Power Chess Girl: Name her and her Chess Star Husband
Hello chess trivia lovers, here's a nice photo of a cool and strong woman chess player. Not only is she a killer Grandmaster herself, but along with her husband, makes one of the top power chess couples of the planet. Can you name her and her husband?
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Chess trivia, russia chess, ukraine chess, woman chess player
Ukraine declares Chess as Social Initiative of the Year at Annual Sports Event
Hello everyone,
The All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation "Chess for Children" was declared "Social Initiative of the Year" at the national award ceremony “Sport Stars – 2013” in Ukraine.
On the 6th of April 2014 the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace was celebrated for the first time in Ukraine. The Day was launched at the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 23rd of August 2013. To celebrate this day in April 2014 the Sport Committee of Ukraine organized festive ceremony “Sport Stars of the Year” for awarding the best sport personalities in 2013.
In the nomination “Social Initiative of the Year" the winner became the All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation "Chess for Children". The Founder and President of the Foundation WIM Olena Boytsun received an award and expressed confidence that the UCF “Chess for Children” together with the Sport Committee of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Chess Federation will continue to implement the projects of the charitable program in the future. Olena also empasized the great work for popularization of sport in Ukraine that is done by the President of the Sport Committee Ilya Shevlyak and his team.
Honorary guests of the ceremony were the President of the Sport Committee of Ukraine Ilya Shevlyak, the First Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Andrei Vyshnyak, the President of the National Paralympic Committee Valery Sushkevych, Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee Viktor Korzh, famous athletes and sport managers. The ceremony took place at the National Olympic Area in Kyiv.
The All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation “Chess for Children” was founded in Ukraine in November 2012 by WIM Olena Boytsun. The primary purpose of the Foundation activity is to discover the potential of every child through engaging children into a game of chess and to promote chess and healthy lifestyle in the society. In 2013 the Foundation ran 7 projects and implemented 20 events all over Ukraine.
The following projects can be outlined in particular:
The project “Chess Ukraine” supports establishing new chess clubs and schools all over Ukraine as well as providing consultations, chess equipment and literature etc. The cooperation with the regional centers in order to develop children chess in the regions is also part of the project activities. The greatest attention is attracted by a new modern chess club and chess school for children in Krivoy Rog. It was launched in 2013 with the support of the UCF "Chess for Children”. Currently, the school has more than 200 children. At the local art square near the club the highest in the world 5 meter tall chess marble piece is situated.
The “Chess Holiday” project suggests that the Foundation organizes entertaining festivals and events for popularization of chess in the community. For example, in July 2013 the Chess Day Celebration together with the Ukrainian Chess Federation and the Sport Committee of Ukraine took place. During the event young chess players had a chance to show their knowledge of the game of chess by solving quizzes and chess problems, playing blitz games and so on. All together in 2013 the Foundation “Chess for Children” organized 8 chess holidays in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog.
The project “Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov” is the private national annual award that was established by the Foundation in 2013 with the aim of supporting talented children aged between 10 to 15 years old, who show good results in both chess and school studies. In 2013 the Award was provided for the first time and the winner became Karina Skorobagatko (13 years, Kyiv). In total 38 applications from all over Ukraine was received. In order to announce the establishment of the Award named after Evgeniy Sozonov and to popularize chess in Ukraine in April 2013 the first female advanced chess match was played in Kyiv between the 12th Women World Champion GM Anna Ushenina and the President of the “Chess for Children” Foundation WIM Olena Boytsun. The match ended in a draw and attracted a lot of interest from the community and press.
The project “Chess Competitions” aims at organizing and supporting chess competitions among children in Ukraine as well as providing possibilities for participation in tournaments. In September 2013 in Dnipropetrovsk the chess tournament “Cup of the UCF “Chess for Children” took place. The event brought together 125 participants 14 year old and younger from all over Ukraine. The winners of the event as well as winners in many different categories received prizes and gifts from the Foundation, for example, tablets and e-books. In November 2013 96 players from Ukraine competed in the Ukrainian National Championship among children chess schools and clubs. The winning teams brought for their schools valuable gifts, including laptops and digital cameras.
The "Literary chess" project of the Foundation develops and distributes free books to children with the rules of the game of chess, made in an entertaining style, in order to engage children to play chess. In 2013 the Foundation took part at the Lviv Book Forum and the Frankfurter Book Exhibition with the presentation of the book “Babish Gilzi plays chess” by Olena Boytsun.
The Charitable program of the All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation for 2013-2015 can be found at http://chessforchildren.org or at the web-site of the Ukrainian Chess Federation http://ukrchess.org.ua (the English version of the program will follow during April 2014). (FIDE)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: chess for children, ukraine chess
Cool Chess Simul in Kiev Video to Celebrate Chess Day
'Highest' Chess Tournament: In Ukraine at 65 Metres
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
The Ukrainian website zaxid.net has reported that a chess tournament was played at 65 meters above sea level in the city of Lvov for the first time in the country. The event was help as the City Council helped celebrate Chess Day in Ukraine with a round-robin blitz tournament 'Chess on a Tower' with six Grandmasters from Lvov.
Yuri Vovk won the competition, Yaroslav Zherebukh finished second, Adrian Mikhalchishin took third. The winner received the Cup from the City Mayor.
"This is the highest Cup in Ukraine. I would like to thank the players for such a great initiative. Well done - you glorify Lvov with such a championship on the tower," the website quotes the mayor.
Oleksandr Sulypa - out of the prize-winning places. All photos by zaxid.net
The Day of chess was also celebrated by holding simuls and awarding the winners of junior competitions. (via www.chess-news.ru)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal chess blog
Don't miss Chess Queen™
Labels: lvov chess, ukraine chess, yuri vovk
Now, Chess Party in Ukraine but Not for Political Agenda by Fide President
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,
Interfax news agency has just reported that the head of Fide has announced the creation of the International Chess Party! Datelines Kiev, the report states that President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced the creation in Ukraine of a Chess Party, which does not set out to fight for power, and to unite thinking people and in future to become international.
"The purpose of my visit to Ukraine is opening a chess academy in the village of Klesov, Rovenska area. The second is to announce the creation of a Chess Party. There are democratic parties, communist parties, and now there will be a chess party. Why in Ukraine? Because I received proposal by Klesov, which will come in history not only of chess, but also of political thought. This party will be international. I would call it "chess party of the world," the head of FIDE said.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss
Labels: international chess party, kirsan ilyumzhinov, ukraine chess
Anton Korobov is Ukraine Chess Champion 2012
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,GM Anton Korobov has become the Ukraine Chess Champion for the second time. The 81st Ukrainian Chess Championship took place from 26th July to 7th August in the President Hotel in Kiev. Twelve players competed in the round robin tournament, according to the latest chess news via Chessdom.
Practically all the top national players, with exception of Vassily Ivanchuk, participated. Top seeded was the defending champion Ruslan Ponomariov. However, GM Anton Korobov, seeded in the lower half of the starting list, convincingly won the Championship with 8 points (5 wins, 6 draws), leaving the nearest followers a full point behind.
GM Andrei Volokitin, who finished on shared 2nd place, was leading in the middle stage of the tournament but a pair of defeats deprived him from claiming the title.
Final standings:
1. GM Korobov Anton 2683 – 8
2-3. GM Areshchenko Alexander 2691 and GM Volokitin Andrei 2704 – 7
4. GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2726 – 6
5-7. GM Fedorchuk Sergey A 2630, GM Efimenko Zahar 2694 and GM Moiseenko Alexander 2706 – 5.5
8. GM Eljanov Pavel 2693 – 5
9-10. GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2632 and GM Vovk Yuri 2584 – 4.5
11. GM Zubov Alexander 2621 – 4
12. GM Kuzubov Yuriy 2629 – 3.5
With the average elo of 2666 this was the strongest Championship ever in the history of independent Ukraine.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal blog at
Labels: anton korobov, ukraine chess
Friendly Chess Match on Between Ukraine, Poland
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The friendly chess match between Poland and Ukraine and The 4th International Grandmasters' Tournament - the Lublin Union Memorial - is taking place from May 23 to May 29 in Lublin, Poland. The tournament is played in double Scheveningen format, where each member of one federation plays twice against all members of the other team. One leg will be played with classical time control, the second leg will be in rapid.
Participants: 1 GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2695
2 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2679
3 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2666
4 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2665
5 GM Socko Bartosz POL 2647
6 GM Zherebukh Yaroslav UKR 2642
7 GM Fedorchuk Sergey A UKR 2634
8 GM Miton Kamil POL 2623
9 GM Macieja Bartlomiej POL 2605
10 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2565
After 3 rounds Ukraine lead 10-5.
Follow live games:
http://www.festiwal2012.szachy.lublin.pl/index.php/en/home.html
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: Lublin Union Chess Memorial, poland chess, ukraine chess
World's youngest chess grandmaster professionally committed to the sport
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011Hi everyone,Tata Steel Chess C group winners (3-1): Lahno, Nyzhnyk, Vocaturo.
The world's youngest grandmaster at present - Ilya Nyzhnyk of Ukraine - is committed to playing chess professionally. "I'm going to deal with chess professionally, that is, earn a living from it," said Nyzhnyk in an interview to sport.rbc.ua.Ilya Nyzhnyk also said, "I want to play for a country where there will be opportunities and prospects" though he is yet to receive an offer from any other federation. "I'm just answering the question," he clarified. "The problem is that in Ukraine chess players are left to themselves," said his coach GM Vladimir Baklan. In Ukraine, the tournaments are small and professional clubs very few and this problem is there not just for players but for all sportspersons. Here are some nice games that the young grandmaster played at the recently-concluded Tata Chess Super-GM Group C in Wijk aan Zee where he was second by barely half a point behind D. Vocatura.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.com Labels: chess blog, chess interview, Ilya Nyzhnyk, ukraine chess, youngest chess grandmaster
|
|
