2012 French Chess Championships

A tragedy has struck the French championships.  I will let Mark Crowther tell it in his own words, from The Week in Chess:

Mark Crowther - Saturday 25th August 2012
The French Chess Championships for men and women took place in Pau 13th to 25th August 2012. Romain Edouard, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Etienne Bacrot and Christian Bauer all had 7/10 going into the final round. However then there was the shock news of the death of Christian Bauer's 4 month old child.

Crowther went on to report:

On the proposal of the players the 11th and final round was cancelled. Edouard, Vachier and Bacrot were to play off for the title on Saturday but on further reflection it was decided that all 4 players should share the title.

Kudos to the players and the organizers for reaching such a humane result.  Our condolences go out to GM Bauer.

On the women's side, here are the results for the final round:

Round 10 (August 24, 2012)
Milliet, Sophie	- Skripchenko, Almira	½-½	15	B09	Pirc Defence
Maisuradze, Nino	- Collas, Silvia	½-½	50	A57	Volga Gambit
Safranska, Anda	- Bollengier, Andreea	½-½	20	C25	Vienna Game

And here are the final standings (not unexpected):

ch-FRA w 2012 Pau FRA (FRA), 14-24 viii 2012											cat. III (2325)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2442	*	*	1	½	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	1	7	2450
2.	Milliet, Sophie	m	FRA	2411	0	½	*	*	½	0	½	1	½	1	1	½	5½	2343
3.	Collas, Silvia	m	FRA	2261	½	0	½	1	*	*	1	½	0	1	0	½	5	2337
4.	Maisuradze, Nino	wg	FRA	2284	1	½	½	0	0	½	*	*	0	½	1	½	4½	2297
5.	Safranska, Anda	wg	FRA	2298	½	0	½	0	1	0	1	½	*	*	½	½	4½	2294
6.	Bollengier, Andreea	wm	FRA	2253	0	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	½	*	*	3½	2229

Congratulations to IM Almira Skrupchenko, who makes a fine living playing high-stakes poker when she's not winning the French national women's chess championship.

2012 French Women's Chess Championship

Last round tomorrow.  Here are the current standings:

ch-FRA w 2012 Pau FRA (FRA), 14-24 viii 2012											cat. III (2325)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2442	*	*	1	.	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	1	6½	2455
2.	Milliet, Sophie	m	FRA	2411	0	.	*	*	½	0	½	1	½	1	1	½	5	2335
3.	Collas, Silvia	m	FRA	2261	½	0	½	1	*	*	1	.	0	1	0	½	4½	2343
4.	Maisuradze, Nino	wg	FRA	2284	1	½	½	0	0	.	*	*	0	½	1	½	4	2298
5.	Safranska, Anda	wg	FRA	2298	½	0	½	0	1	0	1	½	*	*	½	.	4	2295
6.	Bollengier, Andreea	wm	FRA	2253	0	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	.	*	*	3	2218

Results from today's Round:

Round 9 (August 23, 2012)
Skripchenko, Almira	- Maisuradze, Nino	½-½	56	B31	Sicilian Rossolimo
Collas, Silvia	- Safranska, Anda	1-0	38	D01	Queen's Pawn Richter/Veresov
Bollengier, Andreea	- Milliet, Sophie	½-½	56	A30	English Symmetrical

2012 French Women's Chess Championship

Hola darlings!

Well, trying to decipher the French website is as bad as trying to decipher a Russian website written in Cyrillic!  I can't do it, despite four years of high school French umpteen years ago (I will not define what umpteen is in terms of centuries).

This current table is from The Week in Chess:

ch-FRA w 2012 Pau FRA (FRA), 14-24 viii 2012											cat. III (2325)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2442	*	*	1	.	½	1	½	1	0	.	1	1	6	2482
2.	Milliet, Sophie	m	FRA	2411	0	.	*	*	½	1	½	0	½	1	1	.	4½	2340
3.	Safranska, Anda	wg	FRA	2298	½	0	½	0	*	*	1	.	1	½	½	.	4	2348
4.	Collas, Silvia	m	FRA	2261	½	0	½	1	0	.	*	*	1	.	0	½	3½	2306
5.	Maisuradze, Nino	wg	FRA	2284	1	.	½	0	0	½	0	.	*	*	1	½	3½	2285
6.	Bollengier, Andreea	wm	FRA	2253	0	0	0	.	½	.	1	½	0	½	*	*	2½	2194

I am shouting out to WGM Nino Maisuradze, who has played in one of our Goddesschess sponsored-events and won the women's title (and in 2011 the outright title) in the last couple of Grand Pacific Opens held near Vancouver, in British Columbia around Easter each year.  This year she ran into the buzz saw that is GM Hikaru Nakamura who happened to be in the area and played in the GPO.  Of course he won.  It would have been incredibly shocking if he had not.  Maisuradze came in second.  She had an excellent tournament.  We've already struck a deal with the organizers for 2013 sponsorship, and hope she'll be able to return to defend her title.