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.

Chess Femme News!

Chess is a big deal in Armenia.  The press regularly covers local and international events and the top Armenian players (who are very fine, I have to say), are stars in their homeland.  I thought this was particularly interesting, the mention of ex-pat Armenians who now play chess for other countries!

Report at panorama.am.
8 November 2010
Armenian chess players at World Women’s Championship

WGM Lilit Mkrtchian

The list of participants to World Women’s Championship due to start on December 2, host city Hatay, Turkey, is published by FIDE, “armchess.am”.

Armenia will have two representatives to the championship. WGM Lilit Mkrtchian is going to play with WGM Zhang Xiaowen (China), GM Elina Danielian - with WGM Tatiana Shadrina (Russia) at the first round of the tournament which is going to be held by the knock-out system.

Two other Armenian chess players, GM Almira Skripchenko-Aghababian (France) and WIM Dina Kagramanova (Canada), are also going to play in Hatay. Their opponents will be WGM Christina-Adela Foisor (Romania) and GM Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), respectively.

Pinay wins gold in ASEAN Olympiad
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 11/08/2010 12:13 PM | Updated as of 11/08/2010 12:13 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Chess player Marie Antoinette San Diego gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad 2010 (APSSO) Chess Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.

San Diego bested Nguyen Thanh Thuy Tien of Vietnam in the tie-break points to clinch the gold of the individual girls standard competition.

San Diego and Thanh Thuy Tien tallied 4 points apiece in 5 outings. San Diego crushed Parahita Miliyana L of Indonesia 3 in the final round while Thanh Thuy Tien clobbered former solo leader Dita Karenza of Indonesia 2.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President-Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. lauded San Diego's latest feat.

“This proves once again that the Filipino can be at par with the Asia’s best pawnpushers,” he said.

World Senior Chess Championships - Women
I found this report at GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's blog

Final standings:

1. WGM Khmiadashvili Tamar GEO 2162 7,0 7,0 1,0 37,5

2. GM Gaprindashvili Nona GEO 2363 7,0 7,0 1,0 34,0

3. WIM Fomina Tatyana EST 2256 7,0 7,0 1,0 34,0

4. WGM Fatalibekova Elena RUS 2270 6,5 6,5 0,0 31,0

5. WFM Miednikova Swietlana RUS 2146 5,0 5,0 0,0 27,0

6. WFM Khropova Larisa RUS 2037 5,0 5,0 0,0 27,0

7. WIM Borisova Borislava SWE 2096 5,0 5,0 0,0 27,0

8. WFM Komysheva Margarita RUS 2084 5,0 5,0 0,0 24,0

9. Tsygankova Enni UZB 0 5,0 5,0 0,0 23,0

10. Chireykina Natalia RUS 1799 5,0 5,0 0,0 21,5

From the website (in Italian):
1° € 600.- coppa e medaglia d’oro / trophy and Gold medal / Trophäe und Goldmedaille
2° € 500.- medaglia d’argento / Silver medal / Silbermedaille
3° € 400.- medaglia di bronzo / Bronze medal / Bronzemedaille
4° € 200.-

Chess Femme News

Dylan Loeb McClain blogs about the wife and husband chessplayers who won the respective Women's and Men's - oops - "Overall" French Chess Championship titles:  Almira Skripchenko and Laurent Fressinet. 
August 22, 2010, 6:52 pm
An Unusual Double: Husband and Wife Win French Chess Championships
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff talk in passing about the strength of women chessplayers in China - in fact, the entire article should have been devoted to the subject!
Chess notes

Gauging the growth of chess in China
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
August 23, 2010

The Chess Federation of Honduras is hosting the Men's and Women's Sub-zonals 2.3 (August 20 - 27, 2010).  Current standings of the chess femmes after R4:

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 Mencos Claudia GUA 1912 4,0 4,0 10,0 0,0
2 Madrigal Ana Daniela NCA 1884 3,0 3,0 9,0 0,0
3 Aguilar Marcela ESA 1805 3,0 3,0 8,0 0,0
4 Sotomayor Villatoro Silvi GUA 1777 3,0 3,0 7,5 0,0
5 Torres Hernandez Leslie Caroli HON 1940 3,0 3,0 7,5 0,0
   Alarcon Pamela NCA 1869 3,0 3,0 7,5 0,0
7 WCM Mora Oviedo Andrea Melissa HON 1807 3,0 3,0 7,0 0,0
8 Barria Raisa PAN 1850 3,0 3,0 7,0 0,0
9 WIM Mazariego-K Carolina GUA 2086 2,5 2,5 7,5 0,0
10 WCM Sanchez Ingrid ESA 1971 2,0 2,0 6,0 0,0
11 WCM Duron Godoy Sari Esther HON 1905 2,0 2,0 6,0 0,0
     Gamboa Alvarado Leticia CRC 1682 2,0 2,0 6,0 0,0
13 Eshraghi Roya CRC 0 2,0 2,0 5,0 0,0
14 Granados Maria NCA 1958 2,0 2,0 5,0 0,0
     Gonzalez Yaribeth PAN 1890 2,0 2,0 5,0 0,0
16 WFM Pastor Tania ESA 1942 2,0 2,0 4,0 0,0
17 Figueroa Julissa GUA 1792 2,0 2,0 3,5 0,0
18 Hernandez Bera ESA 1812 1,5 1,5 4,0 0,0
19 Mendieta Kathya NCA 1648 1,5 1,5 3,5 0,0
20 Dominguez Ana ESA 1765 1,5 1,5 3,5 0,0
21 Ortiz Katherine Berenice HON 0 1,5 1,5 3,0 0,0
22 Rodriguez Marxia GUA 0 1,5 1,5 2,5 0,0
23 Naira Alejandra HON 0 1,0 1,0 3,0 0,0
24 Muñoz Alba PAN 0 1,0 1,0 2,5 0,0
25 Calderon Any HON 0 1,0 1,0 2,0 0,0
26 Fernandez Mirna Graciela HON 0 1,0 1,0 2,0 0,0
27 Ortiz Rosa Daniela HON 0 0,5 0,5 2,0 0,0
28 Mendieta Rodriguez Tamara NCA 0 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,0

Baku Open
August 22 - 31, 2010
GM Gata Kamsky heads the list of GMs at 2713.  A total of 159 players, many of them Azerbaijani chess femmes, are participating.  Round 1 was played earlier today.  One of my favorite young chess femmes, WIM Narmin Kazimova of Azerbaijan, is playing.  She caught my eyes a couple of years ago when as a very young player she had an impressive run of wins against much higher rated players in the 2008 European Women's Chess Championship, before being knocked off.  But her potential for such level of play has been a lure to me ever since.  Unfortunately, she doesn't often travel out of Azerbaijani, probably for financial reasons, and so her playing has leveled off. 

The top chess femme is 20 GM Zhukova Natalia 2499 UKR.  Because there are so many playing, I'll provide a report on the final standings of the chess femmes at the conclusion of the Open.  In the meantime, several sources are providing daily coverage, including Susan Polgar's blog. 

Chessplayer Makes Good Playing Poker

News from pokernewsdaily.com: Jordan Smith (scarface_79) Wins $2,000 No Limit Holdem Event at 2009 WSOP By Brett Collson for POKER NEWS DAILY Posted on June 21, 2009 For the first time in the year’s WSOP, two women made the final table of an open event. Laurence Grondin, from Montreal, and Almira Skripchenko, from Paris, were each members of the final table of Event #36. Only one female (Annie Duke) had made a final table in the first 35 events this year. Skripchenko exited in seventh place and it was Smith who did the dirty work. Grondin raised from late position and Smith made the call. Skripchenko then moved all-in from the small blind, Grondin got rid of her hand, and Smith called. Skripchenko’s pocket kings were well in front of the pocket fives of Smith, but a five on the flop spelled disaster for Skripchenko, who failed to catch a king on the turn or river to seal her elimination. The former European chess champion earned $78,664. (Photo credit: Almira en las WSOP 2006 - Fotografía Chess Base)