Alexandra and her team have started quite well at the European Team Championships in Crete by winning their first three matches, against Israel, Armenia and Bulgaria, then drawing against Hungary and Poland. Alexandra has a score of 3.5/4 up to now. Look at our new photo album, and vote for the photos you like best.

Did you know that Alexandra has already published 45 episodes of her Chess Killer Tips Free Video Podcast? Short 2-4 minute instructional videos, entertaining and instructive, and sure to make you a better chess player. In both MP4 and Flash formats. Check’em out!

Alexandra will leave tomorrow morning for Crete to participate in the European Team Chess Championships. The Russian Women’s team will have a very strong team composed of Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tatiana and Nadezhda Kosintseva, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, and Ekaterina Korbut.

We have lots of material from Villandry, so if you have not yet seen it all, here are the links: photos, Alexandra’s 5-minute video report (MP4, Flash), Chess Killer Tips 44 (MP4, Flash), Chess Killer Tips 45 (MP4, Flash), Chess is Cool Podcast Episode 27 (MP3), and a TV program with Alexandra speaking French (MP4, Flash). Please vote for the photos and the videos using 1 star for lowest up to 5 stars for best. Enjoy

Alexandra just got back from the beautiful Château de Villandry Chess and Music Festival, where she reached the final and only lost in the tie-break against GM Fressinet. We have very nice exclusive photos for you to watch. We now also have finished a superb 5-minute video that will make you feel sorry for not being with us in Villandry last weekend If you prefer the Flash version click here). Thanks to the castle owner Henri Carvallo for his wonderful Chess and Music Festival, it was a great success. We look forward to coming back to Villandry next year!

We are pleased to present to you an 11-minute video of Alexandra on French TV during the Villandry 2007 Chess and Music Festival. Note that it is the first time Alexandra gives an interview in French, her native language being Russian and the foreign language she learned first is English. Press here to watch this video in MP4 or here for Flash.

The match for the main prize of the 2007 Villandry Chess and Music Festival was fascinating. After losing her first game in the main match, Alexandra created a sensation and came back to win her second game with Black after more than 200 moves, to tie at 1-1. That proved quite exhausting, and she finally lost the blitz tie-break 0 – 2. Congratulatipons to Laurent for his winning the 2007 Villandry trophy.

Alexandra played her friend Almira Skripchenko in the semi-final of the 2007 Chess and Music Festival in Villandry. The match ended with 1.5 – 0.5 in favor of Alexandra. We have recorded both games and will soon be able to present them to you in video. In the second semi-final, Laurent Fressinet beat Viktor Korchnoi after a fierce battle and a 1-1 tie in the main part of the match. Tomorrow in the final Alexandra will play GM Laurent Fressinet.

Alexandra has been invited to the beautiful and well-known Château de Villandry, one of the best jewels of the Loire castles, 250 kilometers south of Paris, on October 20-21, 2007. She will play a series of rapid games, together with GM Viktor Kortchnoi, GM Laurent Fressinet, and WGM Almira Skripchenko. The festival will include classical music composed by Philidor (chess player and composer), played by the excellent pianist Natacha Kudritskaya. See the official event poster.