Alexandra Kosteniuk's CHESSQUEEN.COM

Chess Queen® & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Grandmaster Mega-Site & Chess Blog


Archive for 2006

June 3rd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today was the match Russia – France, and it ended up in a draw, at 1.5 – 1.5, and now the Ukraine is almost sure of winning the Gold, and Russia will try to get the Silver in the last round tomorrow. In the men’s competition, Russia beat Cuba 3-1, and her also, Armenia is sure of getting the Gold, Russia will be shooting for the Silver also. Tomorrow the games are at 10 AM Italian time. Have you voted for your favorite players in our “Photogenics” page? And look at most women teams in our “Women Teams” page.

June 2nd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006ALL WOMEN TORINO TEAM GALLERY! By clicking on the photo on the left you will reach a collection of (almost) all women teams competing at the Torino Chess Olympiads 2006! At current count we are at 66 teams, more are added daily. Besides looking at your favorite teams, you can also vote for them, giving each team you choose from 1 to 5 points, just as you did for the “Photogenic” gallery for the individual players. Enjoy! You can also click here to see it. It’s a large page, so it may take a while to load. We are working on the same type of page for the men’s competition.

June 2nd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006PHOTOGENIC GALLERY! Pufichek has created for you a gallery of his best photos of the women’s Chess Olympiads in Torino, and he invites you to have a look at it. You can vote for each individual player or photo only once. When you vote, that player gets points (from 1 minimum to 5 maximum) and moves up in its “photogenic” ranking. Averages are calculated for each photo. Enjoy! Click here to see it.

June 2nd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today Alexandra won very convincingly with black against the first board of Georgia, Nino Khurtsidze, while the sisters Kosintseva both drew their games. On the other hand, in the 11th round, the Russian men lost to the USA, with Nakamura beating Grischuk in a complicated game.

June 1st, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006As we look at the standings after 10 rounds, we see in the women’s competition Russia is second, and in the men’s they are third. we promised ups and downs and excitement, and we have it indeed! There are 3 rounds left for Russia to show they can get the Gold, and so let’s keep watching as the Torino Olympiads unfold. If you want to see full rankings, click here for the women’s statistics, and here for the men’s statistics. Our Torino page is here.

May 31st, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today both Russian teams won, the Russian women’s team beat the Bulgarian team 2-1, and the Russian men beat the Ukraine 3-1. Alexandra, on the first board, unfortunately handicapped with a heavy cold, lost to Stefanova, but luckily her team-mates the Kosintseva sisters made up with beautiful wins. After the rest day, on Friday, the Russian women will play Georgia and the Russian men will play the USA. Don’t forget our special Torino Chesspics page is here.

May 30th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today the Russian women’s team drew the Chinese team, with Alexandra drawing Zhao Xue on the first board, and the Russian men unexpectedly lost to France. Now the women’s team is in second position, 1/2 point behind the leaders, the Ukraine. Tomorrow Russia will play Bulgaria. In the men’s competition, the situation is worse, Russia is in 4th position, 3 points behind the leaders (Armenia). There are 4 rounds left and all is possible, though, keep posted. Look at our gallery of top teams at this page, there are many new teams online. Let us remind you that our special Torino Chesspics page is here.

May 29th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today both Russian teams, without their leaders Kramnik and Kosteniuk playing, drew their opponents, the Czech Republic and the USA. The Russian women are still in the lead, but only 1/2 point ahead of the Ukraine. In the men’s competition, the Russians are second, 2 points behind Armenia. There are 5 rounds left, anything can happen, the end of the Chess Olympiads is always exciting! Today we will see China – Russia and USA – Ukraine in the women’s competition and Russia – France in the men’s. Look at our gallery of top teams at this page, it’s been freshly updated. And don’t miss the "photogenic" page.

May 28th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today the Russian women beat Slovakia 3-0 (Alexandra won against Eva Repkova on the first board in a game full of surprises), and so the Russian women continue to lead in the Olympiads women section, 1 point ahead of the Ukraine, and 2 points ahead of the USA. Tomorrow Russia will play the USA on the first table, it should be a very interesting match. In the men’s competition, Russia beat Belarus 3 to 1, with Kramnik showing that he is in great form. Look at the full statistics here. More photos of the Olympiads have been added here. We have a gallery of top teams at this page, we are continuously adding photos to all albums.

May 28th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Have a look at our Torino 2006 Chess Olympiads Team Gallery by clicking here, we’ll be adding photos of full teams every day! More photos of the Olympiads have been added to our Torino Chesspics Page.

May 27th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today the Russian women beat Hungary 2-1 (Alexandra drew Hoang Thanh Trang on the first board) and so they continue to lead in the Olympiads women section. Tomorrow Russia will play Slovakia on the first table. In the men’s competition, Russia lost to the Netherlands 1.5 to 2.5, and so tomorrow they will play on the second table facing Belarus. Look at the full statistics here. More photos of the Olympiads have been added here. We have a gallery of top teams at this page, we will be adding teams to that page tomorrow.

May 26th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today Friday May 26 is a day off for the Torino Olympiads. We see that the battle ahead will be tough, with ups and downs sure to give excitement to all spectators. Thanks for the positive emails of encouragement to Alexandra and her team, they sincerely appreciate it! Pufichek will put up more photos to the Chesspics Torino 2006 portrait gallery, make sure to give it a look. If there is a particular team or a favorite player you’d like to see photographed, send us an email and it will be done!

May 25th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today was the last day before the day off – Friday, and even though Russia lost against the Ukraine, they are still 1st overall. Alexandra, after turning down a draw offer, outplayed her opponent, then was a piece up, but incredibly missed a winning continuation, and finally lost the game. That’s shows you have to concentrate all the way to the end. In the men’s competition, Russia drew Armenia 2-2, but is also first in the ranking, going into the 6th round, which will be played on Saturday. The women will play Hungary, and the men will play Holland. Look at the full statistics here, and the best photos of the Olympiads are here.

May 25th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006In case you missed the game Alexandra won against Radziewicz, you can download it in pgn by clicking here. If you wish you can then take the pgn file (it’s a text file), copy the moves into our well-known web pgn player to see the game interactively. The photo on the left was taken yesterday while Alexandra was supporting her team-mates in their match against Lithuania, in which Russia won 3-0. Today Alexandra will play with Black on the first board of Russia against Natalia Zhukova of the Ukraine.

May 24th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Russian men and women continued to win in the 4th round, the men beating China by 3 to 1 and the women by 3 to 0 against Lithuania. Now Russia is the sole leader in both men and women sections. But nothing is said yet, there are still 9 rounds to go and we can be sure every team in the world will do their best against them. We have more and more photos on our special Torino Chesspics page, as well as the most important links related to the Olympiads. Tomorrow in the 5th round the Russian women will play the Ukraine and the Russian men will play Armenia, both on the first table of the Olympiads.

May 23rd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today both Russian teams won their matches, the men by 2.5 to 1.5 against Germany and the women by 3 to 0 against Poland the current European Champions! Alexandra won her game against Radziewicz in a key encounter, and the Kosintseva sisters followed with equally important wins, improving on the drawn match 2-2 against Poland last year in Goteborg at the EuropeanTeam Championships. Go to our special Torino Chesspics page, you will find there the best photos of the Torino Olympiads, and also the most important links related to the Olympiads. Tomorrow the Russian women will play Lithuania and the Russian men will play China.

May 22nd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Today both Russian teams won their matches, the men by 4 to 0 and the women by 2.5 to 0.5. Alexandra drew her game with black against Aketaeva. Note that the women’s competition is played on 3 boards, so it’s a small advantage to have 2 “whites” rather than just one. Pufichek has worked a lot today, so make sure to visit our special Torino Chesspics page, you will find there the best photos of the Torino Olympiads. Tomorrow the Russian women will play Poland and the Russian men will play Germany.

May 21st, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Right now the first round of the Chess Olympiads is being played in Torino. In the women’s section, Russia is playing Portugal, Alexandra is playing on the first board of Russia against Catarina Leite. The Russian men are playing against Kazakhstan. Watch the women’s games live by clicking here. We will put the results up as soon as they are available. Useful links: Complete statistics: men, women. Best photos, click here. Breaking News: Both Russian teams (men and women) won with a maximum 100% score, 3-0 for the women and 4-0 for the men.

May 20th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006The Opening Ceremony of the Torino Chess Olympiads took place tonight and tomorrow will be the first round. Games are played at 3PM local time in Torino. We’ll put new photos daily on our Chesspics page and news on our main page. NEW! Click here to see our photos of the Zvenigorod Training and click here to see photos of the Opening Ceremony.

May 19th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Alexandra checked out the playing hall of the chess Olympiads today and will participate in the Opening Ceremony tonight. Tomorrow will be the first round. The official site of the Chess Olympiads can be found by clicking here. If you want to see a full listing of all teams and players, click here for the women’s statistics, and here for the men’s statistics. On those pages you will see that the Russian women’s average Elo is 2499, ahead of the Ukraine (2441), Georgia (2430), Hungary (2426), the USA (2414), China (2408), and the last team with an average Elo above 2400 Elo is Armenia (2402). It will be a hard fight for the Gold!

May 19th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk arrived in Torino for the Chess Olympiads 2006Alexandra Kosteniuk and the whole Russian team arrived today in Torino for the 37th Chess Olympiads. The Opening Ceremony will take place tomorrow, and we promise you’ll get news daily and many many photos on our special CHESSPICS photo page, click here to see it.

May 17th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk will lead the Russian women's chess team in the Torino Chess Olympiads 2006Here’s a photo of the Russian women’s team which will try to win the Olympic Gold at the upcoming Torino Chess Olympiads, which will start on May 20, 2006. On the photo, from left to right: IM Tatiana Kosintseva (Elo 2489), IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (Elo 2460), GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (Elo 2540), IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (Elo 2469). The photo was taken at the training camp of the National team in Zvenigorod. You can see more photos of the training session in Zvenigorod by clicking here to view our new photo album.

May 8th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk will play on the first board of the Russian women's chess teamWe now have the final composition of the women and men teams that will represent Russia in the coming Chess Olympiads in Torino. For the men: Kramnik, Svidler, Morozevich, Grischuk, Bareev, Rublevsky. And for the women: Alexandra Kosteniuk, T. and N. Kosintseva, Kovalevskaya. Both teams are extremely strong and will definitely fight for a place on the podium. During the Olympiads, we will have daily news. The best photos of most teams and players will be on CHESSPICS, also updated regularly.

April 29th, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's little dog is called MOXIAlexandra would like you to know her little dog a little better, we have for you a collage of 4 recent photos, click here to see it. Is Moxi not adorable?

April 23rd, 2006

Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk turns 22 todayHAPPY BIRTHDAY! Today Alexandra turns 22 years old. She thanks her fans for the wonderful emails, letters, MP3 greetings and nice wishes she has received, that really warms her heart. Alexandra is now in Switzerland for a few days before returning to Russia for the final big training before the Torino Chess Olympiads. In a couple days she will issue her podcast #17, come back to listen to it!

April 5th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk's wins the Golden Blitz 2005 - available now on DVDWe have been able to get hold of a few copies of the official TV show GOLDEN BLITZ 2005 DVD, won by Ponomariov in the men’s competition and by Alexandra Kosteniuk in the women’s, with great players such as Bareev, Short, Grishuk, Tkachev, Krush, and Skripchenko. Watch a 3 minute 5 megabytes preview of the Zhu Chen – Kosteniuk match by clicking here (quicktime). You can also download it for free in the MP4 format for iTunes and for your iPod by clicking here. The full 1 hour 50 minutes DVD featuring all players and matches is on sale for the special price of only $14.99 in our webshop, while supplies last. Click here for more info.

April 4th, 2006

Have a look at the photoalbum of Alexandra Kosteniuk in FrascatiNEW: Have a look at our photo album of Alexandra Kosteniuk in Frascati, (near Rome, Italy). It was a beautiful spring day in Frascati and Alexandra did her best to promote chess, at a press conference with Anatoly Karpov, then visiting a youth chess tournament, and by giving a simul on the main city square. To see the 79 photos, click here.

April 3rd, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk' FIDE ELO Rating has steadily gone upWe have for you a small analysis of Alexandra Kosteniuk’s progress during the last 5 years, where she improved from 2397 to 2540 and from 40th in the world in 2001 to 3rd today. You can see a chart showing this progress by clicking here and a full analysis in a PDF file by clicking here.

April 2nd, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk won the ChessMag Beauty ContestWe would like to share with you the results of a recent poll conducted with the readers of the French chess magazine Chessmag. It included several top candidates, including Karmen Kaas, Monica Seps, and Antoaneta Stefanova. Look who won by clicking here. Let us just add that we are even more happy that Alexandra’s chess rating is going up, which shows the great effort she makes to be a better chess player, that’s the best way to popularize chess.

April 2nd, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is Frascati to play a chess simulAlexandra gave a wonderful simul yesterday in the main square of Frascati (near Rome, Italy), winning all 21 games she played. Most of all, she was a tremendous attraction to practically all city residents, who came to see her play. Alexandra gave out autographs all day long, it was a fantastic promotion of the game of chess. Our photo album is almost ready, it will be online tomorrow latest.

April 1st, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is Frascati to play a chess simulGrandmasters Alexandra Kosteniuk and Anatoly Karpov are the guests of honor in Frascati (Italy). Alexandra will play a simul tomorrow and we will have photos for you of the event, as well as of todays press conference.

April 1st, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is the third top rated chess player in the worldAlexandra gets a new FIDE ELO record and rank! We are pleased to announce that Alexandra Kosteniuk’s FIDE rating has increased to 2540 ELO, she now is in the 3rd position in the world. You can see the top 50 list by clicking here. This is a new record for Alexandra, which shows she has not stopped to make progress and is always trying to reach new highs.

April 1st, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is the top rated player in AmericaAmerica’s USCF April 1 Rating List just came out. As expected Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk is the top rated female member of the US Chess Federation, with her 2563 USCF rating.

March 28th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk will go to Frascati to play a chess simulAlexandra’s Podcast #15 is out with news and commentary of the recent world championship in Ekaterinburg. It’s a 9 minute audio radio on-demand MP3 file. You can download it as usual in iTunes, or directly download the MP3 file by clicking here, or find out more in our podcast page. Alexandra will be on March 31 and April 1 in the beautiful city of Frascati (near Rome, Italy) and will be a special guest of the Frascati Chess Festival, click here to see the official site. On the photo to the left you see Alexandra shaking hands with the organizer of the Frascati Festival Mr. Giancarlo Marcotulli. We will soon have nice photos for you!

March 16th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is playing in the world chess championship in EkaterinburgClick HERE to see the BEST PHOTO ALBUM of the players of the 2006 Women World Chess Championship. You can also see a general photo album with photos of the matches played by clicking here. Watch the games live on the official site each day at 3 PM Ekaterinburg time (= 11 AM Paris time, 5 AM EST).

March 16th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is playing in the world chess championship in EkaterinburgAlexandra lost her match against Viktoria Cmilyte of Lithuania, and so it is Viktoria who will continue in the competition, we wish her good luck! This championship has been full of surprises, from the top 12 rated players, only Chiburdanidze from Georgia and Xu Yuhua from China are left in the race! Incredible but true! Click here for the Championship album.

March 14th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is playing in the world chess championship in EkaterinburgAlexandra won both games of the second round against Danielian, so she is qualified for the 3rd round, only 16 players remain. Have been eliminated some favorites, like Koneru, Stefanova, Cramling, Krush, Zhukova. More playoffs tonight, at 9:30PM Ekaterinburg time. Tomorrow will be the first game of the third round. We just added exclusive photos to our albums, don’t miss them! Click here for the Championship album. Our superb PLAYERS PHOTO GALLERY can be seen by clicking here to see it. More photos and news every day!

March 13th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is playing in the world chess championship in EkaterinburgAlexandra won both games against Natalia Khoudgarian and therefore moves on to the next round! Many top ranked and favorite players have been eliminated after the first round: Zhu Chen – could not come, Lahno – lost against Peruvian player Zapata, N. Kosintseva – lost against 11-year old Chinese sensation Hou, Paehtz, Dembo, Korbut, Skripchenko have been eliminated. Alexandra’s second round match will be against Danielian NEW! Exclusive photos of the Opening Ceremony and the tournament – click here to see them. We also have a superb PLAYERS PHOTO GALLERY, click here to see it

March 11th, 2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk is playing in the world chess championship in EkaterinburgFinally the moment you have been waiting for has arrived, the Women’s World Chess Championship has started in Ekaterinburg, Russia! On the photo to the left you can see Edgar Rossel, the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, who just played the first move in the game Kosteniuk – Khoudgarian: 1. e2-e4. Present are all high dignitaries, including FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. You can watch news and get information on the official site, and soon you will see the best photos of the championship right here. Very soon we will post the photo album link. Keep posted.

March 9th, 2006

Oxana Kosteniuk is the host of Episode 14 of Chess is Cool PodcastAlexandra’s little sister, Oxana, is the host of the 14th Episode of the Chess is Cool Podcast, and she talks about the women’s World Chess Championship, which starts on Saturday in Ekaterinburg, and in which Alexandra will take part as one of the main contenders for the supreme title of women World Champion. Listen to Oxana in podcast 14 by clicking here (MP3 file, 9 MB). You will be able to follow the Championship on the official site and also of course right here, we will keep you informed about how Alexandra is doing so come back often to see our news and photos.

March 3rd, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk's will play in the 2006 world chess championship in EkaterinburgAlexandra Kosteniuk is on her way to Ekaterinburg to play in the 2006 Women’s World Chess Championship, that starts there on March 10. We will have full coverage of the event and we promise a photo album of most players. Click here to see the final 64 players who will participate. We have created a poll (to the right) so that you can try to guess who will win the championship, one of the top rated 8 women or someone else. Will it be a surprise? Keep posted for the answer! If you haven’t yet, please vote for Alexandra’s podcast by entering your email in the box to the right. Thanks!

February 23rd, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk's podcast is in the top 50 world podcastsAlexandra’s podcast made it to the top world 50 podcasts in February, and has been regularly in the top 100 all month. In this week’s episode 13 (approx. 5 minutes, 8 MB) she talks about her 2657 ELO performance at the Aeroflot A1 tournament in Moscow and she gives a tip on how to make progress at chess. Please be so kind to send Alexandra a voice greeting either by email or to her voicemail +1-305-767-2143, and also please vote for her podcast in Podcast Alley by simply entering your email in the box at the top right of our main page (the email is needed for vote confirmation). Thanks! More information can be found on our Podcast Page.

February 21st, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk's dog is called MoxiIt is time for us to introduce you to Alexandra’s new little dog: “Moxi”. She is a Russian Toy Terrier, and she is very small and weighs at the moment less than 1 kilo. She is adorable and loves to lick everybody she sees. Moxi is learning how to play chess by chewing on the pieces, and we think that with practice, she will be one of the best chess playing dogs around, at least in picking up the pieces and bringing them back to the board.

February 17th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk is top woman at Chess Aeroflot 2006Alexandra Kosteniuk finished the 2006 Aeroflot A1 Grandmaster chess tournament with one of her best performances ever, with 5/9 against opponents ranked 2614, her performance was equivalent to 2657 ELO, which will make her go up even higher in the next world rankings. She played 9 strong male Grandmasters and got 2 wins, 6 draws, and only 1 loss. Well done! Look at the final rankings by clicking here.

February 15th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk drew GM Korotylev in MoscowIn the last three rounds Alexandra drew GM Bu from China and GM Korotylev from Russia, and today she beat GM Robert Kempinski from Poland (ELO 2619). Up to now Alexandra has 5/8 (+2 =6 -0) with a very high average rating of opponents, giving a performance rating well above 2600.

February 12th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk drew GM Motylev in MoscowAnother good result today, Alexandra Kosteniuk drew Russian National Team Member Grandmaster Alexander Motylev, ELO 2638. Up to now she has 3/5 in this tremendously strong tournament (+1 =4 -0 against 5 GM’s). This is very good practice ahead of the world chess championship that will take place next month in Ekaterinburg. Follow her tomorrow for the 6th round on the official Aeroflot Open site. NEW ALBUM: Click here to see the Zvenigorod January 2006 album. More albums to come shortly!

February 11th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk drew ex-world champion GM Khalifman in MoscowGreat result today, Alexandra Kosteniuk drew ex-world champion Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman, ELO 2660. Follow her tomorrow on the official Aeroflot Open site.

February 10th, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk beat GM Kazhgeleyev in MoscowAlexandra is playing in the extremely strong Moscow Aeroflot A1 Tournament. Up to now she has the very good result of 2 out of 3, with draws against GM Wang (ELO 2599) and GM Markus (2596) and today a win against GM Kazhgeleyev (2607). Tomorrow she will be playing against ex-world champion GM Alexander Khalifman, it will not be easy. You’ll be able to see the results and watch her game live on the official Aeroflot Open site.

February 3rd, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk will play in the World Chess Championship in March 2006FIDE just announced today the list of 64 players (click here to see it) who will participate in the Women World Chess Championship that will take place from March 10-27 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The championship will be extremely strong, with all the 25 strongest active players in the world in the race, with the only exception of J. Polgar. Alexandra is the third top rated player of the 64-player field, just after H. Koneru of India, and P. Cramling of Sweden. 7 women with the supreme men’s highest title of Grandmaster will be playing. It will be fascinating to watch, we are sure!

January 23rd, 2006

Chess Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk is training in ZvenigorodAlexandra is training hard in the Russian town of Zvenigorod, where at the moment the temperature is extremely cold at below 35 degrees Celsius (note that -35 Celsius = -31 Fahrenheit). That does not stop Alexandra from doing cross country skiing each day, in between her chess training sessions. We will have a new photo album for you shortly! It is important Alexandra be in top shape for the upcoming World Championships in March, and in order to play in the Olympiads in Torino to defend the colors of her country in May. Thanks for your messages of support, please feel free to write emails to Alexandra and to leave her voicemail messages, with greetings, questions, or simply good wishes to 1-305-767-2143. Thanks!