2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Round 9

Prior post.

I'll be updating this post periodically.

Live coverage has resumed.  Finally, some commentary on the Krush - Baginskaite game at - 2:50 p.m.  Let's see - coverage started at 1:00 p.m.  Hmmm...  Right now commentators are indicating the game looks drawish, and that Baginskaite will be satisfied with a draw to finish at 50%, and a draw is all Krush needs to secure a repeat of her title.

IM Anna Zatonskih, currently on 6.5, and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, currently on 5.5, appear to thus be battling for second place. 

Zatonskih has the white pieces against Sabina Foisor.  Abrahamyan has the black pieces against Viktorija Ni, whose ELO indicates she is the most evenly matched player against Abrahamyan vis a vis the other players in this round. 

In the meantime, if Baginskaite is content to end her tournament on 4.5, that score may not be good enough to hold fourth place, depending on what some of the players below her do!  Here's a look at the ladies in the middle of the standings at the end of Round 8:

4	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	4.0	F	2278	2257	-0.24	½	0	1	½	½	0	½	1
5	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	4.0	F	2243	2287	+0.45	1	0	1	0	½	½	1	0
6	WGM Foisor, Sabina	3.5	F	2300	2212	-0.99	0	0	0	1	1	½	0	1
7	WFM Kats, Alena	3.0	F	2144	2233	+0.77	0	½	½	½	0	½	0	1

And who is playing who:

Belakovskaia (2.5) v. Zenyuk (4.0)
Chiang (1.5) v. Kats (3.0)

Update 4:27 p.m.:

Two times previously the live website coverage indicated that Krush - Baginskaite was drawn:  the first time, on move 14; the secont time, on move 23!  BOTH WRONG!  I checked for an update after coming in from trimming the front lawn and Krush - Baginskaite has gone through move 40.  Okay, now indicating 0 -1 in favor of Baginskaite!  WHAT????

Stay tuned.

Update 4:33 p.m.:

That was NOT correct.  Krush has made her 41st move Nd4.  So now the official live coverage has been wrong THREE TIMES.  Are you guys trying to give us all heart attacks????

Meanwhile, NONE of the other women's games have finished - whoops.  What the hell is this?  Even as I was typing this all of a sudden Belakovskaia - Zenyuk goes up as 1/2 - 1/2.  Now I had predicted a draw for this pair, but is is actually TRUE?  OY!  And now Krush v. Baginskaite is indicating 1 - 0.

How can I trust ANY of these results?

Stay tuned.

Update 4:51 p.m.:

Live coverage computer is still reporting Krush  Baginskaite 1 -0.  Also, now Ni - Abrahamyan 0 - 1.

Commentary a few moments ago was that the Zatonskih Foisor game looks to be a win for Zatonskih in just a few more moves or so.

Updated 4:57 p.m.:

Live coverage showing Krush v. Baginskaite game just concluded - DRAW! 

Updated 5:19 p.m.:

Computer at live coverage now inicating Zatonskih v. Foisor 1 - 0.

If I'm doing my math correctly, Krush finishes in clear first with 8.0/9; Zatonskih finishes in clear second place with a7.5/9; and Abrahamyan finishes in clear third place with 6.5/9.

Announcement for the winner of the Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award, judged by GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, coming up!

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Round 9

Hola everyone!

I've got the live coverage of the U.S. Chess Championships on my other laptop.  Right now GM Susan Polgar, who runs the chess program at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri USA, is being interviewed by GM Maurice Ashley.  GM Ray Robson, a current student at Webster, is playing Gata Kamsky today for a share of the lead in the final regulation game, played a move that a young (15 year old) Judit Polgar played back in the day during the Hungarian National Championship.  In that game, Judit drew with GM Portisch and went on to WIN the championship, the first female ever to do so, and she also incidentally, scored her third and final GM norm and thus broke the record set by GM Bobby Fischer as being the youngest player at the time to earn the GM title.  As chess fans know, GM Susan Polgar herself was one of the female pioneers to break the gender barrier in chess and was the first female player to qualify for the world chess championship cycle -- but she was not allowed to play - simply because of her gender!  This wasn't that long ago either, in the early to mid-1980's!!!!!  Absolutely shocking and disgusting treatment of one of the premier chessplayers in the world at the time.

So, I guess you could say we've come a long way, baby.  On the other hand, there are still people out there who say that females cannot play chess as well as male players, who point to the lack of high-rated female players to support their house-of-cards nonsensical assertions.  In fact, many studies have blasted this chauvenistic-based belief out of the water, but it continues to poison said water.  One of the most concise recent studies (2008) I've read on the subject is Checkmate? The role of gender stereotypes in the ultimate intellectual sport, by Anne Maass, Claudio D'Ettole and Mara Cadinu, Universit of Padova, Italy. 

 

Abstract

Women are surprisingly underrepresented in the chess world, representing less that 5% of registered

tournament players worldwide and only 1% of the world’s grand masters. In this paper it is argued that gender stereotypes are mainly responsible for the underperformance of women in chess. Forty-two male–female pairs, matched for ability, played two chess games via Internet. When players were
unaware of the sex of opponent (control condition), females played approximately as well as males.

When the gender stereotype was activated (experimental condition), women showed a drastic

performance drop, but only when they were aware that they were playing against a male opponent.

When they (falsely) believed to be playing against a woman, they performed as well as their male

opponents. In addition, our findings suggest that women show lower chess-specific self-esteem and a

weaker promotion focus, which are predictive of poorer chess performance.

So, the first break in the live commentary has already come, and they haven't looked at a SINGLE GAME IN THE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP!  Are you fricking kidding me?  Talk about GENDER BIAS.

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Round 7

It was ladies' night out last night, so I'm catching up today by listening to a recording of yesterday's live action.  Here are the results R7 and standings after R7:

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	3.0	2243	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.5	2300	1-0
2	IM Zatonskih, Anna	4.5	2466	WFM Kats, Alena	2.0	2144	1-0
3	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	2263	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.5	2278	½-½
4	WFM Chiang, Sarah	1.0	2098	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	5.0	2280	½-½
5	IM Krush, Irina	5.5	2470	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	2262	1-0

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	IM Krush, Irina	6.5	F	2470	2679	+1.18	1	1	1	1	1	½	1
2	IM Zatonskih, Anna	5.5	F	2466	2489	+0.25	1	1	0	1	½	1	1
3	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	5.5	F	2280	2486	+1.78	1	1	½	1	½	1	½
4	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	4.0	F	2243	2312	+0.67	1	0	1	0	½	½	1
5	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	3.0	F	2278	2230	-0.50	½	0	1	½	½	0	½
6	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.5	F	2300	2152	-1.44	0	0	0	1	1	½	0
7	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.5	F	2263	2206	-0.60	0	1	1	0	0	0	½
8	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	F	2262	2122	-1.36	½	½	0	0	1	0	0
9	WFM Kats, Alena	2.0	F	2144	2170	+0.11	0	½	½	½	0	½	0
10	WFM Chiang, Sarah	1.5	F	2098	2091	-0.09	0	0	0	0	0	1	½

Krush back to form with a win, Zatonskih had to work hard for her victory over Alena Kats but won the point with white in the end, to move 1 point back of the lead and moved into second place over Abrahamyan, who dropped to third after drawing her game with Sarah Chiang (according to the live commentary at one point GM Yasser Seirawan really liked Abrahamyan's chances of winning the game, so -- something happened -- but perhaps after her win yesterday Chiang has got over a big psychological barrier and is now playing up to her full potential).  Belakovskaia and Baginskaite drew their game in 31 moves. 

I didn't expect to see a draw in Krush's game (which I didn't), and I didn't expect to see a draw in Abrahamyan's game, either; I was surprised there!  Obviously this has big implications for today's R8 where Krush and Abrahamyan will face off against each other.

Let's take a look at R8 match-ups:

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.5	2300	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	2262
2	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	5.5	2280	IM Krush, Irina	6.5	2470
3	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	3.0	2278	WFM Chiang, Sarah	1.5	2098
4	WFM Kats, Alena	2.0	2144	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.5	2263
5	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	4.0	2243	IM Zatonskih, Anna	5.5	2466

The games I'll be following are Abrahamyan v. Krush and Zenyuk v. Zatonskih.  Realistically, one would expect both Krush and Zatonskih to win their respective games despite playing with the black pieces. Both championships, however, have thrown up interesting surprises (like Kamsky's and Onischuk's draws yesterday), and my score as a prognosticator isn't very good, darlings :)  So I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the action on live coverage for R8 while continuing my house-cleaning blitz.

I will also be paying attention to the women's lower boards as the ladies on the bottom half of the scoreboard will be fighing for every increment of prize money.

And the Goddesschess Fighting Spirit (Fighting Chess) Prize of $500 is up for grabs.  The women are NOT making it easy to select a winner, let me tell you!

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: R6

Play resumed today with R6, and the ladies wasted no time (or some of the gents, either, for that matter), mixing things up and adding some exciting possibilities for grand denouements a few rounds from now!  Too tired to cut and paste out of this shot from the live coverage, so here are all of the players' match-ups and results:

Here are the women's standings after R6:

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	IM Krush, Irina	5.5	F	2470	2657	+0.95	1	1	1	1	1	½
2	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	5.0	F	2280	2555	+2.02	1	1	½	1	½	1
3	IM Zatonskih, Anna	4.5	F	2466	2471	+0.12	1	1	0	1	½	1
4	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	3.0	F	2243	2255	+0.09	1	0	1	0	½	½
5	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.5	F	2300	2199	-0.86	0	0	0	1	1	½
6	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.5	F	2278	2226	-0.48	½	0	1	½	½	0
7	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	F	2263	2188	-0.62	0	1	1	0	0	0
8	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	F	2262	2124	-1.13	½	½	0	0	1	0
9	WFM Kats, Alena	2.0	F	2144	2181	+0.24	0	½	½	½	0	½
10	WFM Chiang, Sarah	1.0	F	2098	2054	-0.33	0	0	0	0	0	1

I'll leave it to the chess pros to analyze Irina Krush drawing Sabina Foisor in 31 moves in their game today when she has Tatev Abrahamyan breathing down her neck.  Abrahamyan, meanwhile, had a long game on her hands with Anjelina Belakovskaia because Anjelina doesn't resign easily (more on this in a few moments).  In the end though, Belakovskaia resigned and Tatev took the full point.  She is now within half a point of Krush.  The round 8 match between Krush and Abrahamyan now looms large but, as Tatev pointed out in her post-game interview with GM Maurice Ashley, she could lose her game tomorrow. 

Tomorrow Tatev plays Sarah Chiang, who scored her first point today, a victory with black against Viktorija Ni.  Anna Zatonskih also had a victory today with the black pieces against Camilla Baginskaite to pull within half a point of second place and one point away from Krush.  Alena Kats' game against Iryna Zenyuk ended in a draw, despite Kats having an earlier large time advantage, but coming up with a winning strategy was not going to be easy according to some commentary I was able to listen to shortly after 4 p.m. while still at the office. 

What I've found most interesting about this championship is what appears to be the total lack of intimidation factor on the part of the newcomers to the championship.  Earlier today, GM Maurice Ashley made a point of talking about the high percentage of decisive games played by the women -- it was in the high 70's percentage wise, higher than the 60's percentage of men's decisive games which he had previously noted as being higher than normal, and particularly noting the fighting spirit and take-no-prisoners attitude of the young players like Sevian and Troff!  He also made a point in earlier commentary (it was either in this past Saturday or Sunday's live online coverage) about how he approved of the Sofia rules in place for the U.S. Championships (no draw before move 30 unless an arbiter agrees it's a drawn position) because implementation of the rule has sent a strong message to the higher-rated players that "grandmaster draws" are frowned upon and will actively be discouraged, and he indicated he had seen a sort of "sea change" in player attitudes toward draws at the top levels of chess as a result of more high-powered tournaments adopting the Sofia rule to discourage quick draws.

But then today he turned around and made what I consider a totally out of line comment during his post-game interview with Tatev Abrahamyan (who defeated Belakovskaia about whether Belakovskaia's continuing to play on after she was "down a major piece and a pawn" instead of resigning was a sign of disrespect!  Of course Tatev refused to answer such a ridiculous question.  Has Ashley forgotten that Belakovskaia is a three-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion?  A player doesn't achieve three national champion titles without having a strong fighting spirit, and he should know all about fighting spirit, after all, as he was the very first black chessplayer in the United States to earn a GM title.

So maybe Belakovskaia could have - should have? - resigned somewhat earlier?  Maybe, but when, then?  Would a majority of players agree as to WHEN she "should have" resigned?  Then, I took a look at her games thus far in this championship, and few of them are 36-move decisive games.  Speaking of which, many of the other players' games aren't either!  What about Kats v. Krush in Round 1, which went 82 moves before Krush received the point?  Also in Round 1, Abrahamyan v. Foisor went 87 moves before Abrahamyan won with white.  In Round 2 Foisor v. Belakovskaia resulted in victor to Belakovskaia in 63 moves.  In Round 4 Baginskaite v. Kats was 79 moves that ended in a draw.  And in R5 Belakovskaia v. Ni lasted 73 moves before Ni won the point.  It's not just one particular player in this Women's Championship who is playing long drawn out games!

So where does GM Ashley get off suggesting that Belakovskaia should have rolled over and played dead long before she resigned in her Round 6 game against Abrahamyan?  Badly done, sir, badly done. 

Here are the pairings for R7:

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	3.0	2243	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.5	2300
2	IM Zatonskih, Anna	4.5	2466	WFM Kats, Alena	2.0	2144
3	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	2263	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.5	2278
4	WFM Chiang, Sarah	1.0	2098	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	5.0	2280
5	IM Krush, Irina	5.5	2470	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	2262

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: R5

Hola darlings!

A day off today, unfortunately, feeling decidedly under the weather. Well, that will happen from time to time with my heart condition, but it still fricking sucks!

The plus is that I was able to boot up a laptop and listen to the live coverage, and sometimes managed to watch some of it (exhausting).

But I'm feeling better this evening.  Much to report, no energy though.  So, cutting to the chase, here is the poop scoop at the moment:

Krush defeated Sharah Chiang, as expected, but Chiang made it easier making a blunderous queen move, from c4 to b3 on white's move 29.  Krush goes into the rest day at 5-0.  Kudos to Krush.

It appeared for awhile that Kats was surprising the hell out of Foisor, but with little commentary on the game and my analyzing skills non-existent, can't really tell you anything other than that Kats went down to defeat behind white before making her 42nd move.

Zenyuk-Baginskaite was a peaceful draw. 

Belakovskaia v. Ni is still going on, woo woo!  Neither lady will back down... (...and I won't back down, no, I won't back down. I will stand my ground...)

The marquis game of the day, at least in my eyes, was Zatonskih v. Abrahamyan, which ended in a draw after move 30.  Only in order to satisfy the Sophia rules in force for this tournament.  I can only wonder what Abrahamyan will do in the second half.  Oh, and I was shocked to Hell and back today (not good for my heart, darlings) when I saw that Tatev had cut off her luxorious gorgeous thick dark long hair to a - bob - of all things.  Holy Hathor!  Not to say it's not a flattering cut, but I haven't seen a photo of her front on yet, so I'm reserving judgment.  But - Holy Hathor!  To my mind, this is a totally rad move and can only signal - a rad shift in mind set...

Tatev Abrahamyan (in pale aqua blouse) - check out the new do! 
Well, it's new to me, anyway. 

That draw is significant, BTW.

Update at 6:38 p.m.:

Belakovskaia lost!  She succumbed to Ni after Ni made her 73rd move with the black pieces.  Quite a battle.

Here are the standings after R5:

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2	3	4	5
1	IM Krush, Irina	5.0	F	2470	2982	+1.17	1	1	1	1	1
2	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	4.0	F	2280	2526	+1.54	1	1	½	1	½
3	IM Zatonskih, Anna	3.5	F	2466	2427	-0.14	1	1	0	1	½
4	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.5	F	2278	2246	-0.22	½	0	1	½	½
5	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	2.5	F	2243	2278	+0.23	1	0	1	0	½
6	WGM Foisor, Sabina	2.0	F	2300	2141	-1.08	0	0	0	1	1
7	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	F	2263	2247	-0.14	0	1	1	0	0
8	WIM Ni, Viktorija	2.0	F	2262	2207	-0.41	½	½	0	0	1
9	WFM Kats, Alena	1.5	F	2144	2169	+0.10	0	½	½	½	0
10	WFM Chiang, Sarah	0.0	F	2098	1605	-1.05	0	0	0	0	0

Abrahamyan's draw today secured her clear second place and crucial hours more than Krush to rest and restore herself, as well as study-up on the remaining opponents. Round 8 is now looming large for Krush and Abrahamyan, as Krush is perfect with 5-0. 

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: R4

What a bummer!  I missed everything going on in St. Louis while working today.  I didn't even have a chance to put on my ear-phones and catch snatches of commentary here and there.

Here are the match-ups and results from R4:

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WGM Foisor, Sabina	0.0	2300	WFM Chiang, Sarah	0.0	2098	1-0
2	IM Krush, Irina	3.0	2470	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	2263	1-0
3	WIM Ni, Viktorija	1.0	2262	IM Zatonskih, Anna	2.0	2466	0-1
4	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	2.5	2280	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	2.0	2243	1-0
5	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	1.5	2278	WFM Kats, Alena	1.0	2144	½-½

And the standings after R4:

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2	3	4
1	IM Krush, Irina	4.0	F	2470	3014	+1.06	1	1	1	1
2	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	3.5	F	2280	2577	+1.30	1	1	½	1
3	IM Zatonskih, Anna	3.0	F	2466	2471	+0.10	1	1	0	1
4	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.0	F	2278	2247	-0.17	½	0	1	½
5	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	F	2263	2334	+0.36	0	1	1	0
6	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	2.0	F	2243	2278	+0.18	1	0	1	0
7	WFM Kats, Alena	1.5	F	2144	2236	+0.39	0	½	½	½
8	WGM Foisor, Sabina	1.0	F	2300	2037	-1.37	0	0	0	1
9	WIM Ni, Viktorija	1.0	F	2262	2090	-0.91	½	½	0	0
10	WFM Chiang, Sarah	0.0	F	2098	1579	-0.94	0	0	0	0

Is everyone now putting money on the Abrahamyan/Krush game in R8? Can Krush run the table?  Who's going to stop her?

From R4:

What do you think of Krush's game against Belakovskaia?  That ending position - Holy Hathor! 

Let's see, it took Baginskaite 79 moves to wrest a draw from Kats...  Viktorija Ni didn't exactly roll over and die against the powerful Zatonskih, either.

Wow, I'm impressed, ladies. 

Here are the match-ups for R5:

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WFM Kats, Alena	1.5	2144	WGM Foisor, Sabina	1.0	2300
2	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	2.0	2243	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	2.0	2278
3	IM Zatonskih, Anna	3.0	2466	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	3.5	2280
4	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	2.0	2263	WIM Ni, Viktorija	1.0	2262
5	WFM Chiang, Sarah	0.0	2098	IM Krush, Irina	4.0	2470

Games I'm interested in for R5 are Zatonskih v. Abrahamyan, and Kats v. Foisor.  Belakovskaia v. Ni (very evenly matched in terms of ELO, but not experience) may also prove to be a hard-fought game. 

No rest day for the ladies until Wednesday!  By now they must be tired, and these long grueling games many of them have been playing must be taking a toll. 

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Round 1

Woo woo!  It's started, darlings! 

I just got settled in after getting home from the office.  A cold (high didn't get above 46 degrees F), rainy, uber-windy and generally all-around crappy day here in Milwaukeeland.  After two sunny teaser days, one high of 85 F and the next high of 77 F. Arrrggghhh! 

So I rushed home to see if the games were over already (they are) -- well, they started at 1 p.m.  Didn't have a SECOND to check the action while at the office.  So without further ado, here are the results for the ladies:

Alena Kats (2144) (W) v. Irina Krush (2470)(B): 0-1: An 82 move headbanger - Holy Hathor!

Tatev Abrahamyan (2280) (W) v. Sabina Foisor (2300) (B): 1-0: Black resigned on move 87 - looks like a wild game with neither player wishing to back down.

Camille Baginskaite (2278) (W) v. Viktorija Ni (2262) (B):  1/2-1/2: Draw agreed to after W's move 41.  An evenly matched pairing.

Iryna Zenyuk (2243) (W) v. Sarah Chiang (2098) (B): 1-0: Sarah Chiang is the youngest player, at age 15.  She resigned after W's move 61. 

Anna Zatonskih (2466) (W) v. Anjelina Belakovskaia (2263) (B): 1-0: I haven't played through it, looks like it moved to end game relatively quickly, bang bang bang bang!  B resigned after move 26, despite putting W's K into check and despite being up 2 pawns, because W had safe moves for her K plus a pawn that would promote in one move after her K's move, and B had no way to stop it.

Added at 7:45 p.m. standings:

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1
1	IM Krush, Irina	1.0	F	2470	2879	+0.13	1
2	IM Zatonskih, Anna	1.0	F	2466	2998	+0.24	1
3	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	1.0	F	2280	3035	+0.53	1
4	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna	1.0	F	2243	2833	+0.31	1
5	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla	0.5	F	2278	2262	-0.02	½
6	WIM Ni, Viktorija	0.5	F	2262	2278	+0.02	½
7	WGM Foisor, Sabina	0.0	F	2300	1545	-0.53	0
8	WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina	0.0	F	2263	1731	-0.24	0
9	WFM Kats, Alena	0.0	F	2144	1735	-0.13	0
10	WFM Chiang, Sarah	0.0	F	2098	1508	-0.31	0

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

Hola, darlings!

Tonight beginning at 6:00 p.m. are the grand-opening ceremonies for the 2013 U.S. Chess Championships, of which the Women's Championship is a part.  I don't get it - why aren't there live blog reports at the websites of U.S. Chess Champs and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, this year's host for the Championships?  Am I missing something?

I will be attempting to following the live action at U.S. Chess Champions' dedicated website, but since Round 1 begins tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. St. Louis time, I'll be up to my eyeballs trying to put out various fires at the office -- Fridays are always the WORST day in my line of work, EEK!

I will be following the action Saturday and Sunday.  I am extremely interested in this year's line-up of female players.  Does Las Vegas have a line on the ladies, I wonder???

The toughest players, year after year, have proven to be Abrahamyan, Krush and Zatonskih.  Abrahamyan -- always a bridesmaid, never a bride, yet...  Will she finally break loose, once and for all? 

Dark horses I'll be watching are Belakovskaia and Kats.  Kats is young and her ELO and relative level of experience would indicate that she'll be a player who will beat-up on.  Except - except -- something tells me otherwise.  Of course, my instincts have often been notoriously wrong when it comes to picking "winners", LOL! 

Belakovskaia, on the other hand, was a seasoned veteran by the time she was 17, and is a three-time U.S. Women's chess champion herself.  But after those three titles were won, she went to college, earned a degree and then a master's degree in the rather esoteric field of mathematics, worked in an incredibly edgy field and had a glamorous career, winning accolades from her peers.  And then, she got married, had three children!  Wonder how much chess she's played since her hey-day? 

Have both ladies been training their butts off in preparation for this event?

I'm just very happy to see young players, such as Kats, and a true "Wild Card," Belakovskaia, in the mix.

U.S. Chess Champs - Women's Championship.

Interview with 2012 U.S. Women's Chess Champion IM Irina Krush.  Powerful, honest, poignant.  Read it!

Live coverage of the games (men and women) starts tomorrow, May 3, 2013. 

Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award for 2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship!

We're baaaacccckkkk.... I am very pleased to announce that the Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award is back at the USWCC!

 

Source: Copyright Chess Queen.

Chess Queen GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 12th Women's World Chess Champion, has agreed once again to act as Judge to select this year's winner! Woo woo!

Goddesschess has sponsored a special prize at the U.S. Women's Chess Championship since 2007, except for 2012.

2007: Goddesschess "Brillancy Prize" of $300 and was awarded to Elizabeth Vicary Spiegel for her win against Camille Baginskaite. As you know, Elizabeth is one of the coaches at IS 318 in Brooklyn, New York, a program that has gained international recognition for its excellence!

2008: Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award of $500 was awarded to Tatev Abrahamyan by judge GM Susan Polgar for Tatev's performance of 6 wins and 3 losses - no draws! Goddesschess' contribution was $350 and those wild and crazy guys over at Chessville.com contributed $150 to make the total prize $500.

2009: Anna Zatonskih not only swept away the entire field of players and finished the Championship with an oustanding 8.5/9, she also won the Fighting Chess Award. She did not sit back in the later stages of play and coast to victory, even after it was clear that no one would be able to catch her.

2010: Goddesschess teamed with 9 Queens and offered a Fighting Spirit Award (which I kept calling the Fighting Chess Award) of $1,000! The winner, selected by our new judge, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, was Tatev Abrahamyan, for her uncompromising play: she finished in 3rd place, although tied with Anna Zatonskih (who finished in 2nd place overall) with an incredible 7.5/9. Tatev had 7 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.

2011: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk chose Sabina Foisor as the winner! This is what she wrote at her blog about selecting the winner of the 2011 Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award:

I was chosen as the judge for this award, and I had a very hard time, as many players are deserving, starting with the eventual winner, Anna Zatonskih, but also certainly Tatev Abrahamyan who fought to the end, and Irina Krush, who won the initial tournament. However, after looking over most of the games, I saw that Sabina Foisor's style was also uncompromising, and she was the only player to have beaten Irina Krush in the preliminary tournament. I have decided to vote for the Fighting Chess Award to go to Sabina Foisor, congratulations!

In 2011, in honor of the other players considered for the Award by GM Kosteniuk, at the conclusion of the tournament Goddesschess donated $100 each to 9Queens in the names of Anna Zatonskih, Tatev Abrahamyan, and Irina Krush. It was truly an outstanding championship.

We are very grateful to have obtained the assistance and judgment of great players in awarding the Goddesschess Fighting Chess/Fighting Spirit Award! And despite her busy schedule, GM Kosteniuk agreed to act as our judge again this year! Thank you so much!

An interesting and varied field has accepted the invitations to St. Louis for 2013. Who will be the winner this year???

 

The 2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship will be held in the beautiful headquarters of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, which will be celebrating its 5th anniversary of hosting the prestigious U.S. Chess Championships!  If you can possibly attend one or more sessions, I urge you to do so.  The Club is fantastic.  I had the pleasure of visiting in person in September, 2011 while in St. Louis and greatly enjoyed sitting in the lower level to listen to the live commentary during the Kings v. Queens match at which, incidentally, GM Kosteniuk was part of the Queens' team. 

 

Full coverage of the Championships will be provided at U.S. Chess Champs.  Stay tuned!