New In Chess Features 1993 Photo of Alexandra Kosteniuk

I got in my mail recently the issue 2012#6 of the excellent Chess Magazine New In Chess, and was pleased to see on pages 10-11 an old photo of me, my sister and my Dad from 1993 (I was 9 years old). The article is called “Getting Girls on the Board”. It mentions my recent portrait and pictorial in the USA edition of Vogue Magazine.

Read more…

Istanbul Chess Olympiad Rest Day Photos by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk

The world is watching the games and the results of the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiads, on the official site or on Chess Blog, it’s the biggest chess event of the year. 5 rounds have been played, see the results page. There are 6 more to go, so anything is possible. On the photo to the left you can see our Russian women’s team, with coaches, having a rest moment at a coffee shop today Sunday. If you tried to recognize all the players, they are: Rublevsky, Pogonina, Kosteniuk, N. Kosintseva, Dokhoian, T. Kosintseva, Riazantsev and Naer. That’s a powerful Elo average of approx. 2582! Below you can find some more photos of today’s tourism in Istanbul.




Read more…

Chess Queen Kosteniuk featured in Vogue Magazine USA August 2012

I’m pleased to let you know that I have been featured in fashion magazine VOGUE, USA Edition, in the August 2012 issue, which hits newsstands on July 24, 2012. That issue is called the “Vogue Age Issue“, and it puts six very different women, ages 28 to 89, in the spotlight. One of them is me, Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk and as you can imagine the main theme is what I love to do – play chess, show why it’s a cool game, and promote chess around the world! This story was in the works since February, when I was contacted by Vogue New York, then a most professional team came to Florida to work on the story, among them professional photographer Ralph Mecke, Reporter Rebecca Johnson, and sittings editor Kathryn Neale, whom I thank for a wonderful job! I hope this article will give a boost to chess in the USA, especially for kids and for girls, too!
Read more…

Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk is in Switzerland

Hello everyone!
No time for a break. The day after the Russia-China match finished I was back in Moscow and the day after that already in Switzerland, on my way to the Swiss National Championship in Flims to which I was invited to play in the men’s National Championship, with GM’s Yannick Pelletier, Viktor Kortschnoi, Joe Gallagher and me, and a few more Titled players. You can follow the tournament on www.schachbund.ch. For the moment I can show you some cool photos of my first couple days in this beautiful country!

Read more…

Three very Smart Beauties – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva

Today we’d like to present a couple photos taken both in Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia) in 2004 and in 2012. They show the Russian chess champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and the sisters Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva. The first photo was taken in 2004 during the Russian Superfinal (news). The last one was taken last week during the 2012 Grand Prix (news). In between these 8 years, all three ladies have won countless titles and awards, all three won at least once the Russian championship, and they are now all full GM’s. Both Alexandra and Tatiana have been European champions, and Alexandra has been the 12th women’s world chess champion 2008-2010. Together all three girls have won many team competitions (2010 Olympiads, 2007-2009-2011 European Team Championships). A great combination of competition and friendship! Best wishes to all of them for the continuation of their careers!

Read more…

Kazan Chess Grand Prix Top: Koneru Muzychuk Cmilyte Hou Kosteniuk Danielian

One of the strongest women’s chess tournaments ever, the 2012 Kazan Chess Grand Prix just ended! Congratulations to Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk for their 7.5 points win. Cmilyte and the current world champion Hou Yifan ended up with 7 points, and I (Alexandra Kosteniuk) finished 5th with Danielian 6th. Tatiana Kosintseva 7th, Lahno 8th, Stefanova 9th, Nadezhda Kosintseva 10th, Galliamova 11th and Yildiz 12th. I am pretty happy with my result, with 4 wins, against Cmilyte, Galliamova, Danielian and Yildiz, and a good finish 2.5/3 which will let me gain about 15 ELO points in the next FIDE rating list. Below is the full results table. The official site has a great photo gallery.
Read more…

Chess Queen Kosteniuk playing in the Kazan Grand Prix

Hello everybody! I’m playing in the Kazan Grand Prix, with the best women chess players of the planet (Hou Yifan, A. Muzychuk, Koneru, T. & N. Kosintseva, Stefanova, Cmilyte, Galliamova, Danielian, Yildiz and I). You can follow the tournament at the official site. Below is my game of today against Alisa Galliamova. The analysis and the applet was generated automatically by Chess King (I changed the board color from green to pink).

Read more…

Chess Queen Kosteniuk at the Nashville National Elementary Championships on May 13, 2012

I just got back from Nashville, and it was a wonderful chess tournament, with over 2200 kids playing, from all over the USA! They were in teams, with their parents, with their coaches, all with a great positive spirit. I have met lots of great talented young chess players in Nashville. Below are some photos from the event. Read more…

Chess Queen Kosteniuk to visit the Nashville National Elementary Chess Championships on May 13, 2012

I’m coming to Nashville, Tennessee to the 2012 National Elementary Championships to help promote chess! The National Elementary is the top K-6 (Kindergarten to 6th grade) tournament in the nation. There will be over 2,200 kids playing for hundreds of trophies and over $20,000 in scholarships! If you have a chance come to see me on Sunday morning and beginning afternoon at or close to the chess bookstore, I’ll be glad to talk to you, have photos taken with you, sign autographs. I’ll also have on stock my books and DVD’s and can advise you what’s best to improve at chess. Check out the USCF list of Nationals, and register if you have not yet done so.

Chess & Cactuses – 9 Queens Honors Kosteniuk at Tucson Chess Fest

Hello everyone!

I just came back from a wonderful trip to Tucson, Arizona, where I visited the 9 Queens Chess Fest. There were lots of chess activities for kids and grown-ups, it was one of the best chess promotion events I’ve ever been to!

I was able to meet  a lot of new chess friends, play a simul against 40 players (I won all 40 games), and even the next day enjoyed the warm weather, which allowed me to take lots of photos of beautiful cactuses. I would like to thank especially Jean Hoffman and Vicky Lazaro who worked round the clock with a great group of volunteers to make this Fest a great success. Check 9 Queens Blog & Facebook page. Also check out my photos below.

Read more…

FaceChess Card features Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk

Hello everyone!
Our friends with “FaceChess” cards have just released their continuing 2012 series and I am so pleased to be featured on one of the cards, in such good company! Have a look at the cards below. You can see the FaceChess cards on eBay under search FaceChess and you can buy them at individually or in a complete set.” There is a set on sale now at this link. There is a huge market for sport cards collecting and it would be nice that chess takes on, it would help chess get more popular!
Read more…

Chess Queen Kosteniuk featured in Chess Life Dress Like a Grandmaster

Hello everyone!
Nice surprise to see I was featured in the brand new December 2011 Chess Life Magazine, in a feature article called “Dress Like a Grandmaster” (click on the title to read it). Do you think chess players should dress nicely when they play a public tournament, or do you think it does not matter how they are dressed?
Press (Facebook) LIKE if you think the 2 photos were well chosen by the editor of Chess Life, and write your comments to this post below.

Alexandra
P.S. Check out my ARTICLES page (200+ articles) and my PHOTOS page (12,000+ photos).

🙂

 

Kosteniuk’s Beef Stroganoff featured by Migros

Hi everyone!
In this week’s Migros magazine, distributed free to every household in Switzerland, I am featured on the cover and on 4 pages showing one of my favorite recipes, the one for Beef Stroganoff. Read the article and interview and check out the pictures!
Bon appétit!
Alexandra 🙂

Read more…

Kosteniuk Posts New Orlov Chess Sets Photos

Hi everybody!

Following my visit to the Chess factory in Orlov last month (see my previous post of the visit), I was asked to make a photo series to promote the company’s chess sets.

A photo session was made yesterday with Pufichek (see other photos by Pufichek), and the result can be seen in this new photoalbum.

Some samples are below.

Read more…