24 March 2010
Good bye, Lena, we will miss you!
I just found out on chessmoscow.ru that the very talented 18-year old Elena Tairova passed away on the 16th of March.
Elena was one of the brightest young chess stars of Russia. In 2006 and 2007 Elena twice took silver medals in the Russian women’s Superfinal and joined the Russian national team. Her FIDE rating was 2455. She had made fantastic progress between 2005 and 2007, going up 200 ELO points in 2 short years.
At the beginning of 2008 Elena got sick and missed a few important chess tournaments, but she came back to professional chess in 2009 winning the Women’s Russian Higher League and taking silver in the Russian Championship among Girls U-20. I spoke with Elena last August and was sure she would have many nice victories in the years to come.
Saddened by this terrible news, let’s thank Elena for the beautiful chess games she gave us and to the world, and let’s pray for her family and friends.
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
