Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog

Burundi Chess Stamps with Morphy, Lasker and Chess Queen Kosteniuk

chessqueen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:05:09 +0000

Hello everyone!

I found some nice chess stamps from the Republic of Burundi on eBay and thought I’d share them with you. I am honored to have next to me on the stamps Morphy and Lasker. It’s cool to see myself featured on a stamp. Actually over the years I have collected lots of stamps with me on them, it would be nice if one day I got a letter with one of those stamps or if I could use those stamps for my letters!

Below you can see the stamps bigger.

Chess Queen Kosteniuk opens new LIVE UStream Channel

chessqueen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:13:26 +0000

Hello everyone!

Many people have asked me to help comment live chess games as they happen, so I opened an account with Ustream with nickname “Kosteniuk” (www.ustream.tv/user/kosteniuk). On Tuesday I made a broadcast in Russian, and today in English. Ustream keeps recordings of the broadcast, you can watch the English one here. During the broadcast I was commenting the LIVE games of Wijk aan Zee (live link here) and of Gibraltar (live link here) and answering any questions that were coming in the chat or via the social sites.

Follow my Twitter and Facebook to hear about next broadcasting days and times.

Chess King Software Super Combos

chessqueen — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:11:56 +0000

The best selling chess software combos Chess King and Chess King Pro (which include Houdini 2 and the huge GigaKing game database) and Chess King Training today have become even more affordable with a special “Free Shipping” offer until the end of January (regardless of where you live). Take advantage of this offer and get one for yourself of for a loved one. The Chess software Chess King has been top selling on the USCF web site and around the world. The $50 coupon code “INTROKING50″ has been extended so that more people can get it for $49 instead of $99 (and Chess King Pro for $99 instead of $149 for people who have a PC with at least 2 cores and wish to have the strongest chess program possible).

To find out more about Chess King, watch the ad below, or check the description, the tutorial, the FAQ, or the help page. Buy any of the free shipping combos, and any of the Chess King packages. We highly recommend the Chess King Training software disks in addition or complement to the Chess King system.

You can find out more about Chess King from their official ad:

and check out a commented chess video by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk in which you can see she’s using Chess King:

Chess Queen Kosteniuk presents the world’s most expensive chess pocket watch by Gangi

chessqueen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:58:06 +0000

Hello everyone!

Following the June 2011 press release about my collaboration with exclusive watchmaker Pasquale Gangi, the day finally arrived (on January 15, 2012) when 5 numbered specimens of the famous chess pocket watch were created and ready to be presented to the press and to the public. This happened at the Geneva Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. I was full of emotions holding in my hand such a jewel, especially thinking it was created to time chess games. Let me share with you my photo album of the event below. Feel free to email me with questions or post comments below.

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This chess pocket watch is absolutely amazing:

The watch is made entirely in Titanium, if you’d like to add some diamonds you just have to ask…

That’s me with the pocket watch creator Pasquale Gangi

World Premiere in Watchmaking!

Scacco Matto GMT3: The Pocket Watch of the 21st Century

Alexandra Kosteniuk, the Russian 12th World Chess Champion and Pasquale Gangi, Italian creator, combine to give birth to a big premiere in watchmaking, an object of art which is at the same time a pocket watch GMT 3 Time Zones and a system of timing of games of chess.

Scacco Matto GMT3. Checkmate. The watch imagined by Pasquale Gangi got its name since it is directly inspired from the world of finance for its time zones and of from the game of chess. It was born from a meeting between the young Queen of worldwide chess, who was looking for an original present for a Russian personality, and the Italian creator, originator of innovative plans.

Next to traditional and well established watchmaking, there is always place for a creative adventure! Strong in this conviction, both associates manage today to surprise us with their totally new concept, based on a mechanical movement with manual, double barrillet reassembly: a pocket watch GMT3 with three time zones, adjustable retrogressive date by a mono-tappet and indication of the power reserve (120 hours), linked to a system of timing of games of chess, patented. Entirely conceived, developed and produced according to the criteria of the high Swiss watchmaking.

The aesthetics of the chosen materials, titanium for the first edition, nothing was left aside for the manufacture of Scacco Matto GMT3, to result in the creation of an object never seen before, impressive, powerful and charged with emotions.

“The world of chess fascinates me. It demands countless qualities from its supporters. It is made at the same time of reflexion and strategy, subtlety and boldness, patience and brutality. It is linked to the world of the powerful, of the leaders. To be able to control a chess game, is to be the master of time! That is what we wanted to express in Scacco Matto GMT3″, “I am delighted of the collaboration with the Queen of Chess, who represents at the same time beauty, youth and intelligence, which are qualities which fit perfectly our exclusive and innovative creation” comments Pasquale Gangi.

Scacco Matto GMT3 is already available on the market. Every copy is unique, is signed Gangi and Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Posted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk

Kosteniuk visits the Zurich Chess Club

chessqueen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:13:22 +0000

Hello everybody!
On January 13, 2012 I was invited by the famous Zurich Chess Club to give a simul to Swiss VIP’s in the club’s “Savoy Corner”, which appropriately took place in the wonderful Savoy Baur-en-Ville hotel, right at ParadePlatz. After a lecture, in which I commented one of my games to the audience, I gave a simul to 9 players, three of which played 2 games at the same time, so in all I played 12 games. I won all my games except one draw, which I made with the organizer of the event, Mr. Christian Issler. You can watch photos of the event in the gallery and at the end of the post some of my personal sightseeing photos taken the next day in Zurich.

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Below are some of my personal sightseeing photos I took the next morning in Zurich, not far from ParadePlatz. While it was a little cold, I had a wonderful walk in the beautiful Zurich city center. By the way, it was the third time I gave a simul at the Hotel Savoy in Zurich, have a look at the photos of those events of 2004 and 2005.

Kosteniuk & Team win Silver at World Team Chess Championships

chessqueen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:58:19 +0000

Hello everyone!
The last tournament of the year is over, one of the most prestigious of the year, the women’s world team chess championship, in Mardin, Turkey. It brought Silver medals to all members of my team, Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva, Valentina Gunina, Natalia Pogonina and me, Alexandra Kosteniuk. In this event, the Chinese, with Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Zhao Xue, Tan Zhongyi, and Zhang Xiaowen, were head above the others, and deserved the Gold. Georgia got Bronze, with Dzagnidze, Javakhishvili, Khotenashvili, Khurtsidze, and Melia, Congratulations to all! See below for some photos of the event.
I am preparing a review of 2011 to share with you. It was an interesting year, with ups and downs, with some beautiful games, team and individual medals and tournament wins, and many new experiences from which I can learn lessons and head for 2012 full of optimism and continued love of the game of chess. Thanks to all of you for your continued support!
Yours in Chess, Alexandra Kosteniuk

The Turkish Chess Federation prepared beautiful prizes and medals, here are the prizes for our Russian team (silver medal)

FIDE Deputy President Makropoulos, Coach Alexey Korotylev and the players
Alexandra Kosteniuk, Natalia Pogonina, Tatiana Kosintseva, Valentina Gunina and Nadezhda Kosintseva

That’s me, always defending the cause of chess around the world, with a sword and a smile

Posted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk

Chess Queen Kosteniuk Upgrades Logo to 3D

chessqueen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:53:42 +0000

Hello everyone!
I just want to share with you the modernization of my “Chess Queen” logo from 2D to 3D. It’s also more in line with the Chess King logo, which is my new chess software project (site, shop, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).
Let me know if you like it this way!
Happy Holidays to everyone, and may 2012 bring you love and success in all you do!
P.S. You guessed it, purple is one of my favorite colors!

Chess Queen Kosteniuk introduces Chess King software

chessqueen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:00:02 +0000

Hello everyone!
As you know, Chess King with Houdini 2 , the new affordable professional chess software, has been out for about a week and we are shipping it worldwide. My husband and I and a great team of chess programmers have been working on it for the last 2 years and we are very proud of the result, it’s powerful enough for a GM and simple enough for a kid to use, and has exclusive features not found anywhere (the random mode to prove you can win an won game is unbelievably useful). And the price of $49 (with coupon code INTROKING50) makes it an amazing value, since it includes the strongest chess engine in the world Houdini 2 and the biggest GigaKing Chess Games Database. We are continuing the deals below until the end of the year since they proved so popular. Read about Chess King (launch, tutorial) and get yourself a copy!

Each person is different, so that’s why there are many different kinds of Chess King combos. For someone starting out, Chess King with some kind of dedicated Tactics and opening software is great. Grandmasters with powerful computers (multiple cores) can use the additional power of Chess King Pro to shave some seconds from the Houdini 2 engine. If you’re strong, you should train with Tactics 3 as many GM’s do before tournaments to get into shape, and Endgame training is a must to become a well-rounded chess player.

So what’s your combo?

My Dad Konstantin Kosteniuk’s Robot Chess Terminator plays GM Grischuk

chessqueen — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:43:47 +0000

Hello everyone!
Maybe you know that my Dad Konstantin Kosteniuk likes to invent things, he’s invented quite a few things in his life. His most recent invention is the “Chess Terminator”, a modern day chess robot that can play up to 3 people at the same time and with incredible speed, precision, and strength.
I’d like to share with you a video of my Dad’s robot playing one of the leading Grandmasters in the world, Alexander Grischuk.
Enjoy!

Some more useful links:

Historical video about “The Turk”

The Chess Terminator playing Kramnik (1)

The Chess Terminator playing Kramnik (2)

The Chess Terminator at the Luzhniki Park

The Chess Terminator on the news

Share Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk’s Chess Christmas Comic around

chessqueen — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:10:19 +0000

Hello everyone!
I you know any kids around you, please share with them my chess comic. Remember that giving a chess set or a chess book or a chess program for Christmas is a great idea!
Happy holidays!

P.S. See the full comic below. You can see or download for print all of my comics in several languages here.

I give permission to publish at no cost, as long as you leave the full page and text exactly as it is.