September 1: Kosteniuk Plans ahead

Hello everybody!
September 1 is a big holiday in Russia, the Day of Knowledge. All children start their school on this day, they bring flowers to their teachers, and some of them hear the ring of the school bell for the first time in their lives. While thinking about the days Read more…

Kosteniuk Kristiansund 2010 Review

Hello everyone!
I’d like to share with you my review of the recently ended Kristiansund Open, in which I only got 13th place with 4 out of 6, a result I am not happy about. Read more…

Kosteniuk Interview in Kristiansund

Hello everyone!
Click more below to see a video interview of me during my recent trip to Norway, courtesy Europe-Echecs. More about Kristiansund to come soon! Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion Read more…

Kosteniuk Plays Chess Open in Kristiansund

Hi all!
I’m in Kristiansund, Norway right now, a quiet city on the western coast of Norway. After a rather long trip yesterday from Moscow to Kristiansund with two stops in Stockholm and Oslo, today I’m resting before playing the first round of a 6-games tournament at 8 pm tonight. The list of the participants of the open tournament can be found here. It’s a special feeling for a chess player to be in Norway since everybody is so interested and excited about chess. Where else in the world you will see a hair-salon with the name “Checkmate“? On Saturday, August 28, another very interesting rapid tournament starts here with 4 chess stars – Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Judit Polgar and the local player John Ludvig Hammer. I will make sure to let you know how it goes. Read more…

Kosteniuk to give a Simul in Sierre

Hi everybody! I’m pleased to announce I will give a simul in the charming town of Sierre, in the sunny canton du Valais, in Switzerland, on October 9, 2010, at 1 PM. It will take place at the Centre Commercial Manor of Sierre. It seems it’s possible to sign up, although preference will be given to local players. Sierre is organizing the simul to celebrate the great result of their first team Valais 1 in the National Team Championship. Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com & www.chessblog.com & www.kosteniuk.com

Most Interactive Celebrity Poll

Hi everybody!
The Top 10 Blog ran a poll for the “Most Interactive Celebrity on Twitter”, and I came out 6th! Make sure to check out my Twitter page to see if you agree with that poll, sign up with Twitter and start tweeting with me! My nick is “chessqueen”.
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion Read more…

Kosteniuk Chess960 Simul

Hi everybody! Tonight I gave a 20-board Chess960 simul at the 2010 Mainz Chess Classic, while Vishy Anand gave a 40-board Classical Chess Simul. What was special about my simul is that I played chess with different starting positions on the board, none of the 20 boards had a classical chess setup! Read more…

3 World Chess Champions at Mainz Chess Classic

Hi everyone! Mainz is promising to be a great venue, with today 3 reigning World Chess Champions present at the Press Conference. - Vishy Anand, world chess champion, classical chess
- Alexandra Kosteniuk, women’s world chess champion
- Levon Aronian, rapid world chess champion Read more…

How I became the Chess Queen ®

Hello everybody! Lots of people have asked me why I’m called the “Chess Queen”, so I decided to write an illustrated post about it. It all started in 2001, when I was 17 years old. My rating was 2469 and I had the titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and Men International Master (IM). Read more…

Chess is Cool Comic #6 is out

I’m pleased to share with you my new “Chess is Cool” comic #6, which is a joint venture between myself and talented comic-book illustrator-cartoonist René Duret. See it below or on my comic page, where you will find many more chess comics. If you’d like to publish it (in any language), I usually give the permission to do so at no cost, just contact me about it. See it in bigger size below. It’s perfect to promote chess to kids in clubs and schools. Read more…

Kosteniuk goes to Mainz 2010

I’m looking forward to going to Mainz (close to Frankfurt, Germany), to give a Chess960 simul on Friday August 6 at 4PM (I’m the reining Women’s World Chess960 Champion), then play in the World Rapid Chess Championship on Saturday & Sunday (Open section – both men & women). There are already over 100 titled players, it will be super strong (Aronian, Grischuk, Shirov, Kamsky are playing)! I am #36 in the list as of now. See below for the whole list of pre-inscribed players. Read more…

Trivia: Where am I?

Hi everybody! I have an easier trivia competition for you this week, Please tell me where I am now
There is a bigger picture if you click on the more… link below. Read more…

FIDE Presidential Board

Hi everybody! I’m now at the FIDE Presidential Board in Tromsø, Norway. I’m sitting in the meetings right now, will let you know how it goes a little later. Read more…

Trivia: Guess what I did on 21st of July

Hi everybody!
I have a tough one for you. The first person to guess precisely what I did on July 21 will win a prize. I want someone to get this prize, so I will daily add hints and photos so you can get closer to the truth. Any answers can be entered in comments to this post, or on Twitter, or on Facebook. On the photo above I am in front of the building where the “activity” took place. You can ask hint questions in the comments and I will answer to help you get closer to the answer (without giving it all out at once). Good luck! See below for hint photo(s) Read more…

Europe-Echecs Article on Chess & Twitter Revolution

I finally have been able to get a copy of the article I wrote on the Twitter revolution and how it affects chess, published in the last issue of the excellent chess magazine Europe-Echecs. You can find many more articles in that articles section in 23 languages. See my Twitter feed and join my 86,000+ followers to be able to communicate better and be the first to get the freshest chess news directly from me! Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion, www.chessqueen.com

Chess Envelope from the Czech Republic

Hi Everybody!
I just wanted to share with you a chess envelope I got last week in Biel as a present from IM Neboisa Illijin, from the Czech Republic. It was issued by www.sachinfo.cz with an image of me on the cover of their magazine from June 2003. Since I collect chess magazine covers and don’t have this particular one in my collection, if you happen to have that magazine and can send it to me, I will send you a nice gift in exchange for it! let me know! Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion

Kosteniuk Swiss Chess Rapid Champion!

Hi everybody! Today July 18 I did quite well at the Biel Rapid Chess tournament, with 6.5 out of 9, winning against GM Leonid Kritz (2618), GM Mohammed Al-Sayed (2498), FM Emmanuel Preissman (2316), and Vasyl Nedilko (2408), and losing only to GM Alexander Riazantsev and GM Christian Bauer (2612). I tied for overall 6th place (8th by tie-breaks), and was awarded the first Swiss prize and cup. The tournament was very strong with 13 GM’s and lots of IM’s. I have the videos of most games, and plan on preparing one or more commented game(s) for my YouTube channel. Photos and full rankings can be found below. Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com Read more…

Kosteniuk Swiss Chess960 Champion!

Hi everybody! I’m glad to announce that today I won the Swiss Chess960 Championship in Biel, with 5.5/7, with wins against GM Sebastien Feller (2611), GM Mikhail Ulibin (2540), Marco Gähler (2334), Jonas Wyss (2277), and Markus Kerz (2120), a draw against GM Michael Roiz (2645), and only one loss against GM Vitali Golod (2585). Let me remind you that Chess960 is the variant of chess invented by World Champion Robert Fischer, in which the starting position of the main pieces is chosen at random. Find out more about Chess960 on Wikipedia. More photos of the event and of the winners can be found below. The full results are as follows: Read more…

Sporty Mood in Lenzerheide

Hi everyone, Today after my game I went to practice some football at the local sports field in Lenzerheide and will watch the final of the 2010 World Cup between Holland and Spain. Up to now 4 rounds of the Swiss championship have been played, I’m at 2.5 out of 4, 1/2 point behind the leaders Korchnoi, Pelletier and Gallagher, who all have 3/4. 5 more rounds to go. Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com

Kosteniuk Chess Cover Girl

Hi everybody!
Two more recent chess magazine covers in which I have been featured, the “Revue Suisse des Echecs” = “Schweizerische Schachzeitung” = “Rivista Scacchistica Svizzera” (Switzerland) and “Jaque” (Spain) added to my collection. I offer a prize if anybody can get me a cover missing from the list . Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion

Kosteniuk wins first round in Lenzerheide

Hi everyone! Today was the first round of the National Swiss Chess Championship  in Lenzerheide, and I won against International Master Beat Züger (ELO 2405). The tournament has 10 players and will run 9 rounds, one game against each player, from July 8 to July 16, 2010. See the diagram below for a nice series of moves. Kosteniuk – Züger, Lenzerheide 2010, round 1 In this position it’s white to play and win. Read more…

Lenzerheide Swiss Championship Starts

Hello everyone! Today I arrived to the charming Swiss town of Lenzerheide, in the Eastern part of Switzerland. Tomorrow the National Swiss Chess Championship is starting, and I will participate in the Men’s closed event. It will be the strongest championship on record, with 5 GM’s playing (me, Yannick Pelletier, Viktor Kortschnoi, Joe Gallagher and Florian Jenni), and 5 IM’s (Ekström, Züger, Kurmann, Forster, Huss). Read more…

Trivia – Where am I training?

Hello everybody! As you know, last week I was in St. Petersburg at the Economic Forum, then I went back to Moscow, and then took a plane to go to a training camp. Very few people know where that is. But if with the help of this photo you are the first to guess exactly where it is, I will give you a prize! Here’s a bigger version of the photo, maybe it helps: Read more…

Trivia – Where am I exactly

Hi everyone! I’m still in St. Petersburg, today was the last day of the Youth Economic Forum, and after my talk (see photo a little below), my sister Oxana and I went for a walk in town. There are so many beautiful monuments in St. Petersburg, that I’d like to present one to you as a trivia contest, can you guess where exactly the photo was taken and what’s the name of that monument? You can see me below at a different place, in front of   Read more…

Chess Queen Oranges on eBay?

I’m totally hooked on chess. I can’t resist checking daily on eBay if there is anything interesting which has a “chess motive” (that’s the keyword “chess”), black & white squares, or any chess pieces. My home is full with chess paintings, chess lamps, chess cushions, big chess pieces. I won’t speak of chess sets, some people say I have too many of those (I don’t agree). Finally, if you’re not convinced, I wear chess shoes, chess belts and chess hair clips, obviously. So you can imagine the nice surprise Read more…

Chess is Cool Comic published in Greek!

Hello boys and girls! Can you guess what I am saying in the comic image to the left? It’s taken from the Greek version of my comic series “Chess is Cool”, which I created together with René Duret from the Netherlands. Thanks to Constantine Koutsoukos, who helped me translate it into Greek, and who got it published in the Greek kids magazine Read more…

Kosteniuk speaks at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Hi everybody! I’m at the 1st St. Petersburg Youth Economic Forum right now, which is part of the larger yearly St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. I’m the member of a working group on how to build better cities of the future, and tomorrow will be giving a talk about it (and I will use chess analogies!). Today, we had the visit of President Medvedev, and tomorrow Read more…

Kosteniuk Named Ambassador for Tromsø 2014 Chess Bid

Hello Everybody!
I am pleased to let you know that today I have been named Official Ambassador for the bid for the 2014 Chess Olympiads in Tromsø, Norway. I have already been to Norway this year, and will return next month, for the FIDE Presidential Board in Tromsø. I have been very impressed by the Read more…

Kosteniuk Charity Simul for Cancer Survivors

On June 10, in Moscow, I gave a VIP charity simul to benefit children in very tough situations, without parents or who became incapacitated. The announcement of the event can be found here and photos of the event are here. Each person playing paid $500 which went directly to the charity for the kids.
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com

Alexandra Kosteniuk’s Blog moves to www.chessqueen.com

Hello everybody! I am glad to announce that I have moved my personal blog to this site www.chessqueen.com. It’s more in line with my identity Chess Queen®, which I follow on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. If you have any questions you can email me to chessqueen@me.com. Read more…