Nakhchivan Chess begins - Korobov, Zhukova Top Seeds

Hello everyone, a traditional chess event, the Nakhchivan Chess Open tournament has begun in Azerbaijan with Anton Korobov and Natalia Zhukova as top seeds in the open and women's section respectively.

The traditional open in Heydar Aliyev's memory started in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan on Sunday. There are six players with 2600+ rating among 54 participants: Korobov (2696), Khismatullin (2682), Mamedov (2660), Safarli (2656), Shimanov (2636), Smirnov (2626), Guseinov (2621), Korneev (2618). Natalia Zhukova is rating favourite in women's section.

The International Chess Festival Nakhchivan Open - 2014 held in memory of leader Heydar Aliyev will take place in Azerbaijan at the Nakchivan Chess Center from May 3 to May 13.

The Tournament will be held as the Swiss system (9 rounds). The rate of play will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting move one.

The tournament is open to players with an elo of 2250 and above though women player with a rating of 2100 and above are eligible to play.

Prizes:
1 place - 10000 $ 11 place - 600 $ 21 place - 300 $
2 place - 5000 $ 12 place - 500 $ 22 place - 300 $
3 place - 3000 $ 13 place - 400 $ 23 place - 200 $
4 place - 2000 $ 14 place - 400 $ 24 place - 200 $
5 place - 1500 $ 15 place - 400 $ 25 place - 200 $
6 place - 1200 $ 16 place - 350 $ 26 place - 150 $
7 place - 1000 $ 17 place - 350 $ 27 place - 150 $
8 place - 900 $ 18 place - 350 $ 28 place - 150 $
9 place - 800 $ 19 place - 300 $ 29 place - 150 $
10 place - 700 $ 20 place - 300 $ 30 place - 150 $
Prizes for the best 3 (three) players from Azerbaijan:
1 place - 2000 $ 2 place - 1000 $ 3 place - 500 $

Women's prizes:
1 place - 600 $ Valuable prize for the young player (under 18) who show the best result.

Tournament B
This section is for players rated below 2249.
Prizes
1 place - 1000 $ 6 place - 100 $
2 place - 500 $ 7 place - 100 $
3 place - 300 $ 8 place - 100 $
4 place - 150 $ 9 place - 75 $
5 place - 150 $ 10 place - 50 $

Between elo 1750-1999
Between elo 0-1749
200 $ 100 $
150 $ 75 $
100 $ 50 $

Prize for the best senior player :
1 place - 100 $

The best players from Nakhchivan

1 – st place - 300 $ 2 – nd place - 200 $ 3 – rd place - 100 $

Tournament C (children)
Children’s tournament age till 12 years.
Winners are awarded certificates and prizes.

Official website - www.azerichess.az

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

Khanty-Mansiysk Women's World Chess Championship Round 3: Socko, Galliamova, Zhukova Lose!

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

Hi everyone,

The Khanty-Mansiysk Women's World Chess Championship 2012 continued with its unpredictable streak in the third round that began on Saturday. The first games of the round were played with five of the eight games turning out to be decisive.

Results: Round 3, First Game
Alisa Galliamova - Marie Sebag 0-1
Mariya Muzychuk - Xue Zhao ½-½
Anna Ushenina - Natalija Pogonina 1-0
Lela Javakhishvili - Dronavalli Harika ½-½
Monika Socko - Antoaneta Stefanova 0-1
Qian Huang - Irina Krush 0-1
Tatiana Kosintseva - Nadezhda Kosintseva ½-½
Wenjun Ju - Natalia Zhukova 1-0

Monika Socko had knocked out reigning Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan in the previous round. She began Round  with a loss. Socko's 20th move was a blunder and she could not recover thereafter. Ironically, Natalia Zhukova who had knocked out top-rated player Humpy Koneru also lost. Alisa Galliamova, who had knocked out Valentina Gunina also lost. Replay the game in the Chess King applet in the extended post below.

In the position below, Socko plays 20.Qe3. Can you see the strong move from Black that eventually gave Stefanova her win as Black?

Read more »

Ukraine Women's National Chess R6- Anna Ushenina Leads

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

Hi everyone,

The Final of the 72nd Ukrainian Women Chess Championship is taking place from 24th September to 3rd October at the Students’ Palace of National University “Law Academy Yaroslav the Wise” in Kharkiv. Chessdom has the report after Round 6. The sole leader Anna Ushenina moved to the top after winning in the titanic fight (100 moves!) against Oksana Gritsayeva who was undefeated so far.

Gritsayeva had an exchange for the pawn and all the reasons to think about the victory, though Black’s position was full of defending resources. But around move 60 White rook got trapped and Black was already a pawn up.

Anna Ushenina

Read more »

Ukraine Women's Chess Championship Begins

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

Hi everyone,

The Final of the 72nd Ukrainian Women Chess Championship is taking place from 24th September to 3rd October at the Students’ Palace of National University “Law Academy Yaroslav the Wise” in Kharkiv. Ten players compete in the round robin event, forming the line-up for the strongest national Championship in the history.



Top seed Kateryna Lahno

There were two decisive games on the first day: Kateryna Dolzhykova lost to Tatiana Kononenko and Irina Andrenko lost to Anastasiya Rakhmangulova. The other three games were drawn, including one of the main encounters between top seeds Kateryna Lahno and Natalia Zhukova. The longest game of the round was played between Oksana Gritsayeva and Inna Gaponenko – 108 moves! White kept the advantage throughout the game, but on move 67 she made a mistake that allowed Black to save the game.

Results of round 1:
Lahno – Zhukova ½
Gritsayeva – Gaponenko ½
Andrenko – Rakhmangulova 0:1
Kononenko – Dolzhykova 1:0
Muzychuk – Ushenina ½


More information is available on the official website

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss
ChessQueenTV

Ukraine Women's Chess Championship 2012 Begins Sept 24 with Kateryna Lahno as Top Seed

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

Hi everyone,

 

The latest chess news is that the 72nd Ukrainian Women's Chess Championship will begin on September 24 and run up to October 2 with GM Kateryna Lahno as top seed. The players' line-up includes 10 players: 2006 Olympic champions Kateryna Lahno (Donetsk), Natalia Zhukova (Odessa), Anna Ushenina (Kharkiv), Inna Gaponenko (Herson); bronze medal winner of the World Chess Olympiad Maria Muzychuk (Stryi, Lviv), two-time bronze medal winner of European Club Cup Tatiana Kononenko (Kramatorsk, Donetsk region), Ukrainian Champion of 2011 Kateryna Dolzhykova (Kiev), winners of international and national tournaments Oksana Gritsayeva (Feodosia, Crimea), Anastasiya Rakhmangulova (Nikolaev) and Irina Andrenko (Kharkiv). (Right: Kateryna Lahno/www.chesspics.com: The #1 chess photo database.)

The rounds will be held daily from September 25 till October 2 from 15.00 till 20.00. The last round will be played at 11.00 on October 3rd. The closing ceremony and winners awarding will be on October 3rd at 18.00. Further information and live broadcast of games is available at ukrchess.org. Live broadcast with commentary by GM Valeriy Aveskulov would be available at: http://www.chesslaw.org.ua/72w/.

The venue of the chess tournament is Students’ Palace of National University “Law Academy Yaroslav the Wise” in Kharkiv. This is the strongest-ever national women's chess championship of Ukraine.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss
ChessQueenTV

 

Blitz Chess Women's World Championship: Congrats to Valentina Gunina, Natalia Zhukova, Anna Muzychuk for winning top 3 places

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


Hi everyone,

Valentina Gunina
of Russia - Women's World
Blitz Chess Champion

The women's world blitz chess championship has just concluded in Batumi, Georgia with Russia's Valentina Gunina virtually running away with the title. Gunina had cruised along in the just-concluded women's world rapid chess championship - that concluded a day ahead - but it seemed the European Women's Chess Champion had found her winning rhythm in the blitz section. Congratulations 


Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk was a trifle unlucky as she missed the medals' tally by just half a point. But, Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk's overall score is possibly the best in both blitz and rapid (news to be updated soon). Here are the full results of the Batumi Women's World Blitz Chess Championship 2012.


Final Ranking after 15 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	IM	Gunina Valentina	RUS	2530	13.0
2	GM	Zhukova Natalia	UKR	2442	10.5
3	GM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2598	10.5
4	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	RUS	2457	10.0
5	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2518	9.5
6	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2547	9.5
7	WGM	Ding Yixin	CHN	2353	9.5
8	GM	Lahno Kateryna	UKR	2546	9.0
9	GM	Chiburdanidze Maia	GEO	2500	9.0
10	WGM	Tan Zhongyi	CHN	2430	9.0
11	IM	Lomineishvili Maia	GEO	2366	9.0
12	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2410	9.0
13	IM	Ushenina Anna	UKR	2454	9.0
14	WGM	Batsiashvili Nino	GEO	2436	8.5
15	IM	Matnadze Ana	ESP	2446	8.5
16	IM	Khotenashvili Bela	GEO	2500	8.5
17	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2456	8.0
18	WGM	Cori T Deysi	PER	2386	8.0
19	GM	Zhao Xue	CHN	2549	8.0
20	GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2589	8.0
21	WIM	Mammadova Gulnar	AZE	2345	8.0
22	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	RUS	2447	8.0
23	WIM	Arabidze Meri	GEO	2351	8.0
24	WGM	Huang Qian	CHN	2417	7.5
25	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2491	7.5
26	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2478	7.5
27	IM	Krush Irina	USA	2457	7.5
28	WGM	Guo Qi	CHN	2360	7.5
29	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2426	7.0
30	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2456	7.0
31	IM	Purtseladze Maka	GEO	2348	7.0
32	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2508	7.0
33	IM	Gvetadze Sofio	GEO	2338	7.0
34	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	ARM	2449	7.0
35	WIM	Mikadze Miranda	GEO	2323	7.0
36	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2532	6.5
37		Wang Jue	CHN	2364	6.5
38	IM	Khukhashvili Sopiko	GEO	2414	6.5
39	GM	Socko Monika	POL	2484	6.0
40	GM	Danielian Elina	ARM	2484	6.0
41	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	RUS	2417	6.0
42	WGM	Charkhalashvili Inga	GEO	2334	6.0
43	GM	Zhu Chen	QAT	2491	6.0
44	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	GEO	2449	6.0
45	WIM	Janjghava Natia	GEO	2306	5.5
46	IM	Klinova Masha	ISR	2318	5.0
47	WIM	Umudova Nargiz	AZE	2231	4.0
48	IM	Gurieli Nino	GEO	2329	3.5
49	WIM	Bezgodova Svetlana	RUS	2120	3.5
50	GM	Gaprindashvili Nona	GEO	2356	3.5

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com