Alexandra’s podcast made it to the top world 50 podcasts in February, and has been regularly in the top 100 all month. In this week’s episode 13 (approx. 5 minutes, 8 MB) she talks about her 2657 ELO performance at the Aeroflot A1 tournament in Moscow and she gives a tip on how to make progress at chess. Please be so kind to send Alexandra a voice greeting either by email or to her voicemail +1-305-767-2143, and also please vote for her podcast in Podcast Alley by simply entering your email in the box at the top right of our main page (the email is needed for vote confirmation). Thanks! More information can be found on our Podcast Page.

It is time for us to introduce you to Alexandra’s new little dog: “Moxi”. She is a Russian Toy Terrier, and she is very small and weighs at the moment less than 1 kilo. She is adorable and loves to lick everybody she sees. Moxi is learning how to play chess by chewing on the pieces, and we think that with practice, she will be one of the best chess playing dogs around, at least in picking up the pieces and bringing them back to the board.

Alexandra Kosteniuk finished the 2006 Aeroflot A1 Grandmaster chess tournament with one of her best performances ever, with 5/9 against opponents ranked 2614, her performance was equivalent to 2657 ELO, which will make her go up even higher in the next world rankings. She played 9 strong male Grandmasters and got 2 wins, 6 draws, and only 1 loss. Well done! Look at the final rankings by clicking here.

In the last three rounds Alexandra drew GM Bu from China and GM Korotylev from Russia, and today she beat GM Robert Kempinski from Poland (ELO 2619). Up to now Alexandra has 5/8 (+2 =6 -0) with a very high average rating of opponents, giving a performance rating well above 2600.

Another good result today, Alexandra Kosteniuk drew Russian National Team Member Grandmaster Alexander Motylev, ELO 2638. Up to now she has 3/5 in this tremendously strong tournament (+1 =4 -0 against 5 GM’s). This is very good practice ahead of the world chess championship that will take place next month in Ekaterinburg. Follow her tomorrow for the 6th round on the official Aeroflot Open site. NEW ALBUM: Click here to see the Zvenigorod January 2006 album. More albums to come shortly!

Great result today, Alexandra Kosteniuk drew ex-world champion Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman, ELO 2660. Follow her tomorrow on the official Aeroflot Open site.

Alexandra is playing in the extremely strong Moscow Aeroflot A1 Tournament. Up to now she has the very good result of 2 out of 3, with draws against GM Wang (ELO 2599) and GM Markus (2596) and today a win against GM Kazhgeleyev (2607). Tomorrow she will be playing against ex-world champion GM Alexander Khalifman, it will not be easy. You’ll be able to see the results and watch her game live on the official Aeroflot Open site.

FIDE just announced today the list of 64 players (click here to see it) who will participate in the Women World Chess Championship that will take place from March 10-27 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The championship will be extremely strong, with all the 25 strongest active players in the world in the race, with the only exception of J. Polgar. Alexandra is the third top rated player of the 64-player field, just after H. Koneru of India, and P. Cramling of Sweden. 7 women with the supreme men’s highest title of Grandmaster will be playing. It will be fascinating to watch, we are sure!