Kosteniuk in Bogota Day 1

With many of the wonderful kids of the Fundación Pies Descalzos

This was one of the best simuls in my life, as soon as one board finishes, another kid jumps in!

The kids of Pies Delcalzos were smiling today - thanks to chess!

Hello everyone!

Above you can see 3 photos from yesterday in Bogotá, Colombia. where I am participating in the final events around the Tarrito Rojo Chess Talent 2010, organized by the local company JGB. I had a very big day, starting from the Press Conference, where I played a simul with journalists and kids, and giving lots of interviews. See one short TV clip on Caracol TV here.

But the high point of the day for me was a visit to Shakira's foundation "Pies Dascalzos", which is a home for very underprivileged kids about 1-2 hours away from Bogotá. Together with the brand Tarrito Rojo, we made donations of chess sets and free vitamin supplements, very needed in poor areas. As you can see from the photos, the kids were incredibly excited to see me, I played a simul in extremely cramped quarters with many kids, who kept taking over from their friends. The photo sessions were amazing, I love those smiles, those kids are precious! I hope they will enjoy the chess sets, and that chess will give them many hours of joy in the difficult economic situation they are in.

Tomorrow I will have a big simul in Bogotá, pictures of this event to come very soon!

Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com