Women's World Chess Championship 2012 Final Game 1: Ushenina Escapes Stefanova with Draw in Time Dash

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

Hi everyone,

The first game of the final match for the Women's World Chess Championship 2012 in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, was played on Tuesday between Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.

The Ukrainian had White. In a well-known opening variation White had certain initiative, but Black’s position was very solid. After the game Anna Ushenina said that she expected this opening, although her opponent does not use it often. After the opening Stefanova offered a draw, but Ushenina declined and, as she confessed at the press-conference, over-reacted, weakening her king too much. Soon Black won a pawn and got excellent winning chances. However, Stefanova, being under time pressure, made a mistake on the 31st move, moving the f-pawn and weakening her king as well. White activated her queen and rook, and within the next few moves Black’s advantage evaporated. In five more moves the players agreed to a draw. You can watch the game with Chess King.

The second game is being played on Wednesday with Stefanova having White. This is a best-of-four match. If the score after four games is 2-2, the players continue on tie-break. The tie-breaks begin with two rapid games: 25 minutes plus 10 second per move for each player. If the score is 1-1, 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.

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Khanty Mansiysk Chess Club builder wins award!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

We're sure this one's not just for architecture. There is that love for chess that overwhelmed this builder's instincts! Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat has been awarded the prestigious Russian Best Building Award for his 'Chess-club building' in Khanty–Mansiysk. Directly after completion the 5,000-m² Chess-club building in Khanty-Mansiysk hosted the 2010 Chess Olympics.

 Erick van Egeraat worked closely with the municipality of Khanty-Mansiysk and its main benefactor Gazprom in realising this extraordinary building. He compared the Chess Club's sleek, but slightly distorted appearance with the physics of a chess player: motionless on the outside, but with great internal struggle to beat the opponent. This contrast is emphasized by the 'cool' metallic facade and the 'warm' predominantly wooden interior.

Best Building Awards is an open public competition in construction and architecture. The prize is awarded annually to the best projects of architecture, made by professional architects and developers and builders. The architect at this moment is working on the new Sberbank University and the new Dinamo Moscow Stadium.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com