Just after becoming 2005 Russian Champion on the 27th of May, and on the invitation of Vice-Mayor Giancarlo Marcotulli (on the photo shaking hands with Alexandra), Alexandra went to the beautiful town of Frascati near Rome, to give a simul last Sunday to a very strong group of Chess Correspondence Players (result +15 =5 -0). She also promoted chess in Italy (who will host the 2006 Chess Olympiads), and was a guest of honor at the Prize giving Ceremony of the GM Tournament, won by Italian Champion Fabio Bruno. A photo album will soon follow.

ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK IS RUSSIAN CHESS CHAMPION 2005! Instead of a quick draw which would have guaranteed her first place, Alexandra went all out and won her last game against Kochetkova, which gave her clear first place with the incredible result of 9 points out of 11 in the strongest Russian Championship todate, and an amazing performance of 2691 ELO, which will earn Alexandra more than 18 ELO points on the next rating list! Results: 1. Alexandra Kosteniuk 9 out of 11 2. T.Kosintseva 8 3. Kovalevskaya 7.5 4. N.Kosintseva 6.5 5. Galliamova 6 6-7. Pogonina and Matveeva 5.5 points, etc. You can look at all of Alexandra’s games in an applet by clicking here, or in our PGN Player here.

Breaking News! Alexandra won today against Valentina Gunina and yesterday against Tatiana Kosintseva, and continues to be alone in the lead of the Russian Chess Superfinal, with 8 points out of 10! Her followers are Kovalevskaya with 7.5 and T. Kosintseva with 7 (but these 2 play together tomorrow). You can look at all of Alexandra’s games in an applet by clicking here, or in our PGN Player here. Continue to follow the live games daily by clicking here. There is only one more game till the end of the tournament, tomorrow May 26,2005.

Alexandra is continuing strong and is leading the Russian Superfinal with 5 out of 6 points, with 4 wins and 2 draws up to now. On the photo to the left you see Alexandra at the beginning of her game with Nadezhda Kosintseva (which Alexandra won). Yesterday Alexandra beat Natalia Pogonina in 30 moves in a Sicilian Dragon, don’t miss her winning 29.Rh8+! sacrifice by looking at her game here. Today Alexandra beat Matveeva in 18 moves. Continue to watch the games live daily by clicking here. The tournament is fiercely fought, especially by the “K’s” Kosteniuk, Kovalevskaya, and the two Kosintseva sisters.

NEW! We are pleased to present to you a free PGN Player! You can use it very simply, in the case you don’t have your chess software handy, or maybe you are in an internet cafe or at a friend’s computer and you absolutely must see a chess game someone sent you in the universal PGN format. Just go to the PGN Player by clicking here, then copy-paste the moves in the box (or type them in), press Reset and you can watch the pieces move on the board by clicking on the arrows. We hope it will be useful to you! Enjoy! P.S. If you have a technical comment about it, please use the contact form to let us know!

Alexandra is pushing hard at the Samara Women Superfinal by winning her first two games, against World Champion U-20 Ekaterina Korbut in the first round and Nadezhda Kosintseva in the second. Today Alexandra drew Alisa Galliamova. Look at Alexandra’s games in an applet by clicking here. Women tournaments in general and this Russian championship promises to be extremely competitive and hard fought, and very few draws are expected among the top contenders! We remind you that you can watch the games live on the official tournament site by clicking here or here. The games start at 3PM Samara time, one hour ahead from Moscow. Please keep your encouraging emails coming!

Alexandra just arrived in Samara with her trainer GM Alexei Korotylev. She will participate in the 2005 Russian Superfinal, in which the top 12 Russian women are competing. Even though Alexandra is the top rated player, it will be a very hard tournament, and we wish Alexandra the best of luck! The first round is tomorrow at 3PM Samara time (which is 2PM Moscow time, noon CET, and 6AM EST). You can follow the tournament on the official tournament site (including watching live games) or the good Russian site ChessPro.

Look at the beautiful little bear-keychain we have to the left: his name is “chess is cool” and he would like to be yours! For a limited time and until we receive those cool little bears, we would like to offer them to anybody who gets membership to Alexandra’s site, or makes any purchase or donation above $40. So please visit our shop to help Alexandra promote chess in the world, and this cute little bear will come to you!

We have finally created 2 new photoalbums, one of the simul in Montreux (Switzerland) and one of Torino (Italy), enjoy! We are preparing more photo albums for you, so come back soon to check them out. Alexandra is now preparing for the Russian Women Superfinal, which will take place in Samara (Russia) next week. Wish her good luck!