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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Sunday, December 15, 2013
SportAccord World Mind Games Chess Blitz: Gunina, Aronian Lead on Day 1
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Blitz Chess events began at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2013 in Beijing on Saturday. This category has a different format, whereby players will face-off two times and only have 3 minutes (+2 seconds added after every move) for an entire game.
Valentina Gunina from Russia was leading after 10 rounds with 8 points. She showed great play with excellent decision making. Right behind is Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia and Yifan Hou (reigning women's world chess champion) from China.
In the Men's Blitz category, Levon Aronian from Armenia was leading with 8.5 points. Right behind the leader was Current World Blitz Chess Champion, Le Quang from Vietnam.
Chess Grandmaster Bartek Heberla teaches a young chess club member)
On a day where no school visit took place, the students of the Faming Mountain Chess Club visited the competition venue. Chess Grandmasters Bartek Heberla and Pieter Heine Nielsen welcomed the 15 students of the Chess Club at the spectator area of the Beijing International Convention Center. This time around, the Grandmasters were the ones getting taught by 5-10 year olds!
Sport Accord World Mind Games Chess 2013: Wang Yue, Valentina Gunina win Chess Rapid (men and women's) Event
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Congratulations to Wang Yue of China and Valentina Gunina of Russia for winning the Rapid Chess events (in the men and women's categories) at the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing. The champions were crowned after two days of exciting rapid chess. In the women's section, reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan was second and Ju Wenjun was third. In the men's section, Peter Leko was second and Alexander Grischuk was third.
Meanwhile, special school visits have also been arranged at the event to encourage students and give children an educative cultural experience. The SportAccord school visits included a group of young students visiting the World Mind Games venue, while SportAccord President, Mr. Marius L. Vizer and World Bridge Federation President, Mr. Giovanni Arrigo Rona attended the Number 5 Beijing High School.
Russian Women's Chess Championship 2013: Valentina Gunina is Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk Vice-Champion
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
In an exciting finish at the Russian Women's Chess Superfinal today, GM Valentina Gunina drew with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk to become the Russian Women's Chess Champion 2013. Kosteniuk ended just half-point behind the winner and is the Women's Vice-Champion of Russia 2013. Gunina and Kosteniuk went into the last round with only half point as a difference. While Gunina needed to draw to win the title, Kosteniuk needed a win. In fact, the 12th Women's World Chess Champion got out of the opening with a winning edge but, the hard-fought game drifted into a draw eventually.
Valentina Gunina and Alexandra Kosteniuk very much set the pace of the tournament ahead of the rest of the field which was bunched together a full point away. The final results had Valentina Gunina at 7 points, Alexandra Kosteniuk at 6.5 points, Natalia Pogonina at 5.5 points. At fourth-sixth place were Aleksandra Goryachkina, Baira Kovanova and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya at 4.5 points each. Seventh and eighth were Tatiana Kosintseva and Anastasia Bodnaruk with 3.5 points. The last two places went to Alina Kashlinskaya at 3 points and Daria Charochkina with 2.5 points. You can find games and detailed tournament updates at the official website of the Russian Chess Federation. (The men's section has gone into a tiebreak between Peter Svidler and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Stay tuned for updates.)
The tournament was organised by the Russian Chess Federation in cooperation with the Charity Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko with support from the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Continuing with the tradition of 'Chess in the museums' begun by hosting the Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship 2012 at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on the initiative of businessmen Andrei Filatov and Gennady Timchenko, the Russian Superfinal The venue for the prestigious tournament in Nizhny Novgorod will be the State Historical and Architectural Museum Manor Rukavishnikov. The Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum also took part in the organization of the tournament.
European Women's Chess Championship 2013 Begins in Belgrade
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
The European Women's Chess Championship 2013 is running in Belgrade, Serbia from July 22-August 4 with Valentina Gunina of Russia as the defending champion.
The European Individual Women’s Championship was held for the first time in 2000, in Batumi, Georgia, city famous for many important chess events, as a 32-player knockout event. That year Natalia Zhukova defeated Ekatarina Kovalevskaya in the final with the result 2.5-1.5. Since 2001 the Tournament has had a Swiss system format, and apart from a short switch to a 12-round schedule in 2004-2005, was played with 11-round schedule. Three players won 2 crowns: Pia Cramling (2003 and 2010), Katerina Lahno (2005 and 2008) and Tatiana Kosintseva (2007 and 2009), and all three confirmed arrival in Belgrade.
The list of European Women’s Chess Champions is as follows:
Russian Team Chess Championships 2013 Begin April 6 with Top Chess Stars
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Russian Team Chess Championships will take place from April 6th-14th at the village of Loo in the Krasnodar-Krai region of Russia. The men’s tournament will be a 7-round Swiss open, while the women’s competition will be a single round-robin with six teams. The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes until the end of the game and 30 seconds increments per move, starting from move one.
Sergey Karjakin will be the highest-rated player in the event The players cannot agree to a draw before move 40. The first seven seeded teams have line-ups with 8 GMs. Some of the strongest players in the world will be participating, including Candidates Peter Svidler, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk.
Other highlights will be the young stars Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin, the always interesting Alexander Morozevich, crowds pleasers Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexei Shirov, among others. Full line-ups below (according to a Chessdom report).
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
Sensational Chess Results in Khanty-Mansiysk: All Top Stars Hou, Kosteniuk, Koneru, Gunina, Lahno, Muzychuk Knocked out from World Championship 2012
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
Polish Grandmaster Monika Socko has knocked out Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan of China in the second round in Khanty Mansiysk. The Polish grandmaster told journalists about her victory against the World Champion: It certainly wasn’t easy. I expected a different line of the Sicilian, but Hou Yifan decided to play 6.Bb5, after which we both were out of book. The last moves I remembered were 5…Nc6 and 6…Nd7. I think 8.b3 is already a bit passive. Maybe she started to play for a draw, which is not always a good idea. My plan was very simple, and soon I had a bishop pair in an open position as well as a strong d-pawn.
Q: Hou Yifan usually plays quite actively. Did you feel her hesitation during this game? Maybe she started to play for a draw indeed, and such attitude was the main reason of her defeat?
– I was also surprised to see her playing like this. Maybe she simply did not expect the Sicilian and prepared for the French. I wasn’t sure about my opening choice until the very end, but fortunately made the right decision.This is my first victory against the World Champion in a classical game. Before that I could only beat her in rapid chess, and in classical chess I made two draws and lost a few times.
Players proceeding to Round 3 include: Monika Socko, Antoaneta Stefanova, Marie Sebag, Valentina Gunina, Nino Khurtsidze, Lela Javakashvili, Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Natalia Pogonina, Anna Ushenina, Huang Qian, Irina Krush, Ju Wenjun and Natalia Zhukova. It's just one of the most shocking World Chess Championship result to have all the top stars eliminated from Hou Yifan, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lahno, Humpy Koneru and Valentina Gunina. 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 Participants Announced
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
FIDE has announced the list of players who have confirmed their participation for the Women's World Chess Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk to take place from November 9-December 3, 2012. Meanwhile, one of our all-timefavourite chess videos!
Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012: First Interview with Women's Champions - The Russian Team
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here are excerpts from the first interview the Russian team gave after winning the gold at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul recently. The interview was conducted as a press conference and is also available on the official website of the chess olympiad.
Hopefully, you haven't missed the following links, all the Chess Blog reports and Chess King game posts about the Istanbul Chess Olympiad.
Video of the Russian team singing their national anthem
Interview with the Russian team and their head coach
Karlovich: Dear ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely happy to congratulate the Russian women's chess team as these ladies have won the gold medals here in Istanbul. They have proved that they are the strongest in the world. My first question is, whether you really hoped to make it, guys? Rublevsky: We did. However to make this true we prepared a special opening variation, tried hard and simply played well to get the result.
Karlovich: What was the most decisive moment in the Olympiad for the Russian team?Kosteniuk: Perhaps it was the moment that started with a draw against Poland – we felt that there are three draws in a row and we simply need to do something. Than we managed to pull ourselves together and started winning again.
Karlovich: You are now two times Olympiad winners. What do you think of it? Gunina: We are proud, but indeed there is a big difference between these 2010 and 2012 Olympiads. In Khanty-Mansiysk we won 11 matches in a row – and there was nothing to be sorry about. However the real team is made only through defeats, when you have to overcome the obstacles and difficulties. This time we had hard times but we managed to do well. I am proud of what we have done. Kosteniuk: The trainers did their job well – and we are winners also because of their hard struggle to make us win these matches. Karlovich: What about the team composition, how do you feel about it? Najer: We are a very stable and firm team. Of course there are strong teams but none is such a balanced team as ours. We are really strong! Kosteniuk: Comparing with the other Olympiad in 2010 Alisa Galliamova was replaced by Natalija Pogonina but that is a normal situation – we still remain to be a team which keeps its spirit and strength.
Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012: Grab Free Phone Apps; Russian Girls Head for Title Defense!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Just some more hours to go before the start of the mega event of the chess world - the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 (Aug 27-Sept 10). You can access the official website of the event at this link. Chess Blog will keep you updated with the exciting developments in the coming days.
For now, here are the iPhone and Android apps for your smartphones to help you enjoy the chess Olympiad on the go. The Android application: “World Chess Olympiad 2012” developed for 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, is available in Google Play Store. Use search or the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kocakcan.chessOlympiad
Don't forget, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk, along with her Russian women's team, will be defending the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad title. Click on the photo to read the special Chess Blog post. (One change, Alisa Galliamova replaced by Natalija Pogonina.)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The super-strong Russian Chess Championships - the Superfinal - for men and women - begins at the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel in Moscow on August 3. Both events will be 10-player round robin tournaments. Technically speaking, it's the strongest national chess championship on the planet.
Top seed Sergey Karjakin
Men’s tournament: Sergey Karjakin (2785), World Rapid chess champion Alexander Grischuk (2763), World Blitz chess champion Peter Svidler (2749), Champion of Russia and World Cup 2011 winner Dmitry Jakovenko (2722), reigning European champion Nikita Vitiugov (2705), winner of the World Team Championship 2010 Evgeny Alekseev (2673), Russian champion in 2006 Vladimir Potkin (2651), 2011 European champion Dmitry Andreikin (2715), 2010 World Junior champion Sanan Sjugirov (2635) Daniil Dubov (2594)
Women’s tournament: Valentina Gunina (2507), Russian and European champion, European and World blitz champion Tatiana Kosintseva (2530), twice European and three-times Russian champion Nadezhda Kosintseva (2524), Russian champion in 2008 Alisa Galliamova (2465), three-times Russian champion Natalia Pogonina (2448), European team champion 2011 with Russia Olga Girya (2433) Evgenia Ovod (2419) Kovanova Baira (2408), winner of the Russian Higher League 2012 Daria Charochkina (2353) Ekaterina Ubiennykh (2367)
The prize fund in the men’s tournament is 3,85 million RUB (approx 97.000 EUR). The winner will earn approx. 25.100 EUR. The prize fund in the women’s tournament is about 37.700 EUR. The winner will be awarded with approx. 10.000 EUR.
Camera in Russian Chess Girls' 'Locker Room'! (More Photos' Link Updated)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
That's the Russian team for the Russia vs China special chess match beginning on July 1 in St Petersburg. Can you name all of them - the chess girls and their head coach?
The Russian men's and women's chess teams are all set for the special Russia versus China chess match from July 1-9, 2012 in St Petersburg, Russia.
This is a traditional chess team match between the two countries that has been taking place from 2001 in every year of the Chess Olympiad. The 2012 team chess match will be a practice friendly between both the men's and women's chess teams of both the countries before the Istanbul Chess Olympiad.
Each team will consist of six people – 5 players and 1 captain.
The tournament format is each plays each (Scheveningen), total 5 rounds of classical chess from the 2nd to 6th of July, additional two rounds of rapid chess will be played on the 7th and 8th.
Men's chess teams
Russia Evgeny Tomashevsky (2738) Dmitry Jakovenko (2736) Ian Nepomniachtchi (2716) Nikita Vitiugov (2703) Maxim Matlakov (2668)
China Wang Hao (2738) Li Chao B (2703) Wang Yue (2690) Ding Liren (2679) Yu Yangui (2626)
Women's chess teams
Russia Valentina Gunina (2530) Alexandra Kosteniuk (2457) Natalia Pogonina (2447) Olga Girya (2414) Baira Kovanova (2391)
China Zhao Xue (2549) Ju Wenjun (2529) Shen Yang (2419) Huang Qian (2417) Ding Yixin (2353)
Lots of more photos of the Russian women's team having fun in the beautiful sunshine of Peterhof park now at www.chessqueen.com.
Felicitations! Chess Queen Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina Congratulated at Special Function in Moscow (Updated)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulating Valentina Gunina and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk.
We have exciting news to share. Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina were honoured in Moscow at a special felicitation ceremony attended by officials, players, journalists, and distinguished guests. As you know, recently, GM Kosteniuk had picked up a Silver Medal at the World Women's Rapid Chess Championshipand (a very close to medals' list) fourth place at the World Women's Blitz Chess Championship. IM Valentina Gunina had won the Gold Medal by an exciting performance at the Women's Blitz Chess Championship. Updates to follow at Chess Queen and Chess Blog.
You can also read the complete reports about the Women's World Chess Rapid and Blitz Championships here on Chess Blog. There are great photos on Chess Queen website as well.
Read on Fide website. You can read the official website of the Russian Chess Federation here.
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.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Do you know there's a magic that flows through Russia? A magic of beauty and brains! So, we enjoyed reading this nice article from RT.com.
Russia beauty claims European chess crown
Russian ladies are not only beautiful, but smart as well. Valentina Gunina has proved it by becoming the new European women’s individual chess champion. Her compatriot, Tayana Kosintseva, cruised to silver at the tournament held in the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
The title was decided in the final round, in which Gunina, who played white, defeated table-topper Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia. Kosintseva also took the upper hand in her match against Georgian chess master Nana Dzagnidze. As a result, Gunina, Kosintseva and Muzychuk all had 8.5 points after 11 meetings, but the Russian duo prevailed over their Slovenian rival due to additional indicators.
Another Russian, (Chess Queen and former Women's World Chess Champion) Aleksandra Kostenyuk, came among the top 14 players to qualify for the Chess World Championship. The Turkish triumph became the first big international achievement in the career of 23-year-old Valentina Gunina. There’s been another notable event in Gaziantep as the chess world received its youngest International Master.
Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina has become an IM at the age of just 13 years and five months. The native of Salekhard in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region is the student of the famous Polar Chess School. She’s a World and European champion among the girls her age.
Valentina Gunina wins European Women's Blitz Chess Championship too!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Talented Russian player IM Valentina Gunina is going to remember Gaziantep and March, 2012 for a long time to come! She has just won the European Women's Blitz Championship as well after winning the European Women's Championship in classical chess.
In the final round she managed to beat former Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova 2:0, and this victory gave her first place. Elisabeth Pähtz, who was leading before the last round, lost to Nadezda Kosintseva 1.5:0.5 and finished with the silver medal. Nana Dzagnidze got the third.
Congratulations to all the winners and to all the beautiful women who played beautiful chess over the last fortnight in Turkey! You can access the official website here.
Breaking Chess News: Congrats to Valentina Gunina for winning European Individual Women's Chess Championship in Gaziantep
Checkmate! 'No cleavage' dress code makes chess tournaments less sexy than ever - The debate that started at the European Women's Chess Championship is on. Enjoy reading, and do leave a comment here if you have something to say!
Russian Victory: Kosintseva sisters, Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina, Natalija Pogonina win European Team Chess Championship
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
We've got great chess news. The Russian women's chess team has won the European Team Chess Championship (Women's Section) 2011! The team included Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kosintseva sisters (Nadezhda and Tatiana), Valentina Gunina and Natalija Pogonina.
More news and photos of the big victory on Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk's personal blog www.chessqueen.com.
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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