Alexandra Kosteniuk's CHESSQUEEN.COM

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


Archive for July, 2010

July 31st, 2010

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…

July 30th, 2010

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…

July 24th, 2010

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…

July 23rd, 2010

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…

July 22nd, 2010

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

July 21st, 2010

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

July 18th, 2010

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…

July 17th, 2010

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…

July 11th, 2010

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

July 9th, 2010

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

July 8th, 2010

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…

July 7th, 2010

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…