Alexandra Kosteniuk’s Russian Team wins the Istanbul Chess Olympiads!
Hello everyone!
I am pleased to report that we managed to repeat our success of last Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk and won again in Istanbul. In the final round we crushed the team of Kazakhstan 4-0 who had drawn with China 2-2 the round before. Our winning team was made of the sisters Tatiana and Nadezhda Kosintseva, Valentina Gunina, Natalija Pogonina and me, Alexandra Kosteniuk. See the full results, an interview, and our Russian team results. Besides getting Gold medals for our team, Nadezhda Kosintseva on 3rd, Natalija Pogonina on 5th and I on 4th managed to get medals on our boards.
It’s very difficult to actually win an event when everybody says you’re favorite to win, so I’m glad it worked out. There were many very strong teams out there, especially of course China and Ukraine, who ended up on the podium with us.
In the next few days I will publish here some of my games of the Olympiads, so come back soon to visit!
Here is a photo I posted on Instagram (my nick is "chessqueen") of my the 2 medals I won at the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiads
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk at the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiads
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk at the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiads
Alexandra Kosteniuk got a team Gold Medal and an individual Bronze medal
Team Russia vs. Team Kazakhstan, last round: 4-0
Click here to see a Video of the Prize Ceremony
Before the last round
Final Ranking after 11 Rounds – Women
| Rk. | SNo | Team | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | |
| 1 | 2 | Russia | RUS | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 450.0 | 33.0 | 155.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | China | CHN | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 416.0 | 31.5 | 154.00 | |
| 3 | 4 | Ukraine | UKR | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 408.5 | 30.5 | 154.00 | |
| 4 | 6 | India | IND | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 336.0 | 28.0 | 148.00 | |
| 5 | 10 | Romania | ROU | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 313.5 | 28.5 | 129.00 | |
| 6 | 8 | Armenia | ARM | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 313.0 | 26.5 | 140.00 | |
| 7 | 14 | France | FRA | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 347.5 | 29.0 | 147.00 | |
| 8 | 3 | Georgia | GEO | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 344.0 | 28.5 | 144.00 | |
| 9 | 26 | Iran | IRI | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 339.0 | 31.0 | 132.00 | |
| 10 | 5 | United States of America | USA | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 326.0 | 29.5 | 133.00 | |
| 11 | 9 | Germany | GER | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 316.0 | 27.0 | 144.00 | |
| 12 | 22 | Kazakhstan | KAZ | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 309.0 | 27.0 | 138.00 | |
| 13 | 21 | Mongolia | MGL | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 308.0 | 28.0 | 134.00 | |
| 14 | 36 | Belarus | BLR | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 292.0 | 28.5 | 121.00 | |
| 15 | 7 | Poland | POL | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 336.5 | 27.5 | 151.00 | |
| 16 | 13 | Bulgaria | BUL | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 316.5 | 27.5 | 136.00 | |
| 17 | 12 | Hungary | HUN | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 303.0 | 27.5 | 129.00 | |
| 18 | 24 | Latvia | LAT | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 296.5 | 28.0 | 126.00 | |
| 19 | 15 | Cuba | CUB | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 286.0 | 25.5 | 129.00 | |
| 20 | 17 | Netherlands | NED | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 285.5 | 27.0 | 133.00 | |
| 21 | 35 | Uzbekistan | UZB | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 278.5 | 24.5 | 138.00 | |
| 22 | 20 | Slovakia | SVK | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 278.0 | 23.5 | 133.00 | |
| 23 | 37 | Peru | PER | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 273.5 | 26.0 | 127.00 | |
| 24 | 54 | Indonesia | INA | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 262.5 | 26.0 | 122.00 | |
| 25 | 60 | Mexico | MEX | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 230.0 | 25.0 | 112.00 | |
| 26 | 28 | Vietnam | VIE | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 307.5 | 27.0 | 135.00 | |
| 27 | 23 | Czech Republic | CZE | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 306.5 | 26.0 | 139.00 | |
| 28 | 27 | Azerbaijan | AZE | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 306.0 | 26.0 | 145.00 | |
| 29 | 25 | Israel | ISR | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 302.0 | 26.5 | 138.00 | |
| 30 | 19 | Serbia | SRB | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 290.5 | 25.5 | 137.00 | |
| 31 | 34 | Colombia | COL | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 289.5 | 27.0 | 128.00 | |
| 32 | 11 | Spain | ESP | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 285.0 | 25.5 | 132.00 | |
| 33 | 31 | Italy | ITA | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 277.0 | 27.0 | 126.00 | |
| 34 | 53 | Venezuela | VEN | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 262.5 | 26.5 | 119.00 | |
| 35 | 42 | Montenegro | MNE | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 259.0 | 26.0 | 120.00 | |
| 36 | 49 | Estonia | EST | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 243.5 | 25.5 | 123.00 | |
| 37 | 43 | Austria | AUT | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 230.0 | 23.0 | 126.00 | |
| 38 | 55 | Chile | CHI | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 200.5 | 26.0 | 106.00 | |
| 39 | 64 | Bolivia | BOL | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 182.0 | 21.0 | 116.00 | |
| 40 | 18 | Greece | GRE | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 276.0 | 25.0 | 132.00 | |
| 41 | 16 | Slovenia | SLO | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 265.0 | 23.5 | 137.00 | |
| 42 | 45 | Turkey | TUR | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 260.5 | 25.5 | 121.00 | |
| 43 | 57 | Philippines | PHI | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 257.5 | 24.5 | 130.00 | |
| 44 | 33 | Lithuania | LTU | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 255.0 | 24.0 | 131.00 | |
| 45 | 30 | Croatia | CRO | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 242.0 | 25.5 | 119.00 | |
| 46 | 44 | England | ENG | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 240.0 | 24.5 | 124.00 | |
| 47 | 48 | Belgium | BEL | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 234.5 | 25.5 | 122.00 | |
| 48 | 32 | Ecuador | ECU | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 227.0 | 22.5 | 124.00 | |
| 49 | 58 | Turkmenistan | TKM | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 226.0 | 26.0 | 110.00 | |
| 50 | 50 | Australia | AUS | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 217.0 | 24.0 | 122.00 | |
| 51 | 41 | Moldova | MDA | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 214.5 | 23.0 | 122.00 | |
| 52 | 63 | Bangladesh | BAN | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 202.5 | 24.5 | 113.00 | |
| 53 | 62 | Iceland | ISL | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 197.5 | 23.5 | 111.00 | |
| 54 | 39 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | BIH | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 197.0 | 20.5 | 117.00 | |
| 55 | 52 | Portugal | POR | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 192.5 | 19.5 | 117.00 | |
| 56 | 87 | Tajikistan | TJK | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 169.0 | 21.5 | 110.00 | |
| 57 | 40 | Norway | NOR | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 227.0 | 23.5 | 114.00 | |
| 58 | 47 | Brazil | BRA | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 225.5 | 23.0 | 123.00 | |
| 59 | 84 | Turkey 2016 | TUR16 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 225.5 | 22.0 | 117.00 | |
| 60 | 38 | Switzerland | SUI | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 224.5 | 22.0 | 132.00 | |
| 61 | 83 | Malaysia | MAS | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 211.5 | 22.0 | 121.00 | |
| 62 | 66 | El Salvador | ESA | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 206.0 | 21.5 | 124.00 | |
| 63 | 51 | Denmark | DEN | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 201.0 | 22.5 | 117.00 | |
| 64 | 59 | Canada | CAN | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 189.0 | 22.5 | 116.00 | |
| 65 | 61 | South Africa | RSA | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 182.5 | 21.5 | 111.00 | |
| 66 | 68 | FYROM | MKD | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 182.0 | 21.0 | 112.00 | |
| 67 | 75 | IPCA | IPCA | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 180.0 | 22.0 | 106.00 | |
| 68 | 72 | Luxembourg | LUX | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 177.5 | 22.0 | 103.00 | |
| 69 | 85 | Kyrgyzstan | KGZ | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 167.5 | 20.5 | 109.00 | |
| 70 | 94 | Paraguay | PAR | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 158.5 | 21.0 | 101.00 | |
| 71 | 77 | Finland | FIN | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 148.0 | 19.0 | 109.00 | |
| 72 | 29 | Argentina | ARG | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 222.5 | 20.0 | 135.00 | |
| 73 | 79 | Algeria | ALG | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 190.0 | 23.0 | 109.00 | |
| 74 | 80 | Costa Rica | CRC | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 188.5 | 20.5 | 112.00 | |
| 75 | 92 | Sri Lanka | SRI | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 184.0 | 22.0 | 106.00 | |
| 76 | 74 | Syria | SYR | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 181.0 | 19.5 | 111.00 | |
| 77 | 69 | Dominican Republic | DOM | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 178.0 | 22.5 | 105.00 | |
| 78 | 89 | Albania | ALB | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 175.5 | 20.5 | 107.00 | |
| 79 | 65 | Guatemala | GUA | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 172.0 | 20.0 | 108.00 | |
| 80 | 91 | Ireland | IRL | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 170.0 | 21.0 | 95.00 | |
| 81 | 73 | Egypt | EGY | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 163.5 | 20.0 | 111.00 | |
| 82 | 86 | Wales | WLS | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 156.5 | 21.0 | 104.00 | |
| 83 | 76 | Scotland | SCO | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 149.0 | 19.5 | 106.00 | |
| 84 | 104 | Chinese Taipei | TPE | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 115.0 | 18.0 | 88.00 | |
| 85 | 56 | ICSC | ICSC | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 223.5 | 24.5 | 121.00 | |
| 86 | 70 | Jordan | JOR | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 187.0 | 20.0 | 114.00 | |
| 87 | 67 | New Zealand | NZL | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 183.0 | 21.5 | 116.00 | |
| 88 | 46 | Sweden | SWE | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 182.0 | 20.5 | 128.00 | |
| 89 | 115 | Nigeria | NGR | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 179.5 | 19.5 | 100.00 | |
| 90 | 71 | IBCA | IBCA | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 175.5 | 19.5 | 112.00 | |
| 91 | 88 | United Arab Emirates | UAE | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 154.0 | 19.5 | 105.00 | |
| 92 | 78 | Uruguay | URU | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 145.5 | 20.0 | 99.00 | |
| 93 | 116 | Thailand | THA | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 142.5 | 19.5 | 91.00 | |
| 94 | 90 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 139.0 | 17.5 | 105.00 | |
| 95 | 102 | Turkey 2023 | TUR23 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 137.0 | 17.0 | 99.00 | |
| 96 | 101 | Qatar | QAT | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 125.5 | 17.0 | 95.00 | |
| 97 | 81 | Jamaica | JAM | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 122.5 | 20.5 | 86.00 | |
| 98 | 82 | Zambia | ZAM | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 112.5 | 17.5 | 87.00 | |
| 99 | 103 | Japan | JPN | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 104.5 | 16.5 | 93.00 | |
| 100 | 111 | Nicaragua | NCA | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 99.5 | 14.5 | 98.00 | |
| 101 | 96 | Panama | PAN | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 138.5 | 18.5 | 99.00 | |
| 102 | 100 | South Korea | KOR | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 137.0 | 18.0 | 106.00 | |
| 103 | 99 | Lebanon | LIB | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 132.5 | 16.0 | 102.00 | |
| 104 | 106 | Suriname | SUR | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 128.0 | 18.0 | 93.00 | |
| 105 | 120 | Zimbabwe | ZIM | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 119.5 | 17.0 | 91.00 | |
| 106 | 97 | Tunisia | TUN | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 119.0 | 18.0 | 87.00 | |
| 107 | 105 | Monaco | MNC | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 118.5 | 16.0 | 99.00 | |
| 108 | 126 | Kenya | KEN | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 101.0 | 18.0 | 84.00 | |
| 109 | 113 | Netherlands Antilles | AHO | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 71.0 | 15.5 | 76.00 | |
| 110 | 93 | Iraq | IRQ | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 136.5 | 17.0 | 102.00 | |
| 111 | 119 | Mozambique | MOZ | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 108.5 | 16.0 | 92.00 | |
| 112 | 121 | Pakistan | PAK | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 97.5 | 17.5 | 82.00 | |
| 113 | 95 | Botswana | BOT | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 97.0 | 15.0 | 101.00 | |
| 114 | 109 | Uganda | UGA | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 94.5 | 14.5 | 94.00 | |
| 115 | 114 | Malta | MLT | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 89.5 | 15.0 | 87.00 | |
| 116 | 98 | Yemen | YEM | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 83.5 | 14.0 | 95.00 | |
| 117 | 108 | Barbados | BAR | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 107.5 | 18.0 | 80.00 | |
| 118 | 122 | Palestine | PLE | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 90.5 | 16.5 | 81.00 | |
| 119 | 107 | Trinidad & Tobago | TRI | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 72.5 | 13.0 | 86.00 | |
| 120 | 118 | Fiji | FIJ | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 68.5 | 14.0 | 81.00 | |
| 121 | 112 | Angola | ANG | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 53.5 | 14.0 | 77.00 | |
| 122 | 125 | Ethiopia | ETH | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 114.0 | 15.5 | 92.00 | |
| 123 | 124 | Aruba | ARU | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 84.5 | 14.5 | 77.00 | |
| 124 | 127 | Namibia | NAM | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 57.0 | 13.0 | 78.00 | |
| 125 | 123 | Afghanistan | AFG | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 20.0 | 3.0 | 79.00 | |
| 126 | 110 | Libya | LBA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 65.00 | |
| 127 | 117 | Honduras | HON | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 65.00 |
Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result (Khanty-Mansiysk)
Tie Break3: points (game-points)
Tie Break4: Sum Matchpoints (2,1,0) without lowest result (Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk)
Tags: Chess Olympiads, Istanbul, russia chess team
Posted in Chess Tournament | 13 Comments »
Dear Alexandra,
I hope I am not repeating myself, but when I was in the mall in Rhode Island buying that Black Sea salt stuff, I met a woman from Kazakhstan and mentioned your name and she knew of you. She was really nice.
For you forever,
Ron
this is just a sweet victory because it came with so much hard work and toil! congrats to your team
Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk don’t you think you are very lucky for your team? Congrats for the double gold! of course i would have liked china to win. But i am quite happy that Russia has won. You girls deserved it with all that determination. When china lost to kazakh girls one understand chess is so much also about continued long determination and not just being highly rated.
Congratulations Alexandra and to your team – another conquest that delights your fans. you just made my weekend and the week!
that 4-0 was the clincher one draw and you girls would have not overtaken china fantastic play cheers chess queen and kosintseva sisters and gunina and pogonina galliamova should have been here
pretty women – walking through the olympiad congrats on a well-deserved very hard fought gold and congrats for keeping your title. i already wish you a hat-trick in 2014!!!
that was way tooooo tough one of the most hard-fought well-earned titles for the Russian girls and chess queen i am sure. best wishes and congratulations
Congratulations Alexandra!! Thank you so much for sharing all of the day to day news. No one shares as much as you do and your fans love you for it! All the best, Peter
Dear Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk,
Do you remember giving me your autograph and photo? I will miss you as you go back from Istanbul. I want to tell the whole world that you are very sweet, you look awesome when you sit behind the chess board, and I don’t know anyone who is so kind to fans like me. Love and Hugs, (I will never forget that you praised my dress and the chess tips you gave me) Come again to Istanbul. Congratulations also.
congratulation Alexandra wel done !!!!!!!!!! your simply the best #1 my favorite chess player
will they check the medals in customs heh heh. Great job Chess Queen.
Just wanted to say Congratulations on your and your teams performance at the Olympiad. The chess was high caliber and professional. Great team! Well done.
Congrats on the Conquest may i say already that is a hat-trick on the cards two years later in tromse?