Here are some great photos of my autograph sessions:

There was lots of products for my fans from my web-shop.

That’s me with 2 local musical horses playing country music

One of my favorite photos of the trip, with the kids of the Washington-Parks Academy. They have a fantastic determination, a great team spirit, and they don’t need any lessons on dress code, every single one of the kids is a great example for their peers, well done, team!

Posted by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com

I just came back from a wonderful trip to Tucson, Arizona, where I visited the 9 Queens Chess Fest. There were lots of chess activities for kids and grown-ups, it was one of the best chess promotion events I’ve ever been to!

I was able to meet  a lot of new chess friends, play a simul against 40 players (I won all 40 games), and even the next day enjoyed the warm weather, which allowed me to take lots of photos of beautiful cactuses. I would like to thank especially Jean Hoffman and Vicky Lazaro who worked round the clock with a great group of volunteers to make this Fest a great success. Check 9 Queens Blog & Facebook page. Also check out my photos below.

To be sure that there would be a lot of visitors, we gave several interviews to the local press. One very nice article came out in the popular magazine “Tucson Lifestyles“. Another article came out in the Republic newspaper.

Click here to read the article from Tucson Lifestyles

40 players lined up to play me in a super chess simul!

At times the simul was not easy

But I managed to win all my games. Here’s one of the toughest one I played

The Mayor or Tucson and 9 Queen’s Jean Hoffman awarded me the 9 Queens “Woman of the Year” prize

Lots of fans lined up for autographs and photos

The next morning before flying home I was delighted to photograph lots of beautiful cactuses in the campus of the University of Arizona. I posted a few on Twitter, on Facebook and in my Instagram photo feed (my nickname on Instagram is also “chessqueen”) and got lots of compliments, the cactuses in Arizona are truly exceptional!

A funny photo showing me going through an “extra” check at the Tucson airport. The 9 Queens trophy is so beautiful and the base is heavy that the airport security needed to check it some more to make sure there were no hidden chess pieces in there, or at least that’s what I assume they were looking for…

A final collage of my wonderful impressions from Tucson.

Thanks again to 9 Queens, Jean Hoffman and all the volunteers and sponsors for creating the best possible chess promotion in Tucson, Arizona. It’s an example to be followed all around the world!

Just in case you were wondering, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary and to Wikipedia, the plural of “cactus” can be either “cacti”, or “cactuses” or “cactus”. All three are correct

Watch the video by Steve farmer about the event.

Posted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com
www.twitter.com/chessqueen
www.facebook.com/chessqueen
www.youtube.com/chessqueen

]]> http://chessqueen.com/chess-cactuses-9-queens-honors-kosteniuk-at-tucson-chess-fest.html/feed 6 http://chessqueen.com/may-5-tucson-9queens-chess-fest-with-chess-queen-alexandra-kosteniuk.html http://chessqueen.com/may-5-tucson-9queens-chess-fest-with-chess-queen-alexandra-kosteniuk.html#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 21:19:58 +0000 chessqueen http://chessqueen.com/?p=2503 This Saturday I will be in Tucson, Arizona for the 9 Queens Chess Fest!

Here is 9 Queens’s announcement: We are thrilled to host the our biggest Chess Fest ever    this Saturday, May 5, from 2-5 pm, at the Hotel Congress, 311 W. Congress St., Tucson, AZ with special guest Alexandra Kosteniuk. The free, family chess festival will feature activities for everyone including: beginner chess lessons, a chess simultaneous exhibit, face-painting, chess arts and crafts, and a life-size chess set. For more information visit our website or email jhoffman@9queens.org.

I will hand out presents for all the kids, and will donate 50% of all sales of my chess products “Chess King” to 9 Queens. If you order anything from my shop until Sunday and mention as a comment “50% to 9Queens”, I will donate 50% to 9 Queens! So make yourself a gift and at the same time help out 9 Queens.

Here is my message:

And my special offer for Chess King:

Posted by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women’s World Chess Champion

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When someone you care about and respect passes away, it’s hard to find the right words to explain your sorrow. You have emptiness and pain in your heart, knowing that you won’t be able to meet someone so dear to you. Each meeting with Yuri Sergeevich, each lesson with him were a special moment for me. I believe I have been blessed to have been able to meet in my life such a Person as Yuri Sergeevich Razuvaev.

You will always be remembered, Yuri Sergeevich!

Below you can find some photos of us together, at tournaments and at training sessions.

Here is also some text from my book “Diary of a Chess Queen”, which is the story of my life up to getting the title of 12th women’s world chess champion:

I had my first training sessions with Yuri Razuvaev after the Calvià Olympiad. We dedicated those sessions to the Ruy López – the opening which, four years later, would help me to become World Champion. In these meetings, Yuri Sergeyevich recommended that I try to solve chess studies blindfold. Since then, you will rarely find me without a study collection in hand. Since 2004, I have solved more than a thousand studies, and have become a great fan of chess composition. I particularly like the miniatures – treasures created on the board with a minimal number of pieces. And also, once I started the practice of regular study-solving, all those breaks, waiting periods, flights and train trips no longer made me nervous: all I had to do was to open up my book and spend a few hours immersed in problem-solving.

Returning from the World Championship in Elista, on the plane to Moscow I fell into conversation with grandmaster Yuri Razuvaev. Right away, he asked if I planned to continue playing chess, and to work at it. Because it had been three years since the 2001 World Championship, and my results – and more importantly, my playing strength – had not changed significantly since then.
Here I must note that I had already known Yuri Sergeyevich for a long time. In 1992 and 1993, I had attended some sessions at Razuvaev’s school, where I had enjoyed the lectures given by Yuri Sergeyevich and other grandmasters. I also spent time with the other kids my age, and played soccer and other sports. Yuri had long worked and spent time with Mikhail Botvinnik, the patriarch of the Soviet chess school. Thus, the work in Yuri Sergeyevich’s school was set up along the same lines as Botvinnik’s. In the difficult years of the ’90s, unfortunately, the Razuvaev School could not survive for long. It was one of the last of the great chess schools that did so much to help young players grow, and formed an important link in the chain, handing down experience. It was just this link in the chain that we lost for a while in the early ’Nineties, and the Russian juniors’ current results in junior championships are ample testimony to this.

In July 2004, Yuri and I reached an agreement to work together; after the Calvià 2004 Olympiad, we held our first sessions. These exercises were unquestionably priceless to me, not only because of the chess wisdom that I received but also thanks to Razuvaev’s advice; in addition, Yuri convinced me that there was nothing to prevent me from reaching a high level and competing successfully in men’s tournaments. These words, from a chess specialist I respected so highly, helped to prevent me from cutting short my chess career (and I admit that such thoughts had already begun to appear) and to decide instead to keep working toward making myself a better player.

(quotes taken from Diary of a Chess Queen, by Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2009)

]]> http://chessqueen.com/remembering-my-coach-yuri-razuvaev.html/feed 7 http://chessqueen.com/may-5-tucson-chess-fest-invites-chess-queen-kosteniuk.html http://chessqueen.com/may-5-tucson-chess-fest-invites-chess-queen-kosteniuk.html#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:29:01 +0000 chessqueen http://chessqueen.com/?p=2437 Press Release: 9 Queens brings Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk to celebrate Tucson’s chess community. Alexandra will be honored at the 5th Annual Chess Fest and will receive the 9 Queens Award. The event is sponsored by the Soroptomist International of Desert Tucson and Chess King software. Read the full press release below and mark your calendars if you can make it to Tucson on May 5!

PRESS RELEASE




Contact: Jean Hoffman
 Phone: 347 409 1276
 Email jhoffman@9queens.org




World Chess Champion and Chess Queen Honored at 5th Annual Chess Fest.
9 Queens brings Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk to celebrate Tucson’s chess community





March 12, 2012- TUCSON, AZ- On May 5, 2012 from 2-5 pm at the Hotel Congress (311 E. Congress St., Tucson, Arizona, 85701), local nonprofit organization 9 Queens will host the 5th Annual Chess Fest- a free, family friendly chess extravaganza designed to promote and celebrate chess within the Tucson community. The event will feature a simultaneous chess exhibition where former Women’s World Chess Champion Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk will play multiple games at a time against Tucsonans interested in challenging the Grandmaster. Kosteniuk is the recipient of the 9 Queens Award. 

“The 9 Queens Award is given to a player who embodies the mission of 9 Queens and our commitment to empowering under-served and under-represented populations. “ explains 9 Queens executive director Jean Hoffman, “As one of the world’s most popular and influential chess players, Grandmaster Kosteniuk is an inspirational role model to thousands of women and girls throughout the world.”




This will be Grandmaster Kosteniuk’s second participation in a 9 Queens event in Tucson, Arizona. In 2009, she gave a free simultaneous exhibition at MAST Boutique as part of her Holiday Goodwill Tour. Kosteniuk is the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion and the author of How I Became a Grandmaster at Age 14 and Diary of a Chess Queen. 





Held on Cinco de Mayo, the 2012 Chess Fest will also celebrate the fifth anniversary of the launch of 9 Queens a nonprofit organization founded by Hoffman and former Women’s U.S. Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade. In contrast to traditional chess tournaments and events, the Chess Fest will have something for everyone, regardless of age or chess experience. For those more artistically inclined, Chess Fest will pay homage to Marcel Duchamp an artist and avid chess player known for selecting ordinary manufactured objects and using them to create “readymade” pieces of art. Participants can visit the arts and crafts station to create their own “readymade” chess sets and crowns. Other activities include: beginner chess lessons, pick-up chess games, face painting, chess simultaneous exhibits.




This event is sponsored by the Soroptomist International of Desert Tucson and Chess King (www.chess-king.com) software. All activities are free and open to the public. No pre-registration is necessary. For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org.




A photo taken by Jeff Smith from Alexandra’s Christmas 2009 Goodwill visit to Tucson

A Description of the software program Chess King, only $49 with coupon code “INTROKING”, part of the proceeds will go to 9Queens.

]]> http://chessqueen.com/may-5-tucson-chess-fest-invites-chess-queen-kosteniuk.html/feed 10 http://chessqueen.com/endorsement-for-chess-king-software-video-by-chess-queen-alexandra-kosteniuk.html http://chessqueen.com/endorsement-for-chess-king-software-video-by-chess-queen-alexandra-kosteniuk.html#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:42:22 +0000 chessqueen http://chessqueen.com/?p=2412 Hello everyone!
Just before leaving for Moscow and tomorrow playing in the ACP 2012 Women’s Cup in Tbilisi, I recorded this 48-seconds video about Chess King. Hope you like it! Please watch the video on the YouTube page and give “thumbs up” to the video. Thanks! The code I mention in this video will give the best price available for Chess King or Chess King Pro worldwide ($49 at this time whereas list is $99). See the video below.

]]> http://chessqueen.com/endorsement-for-chess-king-software-video-by-chess-queen-alexandra-kosteniuk.html/feed 9 http://chessqueen.com/echec-et-mac-program-on-corsican-tv-features-chess-queen-kosteniuk.html http://chessqueen.com/echec-et-mac-program-on-corsican-tv-features-chess-queen-kosteniuk.html#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:24:33 +0000 chessqueen http://chessqueen.com/?p=2403 Hello everybody!
Our friend Leo Battesti from Corsica just let me know that I was featured in this week’s TV program. Check out the announcement of the French Chess Federation and you can watch the 5-minute program here. It’s in Corsican language. At the end there is a competition where you have to solve a Mate in 1 problem.