Please Vote for Diary of a Chess Queen for Book of the Year

(Updated January 11, 2011)

NEWS: My book "Diary of a Chess Queen" has been nominated, with your help, to compete in the ChessCafe "Book of the Year" Contest. You can see it in ChessCafe's list of nominated books.

Now I need your help to please vote for it as your favorite chess book (of course if you've read it and like it!), by sending a short email to bookoftheyear@chesscafe.com stating you vote for it and a short reason why (for example great chess games, nice story with lots of photos, emotional account of a chess professional who achieved her goal, etc. it should be your text).

The first 3 will go to the final round, I'll let you know how it goes! See all the links to reviews etc. below.

Thanks and best wishes to all!

Alexandra :-)

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Hello everyone!

Following my post of a couple days ago about the vote for the best Book of the Year 2010, I found out that my book, "Diary of a Chess Queen", which came out officially in the USA during December 2009 and worldwide in January 2010, is eligible to enter the competition!

So if you have read it and like it, please nominate "Diary of a Chess Queen" for ChessCafe Book of the Year! For that all you need to do is email your nomination to bookoftheyear@chesscafe.com and just write that you'd like the book "Diary of a Chess Queen" by Alexandra Kosteniuk to be nominated for a chance to win the Chess Book of the Year 2010. You should give a short reason for nomination, see examples on the Chesscafe Nominations page.

"Diary of a Chess Queen" contains my whole life story, with 64 commented games, but also lots of text (I'd say over 1/3 of the book), and over 100 photographs. I worked on it quite a bit since I got the title of women's world chess champion at the end of 2008, it's the work of my life to date.

If you'd like more information about my book, here are some useful links:

- Book availability on December 9

- January 7 Book Signing in Barnes & Noble

- January 16 Book Signing in Coral Gables

- Announcement of the Book on chessblog.com

- Official Chesscafe rules of the Book of the Year Contest

- Link to purchase my book on my web shop (free personal autograph!)

- Link to purchase my book on Amazon.com

- Link to ALL the reviews on Amazon.com

Here are some reviews from Amazon buyers:

Seth: The structural layout of Alexandra's book very much resembles Tal's classic, "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal." Kosteniuk's book is, like Tal's work, an autobiography. There is much prose (normally at the beginning of each chapter). She starts at her childhood, and takes the reader right up to (and a bit past!) her 2008 World Championship match. Many game fragments are sprinkled throughout each chapter, as well as a substantial number of full-length, annotated games. Alexandra's writing is easily accessible to players of every skill level, whether they be young, old, beginners or masters. I found that she mixed the number of variations and explanations evenly. Since Alexandra typically plays a slashing, aggressive brand of chess, the games are never boring! Also, the translation (sometimes a problem in chess books) made the English read naturally (shout out to the translator, fellow Michigander Jim Marfia!!). She drops various tips and tricks of the Grandmaster trade along the way. The Women's World Champ clearly invested alot of time and effort into writing this book. I wonder if she'll write another some day?

So to sum up, "Diary of a Chess Queen," is a very interesting read, and you probably won't be disappointed if you purchase it.

Cajunmaster: Alexandra Kosteniuk's autobiography should be of great interest to any chess player, male or female, young or old, experienced or not. This candid and well crafted book is, to chess literature, very much like the breeze of fresh air that Alexandra and many other talented women have let into the stuffy atmosphere of the old chess world in the past decade. There is no turning back, luckily, and this book proves it beyond a doubt. Ms. Kosteniuk, who was the 10th woman in history to be recognized as an overall (i.e., unisex) Grandmaster of the game and is the current World Champion among women, has produced a winner. Her book is both highly entertaining and of great technical interest. This cannot be said of many of the innumerable books written by men, whether it be in the 19th century or today. Very simply, Alexandra Kosteniuk, recognized by the United States Chess Federation as the outstanding chess journalist of the year for 2009, should perhaps be considered by many to be a role model worthy of emulation, something that a host young girls throughout the World already know!

Posted by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk

12th Women's World Chess Champion

Author of "Diary of a Chess Queen"