Alexandra Kosteniuk's CHESSQUEEN.COM

Chess Queen® & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Grandmaster Mega-Site & Chess Blog


Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category

May 30th, 2011

Kosteniuk Interview and Photos in Sharp Magazine June 2011

Hello everybody!

Today I got hold of the June 2011 issue of the magazine SHARP (Russian Edition), and found the long awaited  interview I gave last month with some really beautiful pictures. As soon as I get permission from the publisher I will post some more, but for the moment here is a preview… Read more…

May 29th, 2011

Photos from the Kosteniuk Culinary Event in St. Petersburg

Hello everybody!

It’s a pleasure to share with you some of the best photos taken during the May 20 Culinary event (see the Press Release here), organized by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council in St. Petersburg, Russia. The photos were taken by photographer Alexandra Belensky (Александр Беленький) whom we thank for allowing us to use them in this post. As you can see from the images, everyone had a great time at this event!

It was a great combination food and chess, like we had last year in Moscow. The goal of these chess-culinary classes is to prove that there is a little champion in each child and we just need to help kids to discover this talent. Healthy living habits, sport exercises and of course chess can help a kid to grow into a happier, healthier and smarter person.

Read more…

May 23rd, 2011

Happy 60th Birthday to Anatoly Karpov

Hello everybody!

Today I’d like to wish a most wonderful birthday to the 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Evgenievich Karpov.

There is a lot that connects me to Anatoly, and not only our initials (we’re both “A.K.”!)

In the photo you can see me getting an autograph from Anatoly when I was only 6 years old, in 1990. That autograph was one of my most prized possessions, and stimulated me to work hard on chess. Little did I know that Read more…

May 22nd, 2011

1997 Eurovision Chess Documentary Kosteniuk To Become a Queen

Hello everyone!

I looked back at all the documentary videos I have in my collection, and for sure one of the best, if not THE best is the following one, made by Eurovision, in 1997, when I had just won the Girls Under-12 World Chess Championship. The documentary is called “To Become a Queen”.

As they say, “the rest is history…”.
Read more…

May 18th, 2011

Kosteniuk to give Culinary Master Class in St. Petersburg on May 20, 2011

Hello everybody!

Now that the European Championship is over, tomorrow I fly to Moscow and then immediately to St. Petersburg where I will give a Culinary Master-Class with the Norwegian Seafood Council on May 20, 2011, at 4 PM at the Stroganoff Steak House (Строганофф Стейк Хауз). Below you can find the Press Release in English & Russian. You can also download the Russian Press Release or the English Press Release. I also have a blog on the site zdr.ru (in Russian about health).

Read more…

May 18th, 2011

European Championship Tbilisi 2011 ends

Dear all! The Women’s European Chess Championship 2011 is over, it went pretty badly for me at the end and my result is far below that I was hoping for, and in total contrast to my win in Olginka just a couple weeks ago. The first 3 winners in Tbilisi were Viktorija Cmilyte, Antoaneta Stefanova, and Elina Danielian, whom I congratulate wholeheartedly. However, for me, life goes on, and as soon as I get back home I will post some of my games from Olginka and Tbilisi with comments on my blog. But now in my next post I will to announce a very special event that will take place in Saint Petersburg on May 20th.

May 6th, 2011

Tbilisi sightseeing tour by Kosteniuk

Hello everybody!

Today I had a wonderful day in Tbilisi. I decided to do a little sightseeing since from tomorrow on I will be very busy with the tournament. In this post I will show you lots of photos of Tbilisi, it is so beautiful! So follow me on my journey! I started my visit by Read more…

May 5th, 2011

Women’s European Chess Championship 2011 in Tbilisi, Georgia

Hello everybody!
I just arrived to Tbilisi. The women’s European Chess Championship 2011 will start in 2 days. I have one extra day to enjoy the capital of Georgia, all the more so it’s my first time in this country.

The first thing I noticed after arrival Read more…

May 5th, 2011

Kosteniuk Fashion Photos by Pufichek

Below you can see some of my fashion photos, taken by Pufichek.
Read more…

May 5th, 2011

Kosteniuk Fashion Photos by Pierre-William Henry

Hello everybody!
Here are 3 fashion photo series, taken by Swiss photographer Pierre-William Henry.
Read more…

May 5th, 2011

Kosteniuk Fashion Photos by Dolgina and Minkovich

Hello everybody!
Below you can see some of my fashion photos. The first one is from 2001, when I was 17 years old, FIDE invited me to the the official face of chess. Then I met well-known photographer Zhenia Minkovich in Paris who made a photo series for the magazine Vogue, and another one, also in Paris.
Read more…

May 5th, 2011

Kosteniuk visits Macedonia, day 2

Hello everyone!

As I promised earlier here is the post about my second day in Skopje.

The day started with a morning TV-show program recording.  Read more…

May 2nd, 2011

Kosteniuk visits Macedonia, day 1

Hello everybody!

Right now I’m in Skopje, the capital of FYROM (Makedonija). I was invited to Macedonia by the company Asseco (Асеко) in order to promote chess in the country. This company believes that chess can help kids perform better in school and later on in life. That’s why after the opening a chess club in Skopje which I visited today, they are also planning on starting chess programs in the schools of the Macedonia. They invited me to the country because they want to break the image of chess as a boring game for middle-aged people and bring more youth and kids to the game.
Read more…

May 2nd, 2011

Kosteniuk visits chess factory in Orlov

Hello everybody!

After the Russian Team Championship and before the start of the women’s European Chess championship in Georgia on May 7 I had a small break between my chess tournaments, but not without chess.

On April 29 by the invitation of the Governor of the Kirov region – Nikita Belyh I visited a very unique place – a chess factory in the Russian city of Orlov in the Kirov region of Russia. The factory was created in 1939 and starting from 1951 produces different chess sets. It’s one of the biggest chess sets producers in Russia and I was amazed by a chance to witness the birth of the chess pieces! See below for more photos.

Read more…

April 27th, 2011

Kosteniuk Chess Games from Olginka


Hello everyone!
I’m pleased to report that my team won the Russian Team Championship in Olginka, Russia. My team was comprised of (from left to right in the photo) Alina Kashlinskaya (Board 5, 4/5), Valentina Gunina (Board 2, 4/6), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Board 1, 6/7), Olga Girya (Board 4, 2/4), and Marina Romanko (Board 3, 2/6). In second position was the team led by Zhukova and Munguntuul, and in 3rd the team led by Stefanova and Lahno. The championship was very strong this year.

I present to you all my 7 games, in the pgn player below.
Most important games: Against Galliamova, Zhukova, Stefanova
Nice combination 31. Rh8+ against Iljushina
My personal favorite: Against Zhukova where my [black] king goes all the way to a1
Select the game you want to watch from the pull-down menu below:
Read more…

April 19th, 2011

Russian Team Chess Championships 2011

Hello everyone!
I am playing at the Russian Team Championships, in Olginka, Krasnodar Region. My team is from Moscow and is called “ШСМ – РГСУ”, in order of boards: Kosteniuk, Gunina, Romanko, Girya, Kashlinskaya. You can check out how we’re doing by clicking on the following links: Watch all games LIVE each day, Official site of the Russian Chess Federation, Team results, individual results.

I present my games in the pgn viewer below. Select the game you want from the pull-down menu. Below you will find more games from this event.
Read more…

March 28th, 2011

Chess and Tennis

Hello everybody!

In less than 2 weeks I will be flying to Europe where I will be participating in many interesting chess tournaments such as the Russian Team Championship, the Russian Blitz and Rapid Championships and the Women’s Individual European Chess Championship. I will make sure to keep you posted about the results and my games.
But for the moment I’m at the Sony Ericsson Tennis Open (click more… for photos)

Read more…

March 27th, 2011

Detroit Chess gets Visit by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Hello everybody!
I had a great time yesterday in Detroit at the Thinker’s Chess Challenge Final. I met more than 200 kids, analyzed chess games with them, gave a lecture, answered questions, signed books, distributed prizes to the winners. Everyone had a great time. Read the article that just came out in the Detroit Free Press.

Read more…

February 21st, 2011

Kosteniuk Article in Russian Magazine ХлебСоль (BreadSalt)

Hello everybody!
An article I wrote just came out in the Russian culinary magazine ХлебСоль, which means in English Bread and Salt. In it I explain that a good way to lose pounds is… to play chess! If you speak Russian, you can read the article by clicking here.
Read more…

February 6th, 2011

My Games from The Moscow Chess Open 2011

Hello everybody!

I am pleased to report that I won the prestigious 2011 Moscow Chess Open Women’s Invitational, with 7/9. I made a long post on www.chessblog.com about it. By clicking on “more…” below you can watch all 9 games I played. Thanks to everyone on Twitter (English, Russian) and Facebook who supported me along the way.

Read more…

February 6th, 2011

LIVE Game Munguntuul – Kosteniuk

Watch my Game LIVE against Mungultuul, decisive for the Tournament win!

Update February 6, 2011: The game just ended in a hard-fought draw, which benefits Alexandra since she has a better Berger coefficient (she beat stronger players such as Zhao Xue).

So the big winner of the 2011 Moscow Open Women’s Invitational Chess Tournament is Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk!

Read the post about the 2011 Moscow Chess Open on www.chessblog.com.

Read more…

February 5th, 2011

LIVE Game Kosteniuk – Zawadzka

Chessqueen is pleased to present Alexandra Kosteniuk’s Moscow Open’s Game LIVE, played right now February 5, 2011, against Jolanta Zawadzka. Update: Alexandra Kosteniuk won. Black’s Queen got caught in the middle of the board!

Click more… to see the game.

Read more…

January 3rd, 2011

Chess Queen Kosteniuk’s new LiveJournal Russian Blog

Hi everybody!

On the Eve of Christmas, I got a wonderful present from a girl named Olesya. She had registered a few years ago the nickname “chessqueen” on Livejournal. Then she found me with that same nick on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and decided to gift me the nick on Livejournal too! Read more…

December 14th, 2010

Kosteniuk Christmas Goodwill Simul Offer

Hi everybody!

I’ve decided to repeat last year’s successful chess promotion and offer a free chess simul to a deserving chess club or school in the USA. Read my post about it and my thoughts about the closing 2010 chess year, and how I’m getting ready for 2011.

Link to the original post here.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women’s World Chess Champion

November 28th, 2010

Kosteniuk will give Culinary Master Class

Hello everybody!

I love to do new things. Especially if they are both useful and tasty!

I am pleased to announce my collaboration with the Norwegian Seafood Export Council that will start with a culinary master class, that I will give tomorrow November 30, 2010.

Read the PRESS RELEASE below. NEW: Photos!

Read more…

October 2nd, 2010

My Team Russia-1 Won Gold at the Chess Olympiads!

Hello everybody!
I am so pleased to report that my team Russia-1 (comprised of Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva, me – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alisa Galliamova, and Valentina Gunina), is guaranteed to win Gold at the Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiads. We got 10 match win in 10 rounds, not even one match drawn or lost. That’s 20 match points, with the closest follower China with only 16 match points, and then 4 teams with 15 match points (Ukraine, Georgia, Russia-2 and Poland). See the rankings after 10 rounds. I made a post about it on chessblog.com. Tomorrow is the last round then we will have lots of photos and even video from the prize ceremony.

Read more…

September 26th, 2010

Russia Team-1 in Khanty-Mansiysk

Hi Everyone!
Today is the first free day of the Olympiad and the teams are resting and getting ready for the next 6 rounds. After the first 5 rounds in the women’s tournament the teams of Russia and Ukraine are in the lead and tomorrow we will meet in a direct encounter. Before this round our team went for a nice autumn stroll in Khanty-Mansiysk. The weather is perfect for this time of this year. All trees are yellow and in the Victory Park I found a nice poster , have a look a the photo below. Read more…

September 11th, 2010

Kosteniuk in TV show Bolshie Gonki

To the left is a photo of me on TV, it was the TV game show I did the shooting for in Paris this summer (I also did a trivia competition about it). I just got the DVD of the show and have posted it on my second YouTube channel “chessqueenTV” (my first YouTube channel is “chessqueen” and my third one is “chesskillertips“.  You can now see the video here below in an embedded player: Read more…

September 11th, 2010

Name the Players from Russia 1 & 2

Hi Everybody!
I’m now training with the Russian National Team, preparing for the upcoming Chess Olympiads in Khanty Mansiysk. After the chess training, each evening, most players and coaches from Russia 1 & 2 play soccer, it’s great, we have a great time together, the teams are very friendly! Can you name the players and coaches? If you click “Read more…” you will see a larger photo. Good luck!  Read more…

September 5th, 2010

Chess Queen Kosteniuk tops 100K Twitter followers

Hi everybody!

I just want to let you know that I passed the milestone of 100,000 followers on Twitter. Twitter has now become a major social network with millions of members, and as you can see lots of chess players. You can visit my Twitter page at http://twitter.com/chessqueen and sign up to follow my updates (it’s free to join Twitter). There are some Chess GM’s on Twitter, a good list can be found on twitterchess.com. Check out also my Facebook page & YouTube channel.

Posted by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk, women’s world chess champion

September 1st, 2010

September 1: Kosteniuk Plans ahead

Hello everybody!
September 1 is a big holiday in Russia, the Day of Knowledge. All children start their school on this day, they bring flowers to their teachers, and some of them hear the ring of the school bell for the first time in their lives. While thinking about the days Read more…

August 31st, 2010

Kosteniuk Kristiansund 2010 Review

Hello everyone!
I’d like to share with you my review of the recently ended Kristiansund Open, in which I only got 13th place with 4 out of 6, a result I am not happy about. Read more…

August 30th, 2010

Kosteniuk Interview in Kristiansund

Hello everyone!
Click more below to see a video interview of me during my recent trip to Norway, courtesy Europe-Echecs. More about Kristiansund to come soon!

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion

Read more…

August 26th, 2010

Kosteniuk Plays Chess Open in Kristiansund

Hi all!
I’m in Kristiansund, Norway right now, a quiet city on the western coast of Norway. After a rather long trip yesterday from Moscow to Kristiansund with two stops in Stockholm and Oslo, today I’m resting before playing the first round of a 6-games tournament at 8 pm tonight. The list of the participants of the open tournament can be found here. It’s a special feeling for a chess player to be in Norway since everybody is so interested and excited about chess. Where else in the world you will see a hair-salon with the name “Checkmate“?

On Saturday, August 28, another very interesting rapid tournament starts here with 4 chess stars – Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Judit Polgar and the local player John Ludvig Hammer. I will make sure to let you know how it goes. Read more…

August 20th, 2010

Kosteniuk to give a Simul in Sierre

Hi everybody!

I’m pleased to announce I will give a simul in the charming town of Sierre, in the sunny canton du Valais, in Switzerland, on October 9, 2010, at 1 PM. It will take place at the Centre Commercial Manor of Sierre. It seems it’s possible to sign up, although preference will be given to local players. Sierre is organizing the simul to celebrate the great result of their first team Valais 1 in the National Team Championship.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com & www.chessblog.com & www.kosteniuk.com

August 16th, 2010

Most Interactive Celebrity Poll

Hi everybody!
The Top 10 Blog ran a poll for the “Most Interactive Celebrity on Twitter”, and I came out 6th! Make sure to check out my Twitter page to see if you agree with that poll, sign up with Twitter and start tweeting with me! My nick is “chessqueen”.
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion Read more…

August 7th, 2010

Kosteniuk Chess960 Simul

Hi everybody!

Tonight I gave a 20-board Chess960 simul at the 2010 Mainz Chess Classic, while Vishy Anand gave a 40-board Classical Chess Simul. What was special about my simul is that I played chess with different starting positions on the board, none of the 20 boards had a classical chess setup!

Read more…

August 6th, 2010

3 World Chess Champions at Mainz Chess Classic

Hi everyone!

Mainz is promising to be a great venue, with today 3 reigning World Chess Champions present at the Press Conference.

– Vishy Anand, world chess champion, classical chess
– Alexandra Kosteniuk, women’s world chess champion
– Levon Aronian, rapid world chess champion

Read more…

August 2nd, 2010

Chess is Cool Comic #6 is out

I’m pleased to share with you my new “Chess is Cool” comic #6, which is a joint venture between myself and talented comic-book illustrator-cartoonist René Duret. See it below or on my comic page, where you will find many more chess comics. If you’d like to publish it (in any language), I usually give the permission to do so at no cost, just contact me about it. See it in bigger size below. It’s perfect to promote chess to kids in clubs and schools. Read more…

July 31st, 2010

Kosteniuk goes to Mainz 2010

I’m looking forward to going to Mainz (close to Frankfurt, Germany), to give a Chess960 simul on Friday August 6 at 4PM (I’m the reining Women’s World Chess960 Champion), then play in the World Rapid Chess Championship on Saturday & Sunday (Open section – both men & women). There are already over 100 titled players, it will be super strong (Aronian, Grischuk, Shirov, Kamsky are playing)! I am #36 in the list as of now. See below for the whole list of pre-inscribed players. Read more…

July 30th, 2010

Trivia: Where am I?

Hi everybody!

I have an easier trivia competition for you this week, Please tell me where I am now 🙂
There is a bigger picture if you click on the more… link below. Read more…

July 24th, 2010

FIDE Presidential Board

Hi everybody! I’m now at the FIDE Presidential Board in Tromsø, Norway. I’m sitting in the meetings right now, will let you know how it goes a little later. Read more…

July 23rd, 2010

Trivia: Guess what I did on 21st of July

Hi everybody!
I have a tough one for you. The first person to guess precisely what I did on July 21 will win a prize. I want someone to get this prize, so I will daily add hints and photos so you can get closer to the truth. Any answers can be entered in comments to this post, or on Twitter, or on Facebook. On the photo above I am in front of the building where the “activity” took place. You can ask hint questions in the comments and I will answer to help you get closer to the answer (without giving it all out at once). Good luck! See below for hint photo(s) Read more…

July 22nd, 2010

Europe-Echecs Article on Chess & Twitter Revolution

I finally have been able to get a copy of the article I wrote on the Twitter revolution and how it affects chess, published in the last issue of the excellent chess magazine Europe-Echecs. You can find many more articles in that articles section in 23 languages. See my Twitter feed and join my 86,000+ followers to be able to communicate better and be the first to get the freshest chess news directly from me! Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion, www.chessqueen.com

July 21st, 2010

Chess Envelope from the Czech Republic

Hi Everybody!
I just wanted to share with you a chess envelope I got last week in Biel as a present from IM Neboisa Illijin, from the Czech Republic. It was issued by www.sachinfo.cz with an image of me on the cover of their magazine from June 2003. Since I collect chess magazine covers and don’t have this particular one in my collection, if you happen to have that magazine and can send it to me, I will send you a nice gift in exchange for it! let me know! Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion

July 18th, 2010

Kosteniuk Swiss Chess Rapid Champion!

Hi everybody!

Today July 18 I did quite well at the Biel Rapid Chess tournament, with 6.5 out of 9, winning against GM Leonid Kritz (2618), GM Mohammed Al-Sayed (2498), FM Emmanuel Preissman (2316), and Vasyl Nedilko (2408), and losing only to GM Alexander Riazantsev and GM Christian Bauer (2612). I tied for overall 6th place (8th by tie-breaks), and was awarded the first Swiss prize and cup. The tournament was very strong with 13 GM’s and lots of IM’s.

I have the videos of most games, and plan on preparing one or more commented game(s) for my YouTube channel. Photos and full rankings can be found below.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com Read more…

July 17th, 2010

Kosteniuk Swiss Chess960 Champion!

Hi everybody!

I’m glad to announce that today I won the Swiss Chess960 Championship in Biel, with 5.5/7, with wins against GM Sebastien Feller (2611), GM Mikhail Ulibin (2540), Marco Gähler (2334), Jonas Wyss (2277), and Markus Kerz (2120), a draw against GM Michael Roiz (2645), and only one loss against GM Vitali Golod (2585). Let me remind you that Chess960 is the variant of chess invented by World Champion Robert Fischer, in which the starting position of the main pieces is chosen at random. Find out more about Chess960 on Wikipedia.

More photos of the event and of the winners can be found below.

The full results are as follows: Read more…

July 11th, 2010

Sporty Mood in Lenzerheide

Hi everyone,

Today after my game I went to practice some football at the local sports field in Lenzerheide and will watch the final of the 2010 World Cup between Holland and Spain. Up to now 4 rounds of the Swiss championship have been played, I’m at 2.5 out of 4, 1/2 point behind the leaders Korchnoi, Pelletier and Gallagher, who all have 3/4. 5 more rounds to go.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com

July 9th, 2010

Kosteniuk Chess Cover Girl

Hi everybody!
Two more recent chess magazine covers in which I have been featured, the “Revue Suisse des Echecs” = “Schweizerische Schachzeitung” = “Rivista Scacchistica Svizzera” (Switzerland) and “Jaque” (Spain) added to my collection. I offer a prize if anybody can get me a cover missing from the list :-). Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Women’s World Chess Champion

July 8th, 2010

Kosteniuk wins first round in Lenzerheide

Hi everyone!

Today was the first round of the National Swiss Chess Championship  in Lenzerheide, and I won against International Master Beat Züger (ELO 2405). The tournament has 10 players and will run 9 rounds, one game against each player, from July 8 to July 16, 2010.

See the diagram below for a nice series of moves.

Kosteniuk – Züger, Lenzerheide 2010, round 1

In this position it’s white to play and win.

Read more…