Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Chess Femme News

2011 FIDE World Cup

Well, crap, Judit Polgar lost her first game with the white pieces against Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba , which means she has to win with black tomorrow in order to go to play-offs on Thursday. 

Polgar is presently scheduled to play in St. Louis at the Kings v. Queens Chess Tournament at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.  Play begins Saturday, September 10th.  If she makes it through to Round 5, she won't be in St. Louis!  I checked last night at the chess club's website - Martha Fierro is a substitute player for the chess femmes.  If that happens, those women won't stand a chance in hell of a team win for the femmes.  Fierro just is not in the same league as a player of Polgar's caliber.  Polgar was the women's team only chance of winning against Nakamura; I can't see any of the other players, much as I like them, doing anything against Nakamura, or even Anatoly Karpov, a last minute substitute for the men's team.

So, this event has gone from MUST SEE to something much less exciting.

In the meantime, the last US player in the World Cup, GM Gata Kamsky, also lost his game today.  A draw tomorrow sends him home.

Shenzhen FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011
Shenzhen WGP 2011 Shenzhen CHN Thu 1st Sep 2011 - Thu 15th Sep 2011
Leading Round 0 (of 11) Standings:
RkNameTiFEDRtg
1Hou YifanGMCHN2578
2Ju WenjunWGMCHN2536
3Victorija CmilyteGMLTU2525
4Zhu ChenGMQAT2490
5Anna MuzychukIMSLO2545
6Zhao XueGMCHN2497
7Yildiz, Betul CemreWIMTUR2308
8Munguntuul BatkhuyagIMMGL2465
9Elina DanielianGMARM2517
10Alisa GalliamovaIMRUS2498
11Ruan LufeiWGMCHN2477
12Ekaterina KovalevskayaIMRUS2421

Gee, wonder who will win this one?

Botvinnik Memorial (Women)

I can't make heads or tails out of the official website, which is in Russian!  But there are photos of the four chess femmes who played, and I know from The Week in Chess that GM Viktorija Cmilyte won.  The other femmes were GM Koneru Humpy of India, GM Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia, and IM Elina Danielian of Armenia. 


This does not bode well for Humpy:  Viktorija Cmilyte won the women's event and there too the top seed finished last.  That's from The Week in Chess, oh my. 

Botvinnik Memorial w Moscow (RUS), 2-3 ix 2011cat. XII (2545)
1234
1.Cmilyte, ViktorijagLTU2525**01101142676
2.Danielian, ElinagARM251710**01½12610
3.Kosintseva, TatianagRUS25360110**0½2490
4.Koneru, HumpygIND260000½01½**22401

Round 1 (September 2, 2011)
Danielian, Elina- Cmilyte, Viktorija1-053E60King's Indian without Nc3
Kosintseva, Tatiana- Koneru, Humpy0-146C84Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Round 2 (September 2, 2011)
Kosintseva, Tatiana- Danielian, Elina1-041B12Caro Kann Advanced
Koneru, Humpy- Cmilyte, Viktorija0-145A61Benoni
Round 3 (September 2, 2011)
Cmilyte, Viktorija- Kosintseva, Tatiana1-033D38QGD Ragozin
Danielian, Elina- Koneru, Humpy½-½66D02Queen's Pawn Game
Round 4 (September 3, 2011)
Cmilyte, Viktorija- Danielian, Elina1-061A35English Symmetrical
Koneru, Humpy- Kosintseva, Tatiana½-½69E46Nimzo Indian Rubinstein
Round 5 (September 3, 2011)
Cmilyte, Viktorija- Koneru, Humpy1-032D38QGD Ragozin
Danielian, Elina- Kosintseva, Tatiana1-024A09Reti Opening
Round 6 (September 3, 2011)
Kosintseva, Tatiana- Cmilyte, Viktorija1-038B77Sicilian Modern Dragon
Koneru, Humpy- Danielian, Elina0-152D11Slav Defence

2011 Montreal Open Chess Championships

Website.  I would be remiss if I did not remind you of this great event that starts on Friday, September 9, 2011 in beautiful Montreal, Quebec.  Goddesschess has underwritten expenses since the 2009 Championnat for female chessplayers of merit to appear and play for the title.  This year WGM Alina L'Ami (ROU 2368) will be appearing.

I'm happy to report that at present there are 179 pre-registered players!  This year, for the first time, there is a separate "A" group that will be FIDE rated.  Goddesschess also provides prizes for the top two chess femmes in Sections B, C and D. 

Can we break a record?  2010's Championnat saw 204 players!  In 2009 there were 191 players! 

We'd also like to see a record number of chess femmes participating.  Thus far, here are the names of pre-registered players:

Group A (besides WGM L'Ami):
Myriam Roy (2102)

Group C:
Nicole Chantale (1172)
Diana Serban (1052)
Alika Utepova (?)

Group D:
Lorraine Dubois (1066)
Marie E. Eduoard (unr?)
Roberta A. Fleurisca (unr?)
Yodeline Francois (unr?)
Lauriane Roussel (954)
Sabina Tinica (unr?)
Alison Tsypin (762)

I will check with the organizers to confirm pre-registered femmes.  I'd love to break a record for female participation this year!

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