31 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

Here is the latest chess tournament calendar update via Fide. The 2nd Torneo Internazionale La Meridiana is set to take place on 7-9th December at the La Meridiana Hotel in Perugia, Italy. The Open A will be for the players rated between 1700 and 2350 elo, while the Open B is reserved for the players rated under 1700.

Both groups will be played over 5 rounds of Swiss system with the time control 90′ to finish + 30″ bonus. The tournament is organized by the Accademia Internazionale di Scacchi. Chief Arbiter is IA Antonio Sanchirico. Access the official website for more details.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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31 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

The Italian Chess Championship 2012 has begun at the NH Hotel Ambasciatori (corso Vittorio Emanuele 104) in Torino on October 30. It will run till November 10, according to news sent by Chess Blog friend Adolivio Capece. The players include four GMs: Sabino Brunello, Alberto David, Carlos Garcia-Palermo and Michele Godena. Sabino Brunello, 23-years old, is the number two in the national elo list (1.10.2012) and the top seed in the Championship.

Results of Day 1
Bellini – Dvirnyy 1/2-1/2

Caprio – Brunello 1-0
Godena – David 1/2-1/2
Genocchio – Altini 0-1
Garcia Palermo – Denis Rombaldoni 1-0
Axel Rombaldoni – De Filomeno 1-0

Alberto David, who was born in Milano but moved to Luxembourg with the family when he was 10-years old, returned to Italy and to the Italian Chess Federation and is now number 3 in the national elo list (1.10.2012), only one point behind Brunello.

Carlos Garcia-Palermo (58) is the oldest player; everybody remembers that he defeated Bobby Fischer in a simultaneous exhibition in 1970. Michele Godena (45) is the five-time Italian champion, winning his first title 20 years ago in Reggio Emilia 1992/93.

There are six International Masters in the competition: Fabio Bellini (43, Italian champion in 1999), Daniele Genocchio (31), Daniyyl Dvirnyy (22, last year he was second behind Caruana), Guido Caprio (only 18) and the two brothers Rombaldoni, Denis (23) and Axel (20, he already got two GM norms). The field is completed with the two young players, both 17 and both Fide Masters: Simone De Filomeno and Nicola Altini. The arbiters are IA Marco Santandrea from Milano and FA Roberto Ricca from Torino. Results, standing, bulletin on the web site www.scacchisticatorinese.it

The four-time champion Fabiano Caruana – winner in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011 (in 2009 he didn’t play) – will not participate because he will play the Kings Tournament in Bucharest and then FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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31 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

We have here special Happy Halloween greetings from Happy Chess Halloween from  Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Kosteniuk. Check out the full Halloween photoshoot of the Chess Queen™ by clicking on the “scary” photo! Also, scare your opponent with chess tricks, trips and chess puzzles from Chess King.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Also see her personal blog at
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™ 
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30 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

(Crossville, TN) The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has announced the 2013 All-America Team sponsored by Trophies Plus. Team members will receive their Team Jackets and plaques at the 2012 National K-12 Grade Championship to be held this November in Orlando, FL.

The All-America Team was created in 1987 to honor the very best players ages 18 and under. The team, one of the highest national honors attainable by a young chess player, is selected on the basis of age, rating, and activities during that year, similar to the selection process of “all conference” sports teams. This year’s candidates were selected based on their age as of January 1, 2012, and their peak post-tournament rating from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Since this award is a “post-season” selection, the minimum rating limits in each age group are reviewed annually by the USCF staff and the USCF Scholastic Council.

The All-America Team is sponsored by Trophies Plus of Templeton, Iowa. Trophies Plus has sponsored the team since 2004. In addition to the support provided for this award, Jim Jensen, owner of Trophies Plus, provides trophies for national tournaments as well as post-tournament trophy shipping. The USCF is proud to have Trophies Plus as a part of scholastic chess by sponsoring this year’s All-America Team. You can visit Trophies Plus at their website: www.trophiesplus.com or call them at 800-397-9993.

The United States Chess Federation wishes to congratulate each of the fifty-one members of this year’s All-America Team for receiving this prestigious award!2013 USCF All-America Team Sponsored by Trophies Plus:

Age 18 (minimum peak rating 2450)Conrad Holt, KS
Victor C. Shen, NJ

Age 17 (minimum peak rating 2400)Ray Robson, FL
William Fisher, NY

Age 16 (minimum peak rating 2350)Daniel A. Naroditsky, CA
Robert Perez, FL

Age 15 (minimum peak rating 2300)Darwin Yang, TX
Aleksandr Ostrovsky, NY
Atulya Arya Shetty, MI
David Todd Adelberg, AZ
Sean Vibbert, IN

Age 14 (minimum peak rating 2250)Micheal H. Bodek, NY
Arthur Shen, NJ
Yian Liou, CA
Michael William Brown, CA
Kevin Wang, MD
Varun Krishnan, CA
David Hua, NJ
Daniel Gurevich, GA
Sarah Chiang, TX

Age 13 (minimum peak rating 2250)Kayden W. Troff, UT
Christopher Gu, RI
Luke Harmon-Vellotti, ID
Christopher Wu, NJ
James A. Black, Jr., NY
Justus D. Williams, NY
Joshua Colas, NY
Mika Andrew Brattain, MA
Kapil Chandran, CT

Age 12 (minimum peak rating 2150)Andrew Tang, MN
Dachey Lin, TX
Kesav Viswanadha, CA
Simone Liao, CA

Age 11 (minimum peak rating 2150)Jeffrey Xiong, TX
Samuel Sevian, CA
Jonathan Chiang, TX
Tommy O. He, TX
Cameron Wheeler, CA
Roland Feng, WA
Kiana Arab, AZ

Age 10 (minimum peak rating 2050)Ruifeng Li, TX
Albert Lu, CA
Bovey Liu, TX
Nicholas De T. Checa, NY
Tanuj Vasudeva, CA
Brandon Nydick, NY

Age 9 (minimum peak rating 1900)Praveen Balakrishnan, NJ
Trung Nguyen, VA
Rayan Taghizadeh, CA
Aravind Kumas, NJ
Andrew Lewis Titus, MN
Annie Wang, CA
Andrew Zheng, MD
Marcus Ming Miyasaka, NY
Advait Patel, WV
Luke Bohua Xie, OH
David Brodsky, NY

Age 8 & Under (minimum peak rating 1800) Awonder Liang, WI
David Tianjian Peng, IL
Christopher Yo-Shuo Shen, OH
Tan Nguyen, VA
Brian Fanyuan Gu, TX
Thomas Eberling, NJ
Carissa Shiwen Yip, MA*******

The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: www.uschess.org.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s

www.chessblog.com

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www.chessqueen.com

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29 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Here’s a neat chess video to brighten up your Monday. It’s street chess and actually shot with an iPhone. Don’t miss the audience, the surroundings and, of course, don’t miss the acoustics. Have fun with chess and share it with us.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™ 
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29 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

American chess champion 2012, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has won the 16th Unive Chess Tournament that was held in Hoogeveen, Netherlands from October 19-27. The tournament consisted of the Crown Group, the Unive Open and two Amateur events. The Crown Group was a four-player double round-robin. Hikaru Nakamura won the event with 4,5/6 points. Sergei Tiviakov was second at 4,0. Dutch top player Anish Giri finished third with 2,5 points, while the Women’s World Chess Champion Hou Yifan ended the tournament with 2 points.


Along side the main chess event, the Unive Open was held as a nine-round Swiss for the players rated 2000 or above. Local Grandmasters L’Ami Erwin and Nijboer Friso shared the first place with 7,0/9 points each. L’Ami defeated Nijboer in the last round and overtook him by the additional criteria to claim the winner’s trophy. GM Ernst Sipke, GM Timman Jan, GM Van Kampen Robin and IM Bosboom Manuel (all Netherlands) shared the third place with 6,5 points each. The prize fund in the Open was 7500 EUR with 3000 EUR reserved for the winner. You can access the official website of the chess tournament for details in Dutch.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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29 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The latest chess tournament news via Fide is that the 6th Open weekend Città di Recco was held October 26-28 in Recco, Genova, Italy. The A tournament (for players rated above 1800) and B tournament (for U1900) were played over 5 rounds of Swiss system. The A tournament had 22 participants. GM Igor Naumkin and FM Marco Codenotti shared the first place with 4/5 points each. The B tournament had 44 players. Fausto Scali (ITA 1882) was the sole winner with 4,5/5 points. You can find more details at the Official website

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Also see her personal blog at
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™ 
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28 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The European Chess Union has awarded the organisation of the European Individual Women’s Chess Championship 2013 to Serbian Chess Federation. The Championship will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from July 22 to August 4, 2013 with a prize fund of 75 000 Eur (60 000 Eur for players, 15 000 Eur for the ECU). The Ministry of Youth and Sport, headed by the famous chess player WGM Alisa Maric, and City of Belgrade are providing financial and logistic support, according to the latest update by Chessdom.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Also see her personal blog at
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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28 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Time for a nice chess video from Moscow. It is the Moscow. Children and Youth Championship 2012 with a nice section from the opening ceremony and the first round. Have fun with chess. 

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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28 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

This is the latest New in Chess cover. Can you name all the chess players there?

That was way too easy a chess trivia quiz. As you know the 12th Women’s World Chess Champion and her team of Russia won the gold at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad this year. You can read all about it at this personal post by the Chess Queen™.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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27 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Steve Kastenbaum has done a nice interview for the CNN of the first African-American girl who is set to become a chess master. She is also the star of Brooklyn Castle. Here is the report along with the audio.

Rochelle Ballantyne plays chess the same way she walks through the streets of New York, determined to reach her goal without letting any obstacles slow her down.

The 17 year old from Brooklyn is just a few wins away from becoming the first female African-American to attain the ranking of chess master.

[:47] “I’ve never been the first anything so having that title next to my name is going to… it’s going to feel amazing.”
Ballantyne grew up in a single parent home in the working class neighborhood of East Flatbush. She first learned to play chess from her grandmother, who didn’t want that background to limit or prevent her from reaching her fullest potential. Ballantyne did not disappoint.

[2:47] “When I push myself, then nothing can stop me.”

When it came time for middle school she wound up at I.S. 318, an inner-city public school that is home to the best chess team in the entire United States. Assistant Principal John Galvin oversees the chess program.

[4:53] “Rochelle was one of our best players that we’ve ever had in our school. She won several individual national championships.”

Her time at the middle school is featured in Brooklyn Castle, a documentary about the chess team released earlier this week.

It’s made her a rising star in the world of chess.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s 
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Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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27 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

We found this interesting ‘chess story’ about World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand for Indian magazine Outlook. This is what the Indian Grandmaster writes about being 17!

“Seventeen, as I remember it, was a year of change in more ways than one. My father had just retired and we moved into our own house in Chennai’s Besant Nagar. In those days, Besant Nagar was a lonely suburb. I vividly remember my evenings, spent by the sea at Elliot’s Beach, and solitary nights on my balcony where I would reflect quietly on my chess.“It was also the year I joined Loyola College’s department of commerce. I was a student of evening college, so I had the luxury of sleeping well into the morning after a night full of chess, often accompanied by music on my player. I was a big fan of ’80s pop music—Pet Shop Boys, Cranberries—and I was constantly wired to my Walkman. It also helped that my professors were extremely proud and supportive of my chess and the career I was making out of it. I still remember how one lecturer, finding I was attending classes regularly, asked me, “Why are you here? Why don’t you go home and practice your chess?”

“Back then, I used to ride a TVS 50 around the city. Some days, I would take a bus to college. I remember this one time when I got into a bus and, as always, was tuned in to my music when I suddenly noticed that women who walked in and out of the bus were giving me dirty looks. Ten minutes had elapsed before I figured that I was on what is called a ‘Ladies Special’ bus. At the next stop, I was out of that bus and walked to college with an embarrassed smile on my face.

“In college, I didn’t have a big set of friends. Honestly, I don’t even remember the names or faces of the people I went to college with. But that is because, more than ever before, chess started occupying my mind-space. Seventeen was also when I was trying for my Grandmaster norm, even though it was only when I turned 18 that my game had a breakthrough of sorts—it was then that I won the World Junior Championship. (As told to Akhila Krishnamurty)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™ 
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27 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

This Saturday Oct. 27th, learn chess from the chess champs of I.S. 318! Brooklyn Castle star Justus will be teaching lessons at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center from 12-3pm on Saturday, Rochelle will be at the Sunshine Cinema from 2-4pm, Patrick will be teaching at Claridge Cinema, Montclair in NJ from 4:30-7pm and Alexis will be teaching at the The Pasadena Playhouse from 3:30 – 4:30pm in LA! Root for the five chess champs of Brooklyn Castle, in NY theaters now and CA theaters!

Check all our previous posts on Brooklyn Castle here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™ 
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26 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The 5th International Masters Tournament “Douglas Martinez” is taking place from 25 to 30 October 2012 at the Centro Comercial Copacabana Guarenas Municipio Plaza, Venezuela. The latest chess tournament news from Chessdom is that the tournament will be played over 9 rounds of Swiss system with the Bilbao scoring (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw). Top prize is 15,000 Bs, which is a little more than 3,000 USD. You can find more information at the official website.

Participants:1. GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2717
2. GM Iturrizaga Eduardo VEN 2639
3. GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2592
4. GM Papin Vasily RUS 2552
5. GM Alvarez Pedraza Aramis CUB 2526
6. GM Arencibia Rodriguez Walter CUB 2526
7. GM Dobrov Vladimir RUS 2481
8. GM Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo Reynald CUB 2481
9. IM Ortega Amarelle Mariano CUB 2474
10. GM Fargere Francois FRA 2456
11. GM Borges Matos Juan CUB 2453
12. IM Aguero Jimenez Luis Lazaro CUB 2436
13. IM Blanco Ronquillo Humberto L. CUB 2430
14. IM Prasca Sosa Rafael VEN 2422
15. FM Ravelo Gil Eddy CUB 2397
16. IM Kjartansson Gudmundur ISL 2385
17. FM Ynojosa Felix Jose VEN 2356
18. FM Soto Paez Oliver VEN 2350
19. IM Bassan Remo VEN 2260
20. FM Hernandez Alexander VEN 2259
21. NM Martinez Reyes Pedro Ramon VEN 2221
22. IM Gascon Jose Rafael VEN 2206
23. NM Palomo Franklin Annervys VEN 2195
24. IM Pinero Carlos VEN 2163

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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26 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Three-minute Russian language clip from the Kaliningrad Region Sports TV channel about the 6th Alexandra Kosteniuk Chess Cup for kids U-6, U-8, and U-10. Full results can be found at:http://www.azbukachess.com/news/135.html and Chess Queen™ Alexandra’s personal impressions at http://chessqueen.livejournal.com/63411.html.







From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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25 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Have you started your chess training with the super-strong and super-affordable Chess King software yet? Chess King comes with a special new feature of levels – never before used in games with chess puzzles! You get to move up once you complete a particular difficulty level – Perfect for chess training, perfect for chess fun and perfect for improving your chess strength. Meanwhile, here is a nice puzzle for you to solve. How can White win this position?

Click on diagram to find the correct answer with Chess King!

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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25 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

African Chess Lounge (ACL) recently held a successful qualifier which was publicised on their TV show. They are talking about taking fast-paced chess on to television. Reuben Salimu is the pioneer leading the South African initiative and is located in Western Cape province. The first qualifier was won by Henry Steel over Don Van derHeever on tiebreaks and he will face on an upcoming TV show at ACL. 

A press release states African Chess Lounge, as its main objective and steering, would like to create awareness and spin-off interests in the game of chess. Viewers will be entertained through speed chess, a fast paced production with intense fighting in the qualification rounds. Time is always a factor in chess… so expect a lot of upsets an ‘edge of your seat” moments.

The overall objective of the TV is to elevate the game of chess to the greater South African youth by using this medium to teach young children how to play the game of chess. Chess as a sport has been historically linked to the great minds in mathematics, analytics, strategic thinking and much more. The inclusion of a mental sport to enhance the mathematical and numerical competencies of young minds with the technological advancements of media and communication is a natural progression for the sport.

“We will use the digital and communication platforms to increase awareness, reach and educate the population of South Africans who are looking toward international organisations for their guidance… we aim to bring them home and create a message of trust in abilities of fellow South Africans an in so doing, create South African heroes,” states their website: www.africanchesslounge.com.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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25 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

The 16th Corsican Circuit, including the Corsica Masters, Orange Blitz and BNP Paribas Youth Trophy, will take place on 27-31st October in Bastia and Ajaccio. This year the Corsican Circuit is part of the FFE Grand Prix Final. The Festival will start on Saturday, 27th, at 11h with the 60-player simul by Grandmasters Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Artur Yusupov and Loek van Wely.

Later on Saturday, from 15th, the Corsica Masters rapid tournament will have the first seven rounds played. The time control is 15 minutes + 3 seconds and the total prize fund is 60,000 EUR.

On Sunday 10:30 the last two rounds of the Masters will take place. Already at 14:00 the 5,000 EUR worth Orange Blitz is starting. Top prizes are EUR 600, 500, 400, 350 etc.

On Monday, 29th, the BNP Paribas Youth Trophy is starting at 10h. The tournament is offering 15,000 EUR in goods, including Macbook Air, iPads, Laptops, home cinema etc. Also on Monday, the quarterfinals (14h) and semifinals (17h) between the eight top finishers in Masters qualification will be played.

Tuesday will be a rest day and on Wednesday, 31st, the Festival is moving to the Convention Center in Ajaccio for the conclusion of the BNP Paribas Youth Trophy and the Final match of the Corsica Masters.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
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25 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Phiona Mutesi, the heroine of the book ‘Queen of Katwe’ with Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk and Robert Katende. Photo: Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam

Phiona Mutesi – the teenager from the slums of Uganda and her progress as a chess champion is now chronicled in an interesting new book by the sport journalist who first wrote an article about the phenom!

Tim Crothers spotted Phiona Mutesi and knew there was an amazing story there. On one hand is Mutesi’s daily struggle for food. On the other is her goal of becoming a “grandmaster” so she could improve her life. 

Tim Crothers, a former Sports Illustrated senior writer who also occasionally writes for The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer, is the author of the recently released ‘The Queen of Katwe’. The feature was a National Magazine Award finalist and has been optioned by Disney films. Crothers gave an interesting interview to Senior Sports Editor Gary Schwab of the Charlotte Observer.

Q. The Queen of Katwe developed out of an article you wrote for ESPN The Magazine. Where did the original idea come from?
After a speaking engagement in March of 2010, a man in the audience approached me and said he had a good story idea for me. As a journalist, it’s my job to hear him out. I know that 999 times out of 1,000 that situation leads to a story about his Uncle Ned catching a big fish. But the other time it becomes a book.

Q. What intrigued you about the story of Phiona Mutesi?
What writer doesn’t enjoy writing about the underdog? Phiona is the ultimate underdog. An illiterate Ugandan girl from the slums who dreams of becoming a chess “grandmaster.” You can’t make that up. You don’t have to have a natural passion for Africa or chess to be inspired by what this courageous young girl is accomplishing.

Q. Give us a brief description of the world in which Phiona lives.
The Katwe slum where Phiona lives is one of the most impoverished and dangerous places on earth. She is surrounded by crime, famine and disease. Her home is a decrepit one-room shack. There is no electricity or sewer system. She scrounges to eat one meal a day, which usually consists of rice or porridge. Frankly, her biggest challenge each day in Katwe is just trying to survive to live the next one.

Q. What brought her to chess?
When Phiona was 9 years old, she met a man named Robert Katende, another product of the Ugandan slums, who taught her the game as part of a small chess program that he runs in Katwe. Phiona had never heard of chess, but when she saw other children playing the game and how it made them happy, she desperately wanted a chance to be that happy.

Q. You’ve done books on coaches before – Anson Dorrance (North Carolina women’s soccer) and Roy Williams (North Carolina basketball). How does Katende’s approach to teaching and motivating compare?
All three coaches like to use their unique life stories as inspiration to their players and all are wonderful storytellers. While Dorrance and Williams have used the power of their personalities to motivate, Katende is more of a nurturer. The children he mentors would not react well to a show of temper because many of them have been abused by their families. All three coaches have been father figures at times as well.

Q. You have written about world-class athletes for many years. What did you see in Phiona that was similar to others, and what was unique?
Like every elite athlete I’ve ever interviewed, Phiona is a powerfully driven individual. She routinely walks 10 kilometers a day to play chess and will often practice for six hours or more. She is different from many American athletes in that she has no ego. No swagger. A Ugandan girl wouldn’t understand the concept of psyching out an opponent.

Q. How has chess changed Phiona?
Before she found chess, Phiona had never left the Katwe slum. She didn’t know anything about the outside world, but she assumed that everybody else in it lived exactly as she did. Then in 2009, she earned the opportunity to play in a tournament in Sudan and boarded a plane for the first time. She has since traveled to Russia and Turkey for chess events and has learned that other people live a more comfortable life than she does. I think that has motivated her to continue to improve her game so that she might have a chance to live a better life as well.

Q. What are Phiona’s biggest accomplishments in chess?After being introduced to the game at age 9, it took Phiona just two years to become her country’s female junior national champion. Then in 2009 at age 13, she teamed with two male players from the Katwe chess project to win the International Children’s Chess Tournament in Sudan. As a 16-year-old, she traveled to Istanbul in September and competed in the Chess Olympiad, the most prestigious team chess tournament in the world. Phiona won three games there to earn the title Woman Candidate Master, thus becoming the first titled female player in her nation’s history.

Q. What does she think about a book being done on her life?
She has no concept of it. I am told that Uganda is not a reading culture, so the book will have a bigger impact in America than it will in her country. Phiona has seen the book, but her English is not advanced enough for her to read it and I truly believe that she doesn’t understand why anybody would be interested in reading her story, because she simply can’t grasp why it is so extraordinary.

Q. What is the moment in your reporting that you will never forget?
Early on, hearing the story of the night Phiona returned from Sudan as an international chess champion. When she was asked about the first thing she would say to her mother, Phiona said, “I need to ask her, ‘Do we have enough food for breakfast?’ ” That was a healthy dose of perspective that I carried with me throughout the two years I worked on this remarkable book.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don’t miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel

24 October 2012

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The latest chess tournament announcement via Fide is about the Al Ain Chess Club that will be holding its Autumn Chess Festival Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2012 on November 23 and 24 in UAE. The tournament will be submitted for FIDE rating.

Blitz Tournament Start at 03:00 P.M., Friday, 23 November 2012
System: 9 Rounds Swiss Time Control: 5 Minutes with 3 Seconds delay per move Rapid Tournament Start at: 02:00 P.M., Saturday 24 November 2012 System: 6 Rounds Swiss Time Control: 20 Minutes with 10 Seconds increment per move

Prizes:
Blitz Tournament (Total Prizes 3000 AED):
Winner 1000 AED + Cup
2nd 700 AED
3rd 500 AED
4th 250 AED
Best Woman 200 AED
Best UAE Man 100 AED
Best UAE Woman 100 AED
Best Alain Youth 100 AED

Rapid Tournament (Total Prizes 3000 AED):
Winner 1000 AED + Cup
2nd 700 AED
3rd 500 AED
4th 250 AED
Best Woman 200 AED
Best UAE Man 100 AED
Best UAE Woman 100 AED
Best Alain Youth 100 AED

Prizes will not be shared among tied players but determined by tie break. Closing Ceremony of both tournaments will be at 10:00 P.M. of 24 November 2012.

Tie Break System: 1- Direct Encounter; 2 – Buchholz Cut 1; 3- Buchholz Cut 2; 3- Sum of Buchholz 4- Sonneborn-Berger 5- Progressive Score.

Registration: Players who wish to participate should send the following information by Fax to 03-7633362; E-mail to Chessalain@yahoo.com; or by SMS to 050-4374421 till 20:00 of Thursday 22 November 2012.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s 
www.chessblog.com 
Also see her personal blog at 
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