match Anand – Gelfand sponsors – Andrey Filatov, Gennady Timchenko
16. Brightest Foreign Chess Player – Anna Ushenina

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

Don't miss Chess Queen™  

YouTube Channel

Congratulations to Anna Ushenina - Women's World Chess Champion 2012

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

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to Anna Ushenina for winning the Women's World Chess Championship 2012. She won the second game of the tiebreak played in Khanty Mansiysk to take the title. The first game of the tiebreak was drawn. Ushenina was rated only 30 in the 64-player knockout tournament. Stefanova made Ushenina struggle right down to the rope in a Rook and pawn endgame. But, Ushenina had two connected passers and there was no blundering away the endgame. Stand by for more updates. Join the final press conference live at the official website. 

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 World Chess Championship 2012 Final Game 4: Stefanova Wins Back, Levels Score; Tiebreaks on Dec 1

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

Hi everyone,

Former Women's World Chess Champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria struck back and levelled the score against Anna Ushenina of Ukraine in the fourth game of the final in Khanty Mansiysk on Friday. The return victory by the Bulgarian not only ensured that she would remain in the match but would also force a tiebreak that is to be played on Saturday, December 1.

The tiebreaks begin with two rapid games: 25 minutes plus 10 second per move for each player. If the score is level, they will continue with two quicker games: 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If the winner is still not determined, the players will proceed to blitz games: 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move. Finally, is the score remains equal, the Armageddon game steps up: White has 5 minutes, Black has 4 minutes, 3 seconds per move are added starting with the move 61, and a draw counts as a victory for Black.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel