13 May 2010
Full concentration during my Atlanta 48-board simul
It’s time for me to share my impressions of this last weekend’s trip to Atlanta for the National Elementary Scholastic Championships.
I was impressed by the high level of the organization, and of the hundreds of chess kids running around the hotel, it was like chess paradise! The tournament took place in the Hyatt, right in the center of town, in walking distance from the World of Coca-Cola Museum (which I visited), and several malls and nice restaurants. There even is a subway that goes from right next to the hotel straight to the airport, that’s as convenient as it gets!
I started the event on Friday morning with a 48 board chess simul, which went very well and saw me winning 44 games, losing only to Tim Steiner (congratulations!), and drawing with Lazar Vilotijevic, Dex Webster, and Samuel Bennett, who played very solid games of chess!
Starting my game with Tim Steiner
Dex Webster making his best move
Samuel Bennett kept me fighting till the very end
After the simul ended, at the bookstore, there was a lot of activity. I signed over 1,000 autographs, there was a line for 3 hours straight to come and see me, I had to schedule two more book signings to accommodate more people. Lucky they had over 100 copies of my Diary of a Chess Queen (buy it here to get a free personal autograph), and they only ran out at the very end of the weekend. I’m so happy my book is turning into a chess bestseller. See the reviews posted on Amazon.
A very sweet little girl, photographed by her Dad
The crowd at the bookstore was amazing!
I gave a talk and answered questions on the last day.
The students learned a lot in 20 intensive hours of instruction, even had an examination at the end of the formal courses.
A nice group picture with all the people who attended.
Posing with the two head coaches of the seminar:
Grandmaster Alexander Chernin and Mikhail Khodarkovky
With the Executive Director of the
United States Chess Federation (USCF), Bill Hall
and the Editor of Chess Life, Dan Lucas
By the way, you should not miss the official ChessPics photo album of my stay in Atlanta. If you’re on any of the photos, please send me an email with the number of the photo and I will send it to you, at no cost!
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
