Kosteniuk Summer Plans 2009

Dear Chess Friends!

I would like to let you know about my plans for this summer. Right now I'm in Paris and I just finished my new autobiographical book which should come out in Russian in September, in English by the end of the year.

In a few days I'll pass by Switzerland and on June 16 I will fly to Miami. On June 18 I'm going to Panama to participate in the inauguration of the new Cinta Costera. I will give an open air simul (on June 20), showing that chess is a healthy activity, suitable for the whole family. I will also visit the "Universidad de las Americas" on June 19 and will give a talk on how chess helps in life, and in business. I haven't been to Panama and am really looking forward to this interesting experience. I can promise you many photos from this event.

I'm coming back from Panama to Miami on June 21 and already on June 22 the first session of my first annual chess summer camp starts, which will take place at the historic Chess Hall of Fame and Chess Museum in Miami, Florida.

Kids from 5 to 18 are invited to take part in it. There will be 4 weekly camps (June 22-26, June 29-July 3, July 6-10, and July 13-17). I will run this camp myself and kids will not only get to know many useful chess things and improve in chess, but at the same time will have fun. On July 10-12 there will also be a tournament - The Alexandra Kosteniuk USA Chess Cup (for girls and boys U-8, U-11, U-14, U-18).

After the camp I'll be doing a lot of interesting things for chess fans such as writing books, recording my free audio podcast "Chess is Cool" as well as the free video podcasts "Chess Killer Tips" and will prepare for the 110th US open which will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana from August 1 till August 9. It will be my first serious competition in the USA 2009.

At the end of August I might play in the famous annual Moscow Blitz Championship.

I took part in it in 2005 and in 2006. On the photo above you can see me playing Morozevich, you can watch the whole photo album of the event of the year 2005 here.

In the year 2006 I played a few very interesting games which was recorded by my husband. One game was against GM Alexander Riazantsev. With a really speedy ending.

The other one was against GM Arthur Gabrielian.

I must say that I love blitz and I believe that the future of chess lies in tournaments with shorter time controls.

So this summer promise to be interesting, I will keep you posted about my activities as well as news on women's chess around the world.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women's World Chess Champion
www.chessblog.com