is the winner of the 42nd annual 8th of March Women's Grandmasters Tournament that took place from March 3 to March 12, 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia. Margarita Voiska scored the same number of points as the winner - 6,5 but was second on tie-breaks. The bronze went to Grabuzova Tatiana from Russia.
Here are two nice wins by the winner:
White just played 14. Kh1, what is the best move for Black?
7 rounds have been played so far and Monica Socko (on the photo below playing White against Tatiana Kosintseva) is in the lead with 6 points out of 7.
She is followed by Antoaneta Stefanova, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Viktorija Cmilyte, Lilit Galojan, Pia Cramling and Yelena Dembo, all with 5,5 out of 7. Tomorrow, March 13, is a free day and on March 14 the tournament will continue with 4 more rounds to go.
The shortest decisive game of the championship so far is the encounter between Aginian and Goslawska which lasted for only 16 moves:
If you want to watch the games interactively, the best way to do so is to COPY the moves (in the case above 1. e4 c5 etc.) and PASTE them in my PGN PLAYER, then you'll be able to play the games on-screen.
You’re invited to the “Chess Diva” Chess-Haiti Fundraiser!
Nationally ranked chess players Barbara and Lauren Goodkind, producers of the award winning local access TV show, “Chess Diva” will play 5 minute blitz games with the public. Non chess players will find it entertaining to watch! Parents, bring your kids!
Suggested donation per game is $5.
When: Saturday and Sunday, March 20th and 21st, 10 am to 4:30 pm Where: Lytton Plaza, 202 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA. (next to Pizza My Heart)
Lauren has been playing in chess tournaments for about 8 years. Her current United States Chess Federation is 1859. After graduating recently from a 4 year university with a BA in communications, she decided to work with the chess community and pursue a career in media production at the same time. "Chess Diva" is one of her first projects. She gives a lot of credit to the Media Center in Palo Alto, which made this effort possible.
Barbara was first of the sisters to play in chess tournaments. She currently attends a 4 year university to obtain her BA degree.
Lauren and Barbara Goodkind are ranked among the top 100 females in the United States (see top rating list).
I just got back from Colombia and am preparing a post about it for you. Before that, I'd like to share the following with you, about the Chess Olympiads:
The organizers of the 40th Chess Olympiad which will take place in 2012 in Istanbul, invite you till the 31st of March to vote for your favorite logo of the event, here.
The Chess Olympiad is a very special event. A tournament where one can really feel the moto of the FIDE - Gens Una Sumus!
A little bit of history about the Chess Olympiads:
The first world team competition took place in Paris in 1924 and was reported as the 'Chess Olympic Games.' It is not, however, counted as one of the official 'Chess Olympiads'; on the one hand it was not organised by FIDE, while on the other the method of scoring was different from that worked out later.
The year 1924 is a milestone in chess history not so much because of this competition but because it saw the formation of the International Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs) by the players present in Paris. The first President of FIDE, Dr Rueb, of Holland, was also elected in Paris, and for a quarter of a century he fulfilled this important office with great skill and diplomacy.
In 1927, representatives from sixteen countries assembled in London to take part in the first of the series of international team competitions which have become known as Chess Olympiads. The naming of FIDE's team championship as the "Chess Olympiad" is of historical origin and implies no connection between this event and the Olympic Games, which means that, unfortunately, chess Olympiad medals are not Olympic medals, and a clear distinction should be made about it. Therefore it is misleading and untrue to call the medals earned in chess Olympiads as "Olympic".
In the first three Olympiads the board order of the players was not fixed and therefore was not necessarily identical with their strength. But since 1931 it has been the rule that the playing order submitted with the entry must be adhered to throughout the competition. If a player is rested, those below him have to play a board higher.
The first women's chess olympiad has been held in 1957, and from 1972 it takes place every two years together with the men's chess olympiad.
The full table of the men's and women's olympiads you can find on the olimpbase.org
The 2008 Olympiad was held in Dresden, Germany. The 2010 Olympiad is going to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia in September this year. The 2012 Olympiad is going to be held in Istanbul, Turkey. There is already a bid for the 2014 Olympiad by Tromso, Norway. The host for the 2014 Olympiad will be decided during the General Assembly of FIDE in Khanty-Mansiysk this year.
I already took part in 5 Olympiads. In 1998 I took part in my first ever Olympiad which took place in Elista, Russia. I played for the Russia-3 team which was also called the team of Kalmykia. Our team was seeded 33rd at the beginning of the event but we managed to do very well and at the end shared 6-9th places. I scored 10 out of 13 and took the silver medal on my board. In 2002 I played in my second Olympiad but it was my first Olympiad for the national team of Russia. Our team took silver medals, behind the Chinese women. In 2004 in my third Olympiad, I played for the first time on the first board. I met over the board against 3 former (Xie Jun, Maia Chiburdanidze, Susan Polgar) and one reigning (at that time) World Champions (Antoaneta Stefanova) and lead my team to the bronze medals. In 2006 in Turin I played once again on the first board for Russia and this time we took silver medals behind the team of Ukraine. In 2008 in Dresden I played on the first board for Russia once again. For the first time since the Olympiad in Moscow in 1994 our women's Russian team didn't take medals. We shared the third place but was fourth on tie-breaks. So this year we will try to do our best in Khanty-Mansiysk and I'm sure it will be a great event.
Everyday I get several emails from parents asking me what is the best way to introduce chess to theirs kids. How to make it fun and attract children to this wise game? My answer is try to make the first steps as cool as possible. In order to make kids interested, parents should create challenges, games, puzzles, everything that will make kids want to learn more about chess.
Being a chess educator as well as a teacher myself, I'm constantly looking for new and interactive ways to attract more children to this wonderful game. That's why some time ago I published a special interactive chess CD for kids - "Alexandra Teaches Chess" both for PC's and for Macs (both versions on the same CD). It's a fun and fascinating game for children which leads them from the very first steps on the chess board to the first moves and games that they will be able to play after going over this CD.
Below you will see one of the emails and a lovely photo of a very cute girl playing my CD-game. It made me very happy:
Below is an email which I recently got:
"Dear GM Alexandra,
I purchased your software for my daughter. I have been teaching her myself and she is doing well but the addition of your software in her training has made a big jump in her enjoyment of the game. I have included a shot of her practicing. I thank you for being such a positive role model and mentor to so many people.
March 8 is a big holiday in Russia. It is called the International Women's Day. If you come to Russia on the 8th of March then you will see that almost every man is bringing flowers (mostly mimosas) to his loved ones. Everybody congratulates women, girls, moms.
I would also like to congratulate women's chess players with this wonderful day! Let me wish all of us happiness and love! Let us wish that our children will be happy and healthy and we always have loved ones next to us.
What is the best way to celebrate this special day? To organize a chess tournament, of course! A women's chess tournament to be precise. That's probably why, every year since 1965 in March there is a very strong women's international chess tournament. The 42nd Women's International 8th of March Tournament is taking place right now in Belgrade, Serbia.
The history of this tournament is fascinating:
The First Women's International March 8 Tournament was organized between March 8 and 24, 1965, in honour of The International Women's Day - March 8.
The International March 8 Tournaments have become a tradition in Belgrade, and with the exception of 1980 and 1984, have been held every year. In 1980, the tournament wasn't held at all due to financial reasons, and in 1984, it was played according to the Swiss system, but only with the participion of local players.
Almost all the leading women chess players have competed in the March 8 Tournaments, including many world champions. The legendary Nona Gaprindashvilli was the seven-times winner and in 1971 she scored 100% - 13 points in 13 games!
Today the organizer of the tournament, the Belgrade Chess Association, tried to save tradition of the tournament and has managed to do that.
This year, the 42nd International Women's Grandmaster Chess Tournament is being held from the 3rd to the 11th of March.
Below is the list of the winners of the Tournament so far:
5 rounds have been played so far and Margarita Voiska from Bulgaria is in the lead right now with 4 points out of 5. You can follow how is it going on the official web-site, here.
It organizes many interesting and important chess events every year. From different world and European youth championships to the women's and men's world chess championships. For example, the year 2010 started with the world team chess championship in Bursa and will end with the women's world chess championship in Ankara. There will be even more events in 2011, including the Women's European Chess Championship.
For the talented turkish chess players, the TCF organizes year-round trainings with world-renowned trainers such as Adrian Mikhalchishin, Mikhail Gurevich and others. The results can already be seen. The latest youth world and European chess championships brought many medals to Turkey by young players in several age categories. During my visit to Bursa in January I met two 8-years old girls who won several tournaments in their age-category. They said that they have special chess trainings up to 30 hours per week.
It was organized by the Turkish Chess Federation in the Nevzat Süer hall in the New Chess Federation Center. There were two teams (A - 5 foreign players and B - 5 Turkish players). The participants were IM(WGM) Angela Borsuk, IM(WGM) Sopio Gvetadze, WGM Anna Burtasova, WGM Anastasia Karlovich, WIM Nargiz Umudova, WIM Betul Cemre Yildiz, WIM Kubra Ozturk, Kaya Emel, Sop Selen and Menzi Ezgi. The tournament was played using the Double Scheveningen System with 10 rounds.
One of the participants of this event - Anastasia Karlovich wrote a very interesting article about this tournament with the photos of the event, you can read it on chessbase.com.
Here is one upset by the Turkish chess player Betul Cemre Yildiz (2244) over the WGM from Georgia Sopio Gvetadze (2342).
Black just played 39. ... Bd8, White to move.
Here is the PGN of the game. If you'd like to use it in your chess software, just copy the text characters from [Event... down to the result of the game 1-0 save the file as text and change the extension to .pgn then you will be able to successfully open it and view the game with your favorite chess database software!
I hope you enjoyed solving these puzzles and can assure you that daily solving of different tactical and endgame problems and puzzles will increase you level of chess.
Tomorrow, March 6, 2010, the very strong European Women's Chess Championship will start in Rijeka, Croatia. This championship is a qualification tournament for the Women's World Chess Championship 2012. For that reason, this year the championship has attracted most of the strongest women chess players in Europe who would like to qualify for next world championship cycle.
The reigning European champion right now is Tatiana Kosintseva who won the European championship 2009 in Saint-Petersburg in March last year.
The full starting list of the European chess championship 2010 are, in order of rating:
No.
Name
FideID
FED
RtgI
1
GM
Stefanova Antoaneta
2902257
BUL
2555
2
IM
Kosintseva Nadezhda
4134974
RUS
2554
3
IM
Muzychuk Anna
14111330
SLO
2533
4
GM
Kosintseva Tatiana
4133471
RUS
2524
5
GM
Cramling Pia
1700030
SWE
2523
6
GM
Sebag Marie
617822
FRA
2506
7
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit
13300601
ARM
2503
8
IM
Javakhishvili Lela
13601458
GEO
2500
9
WGM
Zhukova Natalia
14101513
UKR
2492
10
IM
Danielian Elina
13300210
ARM
2491
11
GM
Hoang Thanh Trang
12400149
HUN
2487
12
IM
Paehtz Elisabeth
4641833
GER
2486
13
IM
Cmilyte Viktorija
12801259
LTU
2485
14
GM
Dzagnidze Nana
13601903
GEO
2479
15
IM
Gaponenko Inna
14101181
UKR
2472
16
IM
Melia Salome
13602446
GEO
2467
17
GM
Socko Monika
1106619
POL
2465
18
IM
Rajlich Iweta
1108166
POL
2459
19
IM
Dembo Yelena
723916
GRE
2457
20
WFM
Gunina Valentina
4167570
RUS
2457
21
IM
Skripchenko Almira
13900145
FRA
2456
22
IM
Tairova Elena
13503383
RUS
2455
23
IM
Ushenina Anna
14110911
UKR
2452
24
IM
Khotenashvili Bela
13602640
GEO
2448
25
GM
Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan
13600168
SCO
2447
26
IM
Muzychuk Mariya
14114550
UKR
2444
27
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina
4116704
RUS
2438
28
IM
Moser Eva
1607456
AUT
2437
29
IM
Khurtsidze Nino
13600320
GEO
2434
30
IM
Foisor Cristina-Adela
1200496
ROU
2433
31
IM
Vasilevich Tatjana
14101610
UKR
2414
32
IM
Romanko Marina
4149351
RUS
2409
33
WGM
Zawadzka Jolanta
1122320
POL
2404
34
GM
Peng Zhaoqin
1004786
NED
2401
35
IM
Milliet Sophie
623725
FRA
2391
36
WGM
Savina Anastasia
4196872
RUS
2391
37
WGM
Zdebskaja Natalia
14109956
UKR
2390
38
IM
Lomineishvili Maia
13600656
GEO
2385
39
WGM
Kovanova Baira
4164083
RUS
2385
40
IM
Bojkovic Natasa
908550
SRB
2384
41
WGM
Bodnaruk Anastasia
4181751
RUS
2384
42
WGM
Galojan Lilit
13301314
ARM
2380
43
IM
Matveeva Svetlana
4119827
RUS
2373
44
WIM
Molchanova Tatjana
4132203
RUS
2369
45
WGM
Majdan Joanna
1121979
POL
2364
46
WGM
Girya Olga
4195752
RUS
2362
47
IM
Dworakowska Joanna
1107445
POL
2356
48
WGM
Iljushina Olga
4152280
RUS
2356
49
WIM
Severiukhina Zoja
24108065
RUS
2355
50
WGM
Motoc Alina
1210246
ROU
2348
51
WIM
Nikolova Adriana
2908689
BUL
2348
52
IM
Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino
4623614
GER
2346
53
WGM
Cosma Elena-Luminita
1201590
ROU
2346
54
IM
Gvetadze Sopio
13601440
GEO
2342
55
IM
Borsuk Angela
2806452
ISR
2338
56
WGM
Charkhalashvili Inga
13601431
GEO
2338
57
WGM
Cherednichenko Svetlana
14105551
UKR
2337
58
IM
Sedina Elena
812153
ITA
2334
59
WGM
Kashlinskaya Alina
4198026
RUS
2332
60
WIM
Tsatsalashvili Keti
13603434
GEO
2326
61
WIM
Paikidze Nazi
13603620
GEO
2322
62
IM
Zimina Olga
4132190
ITA
2319
63
WGM
Chelushkina Irina
928615
SRB
2319
64
WGM
Manakova Maria
927007
SRB
2315
65
WGM
Vega Gutierrez Sabrina
2219026
ESP
2314
66
WIM
Schneider Veronika
721530
HUN
2314
67
WGM
Kochetkova Julia
4139690
RUS
2313
68
WGM
Zakurdjaeva Irina
4135504
RUS
2313
69
WGM
Kadziolka Beata
1119990
POL
2311
70
WGM
Nebolsina Vera
4163591
RUS
2310
71
WIM
Borosova Zuzana
14905779
SVK
2307
72
IM
Klinova Masha
2802015
ISR
2303
73
WGM
Paulet Iozefina
1213261
ROU
2303
74
WGM
Stojanovic Andjelija
928682
SRB
2301
75
IM
Purtseladze Maka
13602659
GEO
2299
76
WGM
Berend Elvira
4000510
LUX
2299
77
WFM
Mammadova Gulnar Marfat Qizi
13403508
AZE
2299
78
WGM
Doluhanova Evgeniya
14112035
UKR
2297
79
WGM
Aginian Nelly
13300628
ARM
2296
80
WGM
Calzetta Ruiz Monica
2204185
ESP
2296
81
WGM
Kursova Maria
4129709
RUS
2296
82
WGM
Vojinovic Jovana
937266
MNE
2296
83
WGM
Kostiuk Tatiana
14107449
UKR
2294
84
WIM
Arabidze Meri
13604040
GEO
2292
85
WIM
Dolzhykova Kateryna
14113414
UKR
2290
86
WGM
Mamedjarova Zeinab
13401521
AZE
2289
87
WGM
Medic Mirjana
14501619
CRO
2279
88
WGM
Sandu Mihaela
1204327
ROU
2277
89
WGM
Melnikova Yana
4136632
RUS
2272
90
WGM
Semenova Irina
4118367
RUS
2272
91
WGM
Mamedjarova Turkan
13402005
AZE
2269
92
WGM
Guramishvili Sopiko
13602888
GEO
2266
93
WGM
Nemcova Katerina
322750
CZE
2264
94
Papp Petra
739049
HUN
2263
95
WIM
Pertlova Sona
318787
CZE
2262
96
WIM
Tarasova Viktoriya
4175840
RUS
2261
97
WIM
Ozturk Kubra
6302599
TUR
2260
98
WIM
Toma Katarzyna
1119907
POL
2259
99
WIM
Videnova Iva
2907763
BUL
2258
100
WFM
Lomako Anna
4164725
RUS
2258
101
WIM
Sikorova Olga
307033
CZE
2256
102
WGM
Przezdziecka Marta
1123009
POL
2254
103
WIM
Fakhiridou Ekaterini
4202848
GRE
2252
104
WIM
Drljevic Ljilja
928879
SRB
2248
105
WIM
Franciskovic Borka
14507943
CRO
2245
106
WIM
Worek Joanna
1118080
POL
2245
107
WIM
Yildiz Betul Cemre
6302920
TUR
2244
108
Mrvova Alena
14902036
SVK
2239
109
WIM
Jelica Mara
14504111
CRO
2235
110
Haast Anne
1017292
NED
2235
111
WIM
Papadopoulou Vera
4205472
GRE
2228
112
WIM
Gromova Iulia
4152832
RUS
2226
113
WGM
Makropoulou Marina
4200187
GRE
2225
114
WIM
Isgandarova Khayala Ilqar Qizi
13401823
AZE
2224
115
WIM
Schut Lisa
1019481
NED
2224
116
WIM
Fuchs Judith
24605611
GER
2222
117
WGM
Shaydullina Sandugach
4140389
RUS
2218
118
WIM
Ivakhinova Inna
4185641
RUS
2218
119
WIM
Brunello Marina
822590
ITA
2217
120
WIM
Hoolt Sarah
24606812
GER
2215
121
Djukic Sandra
931390
SRB
2214
122
WIM
Kazimova Narmin Nizami Qizi
13402951
AZE
2212
123
WIM
Umudova Nargiz
13402137
AZE
2211
124
WFM
Bogumil Tatiana
4110579
RUS
2201
125
WIM
Danelia Mariam
13603671
GEO
2199
126
WIM
Van Weersel Arlette
1009877
NED
2197
127
WFM
Semenova Elena
24125148
RUS
2195
128
WIM
Butuc Maria
13902911
RUS
2194
129
WIM
Solic Kristina
14507323
CRO
2192
130
WFM
Ziaziulkina Nastassia
13505211
BLR
2188
131
WIM
Kopinits Anna-Christina
1614142
AUT
2183
132
WIM
Trofimova Antonina
4123441
RUS
2182
133
WIM
Makka Ioulia
4205316
GRE
2180
134
WFM
Efroimski Marsel
2810964
ISR
2178
135
WGM
Partac Elena
13901001
MDA
2172
136
WFM
Kushka Alena
24111481
RUS
2164
137
WGM
Kouvatsou Maria
4203593
GRE
2161
138
WIM
Sargac Rajna
14507250
CRO
2157
139
WFM
Baciu Diana
13903284
MDA
2146
140
Abdulla Khayala Mardan Qizi
13401807
AZE
2141
141
WFM
Kharmunova Nadejda
4195876
RUS
2136
142
Pavlidou Ekaterini
4213262
GRE
2135
143
WFM
Coimbra Margarida
1901192
POR
2123
144
Kharatyan Anahit
13302574
ARM
2117
145
WFM
Cherednichenko Elena
14105560
UKR
2100
146
WFM
Berke Ana
14510359
CRO
2097
147
Ikonomopoulou Maria
4209958
GRE
2081
148
Brunello Roberta
822205
ITA
2043
149
Tonel Giulia
821268
ITA
2023
150
De Seroux Camille
1305620
SUI
2019
The complete statistics during the tournament can be found here. The games LIVE can be found on the official web-site of the organizers, here. I'm sure it will be a very exciting event and I will keep you posted about how the tournament goes.
Don't be shy about contacting me
to share women's chess news
or to propose collaboration
Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women's World Chess Champion
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