Anna Muzychuk Refuses to Play in Corrupted 2017 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Saudi Arabia

A few international chess stars stand up for what is right.  I wish more of them had the guts to stand up against this kind of thing and give FIDE and countries like Saudi Arabia the permanent middle finger.

From The Washington Post

Chess champion refuses to defend titles in Saudi Arabia to protest treatment of women

Des Bieler, December 28, 2017

A Ukrainian chess champion is prepared to lose her two world titles rather than defend them in a tournament held in Saudi Arabia. Anna Muzychuk said she would skip the lucrative event to protest the treatment of women in that country.

Muzychuk, 27, is the reigning women’s world champion in both rapid and blitz chess. In a recent Facebook post, she said she “decided not to go to Saudi Arabia” because she did not want “to play by someone’s rules,” including being made to “wear [an] abaya,” the loosefitting garment the country usually requires women to cover themselves with while in public.

Muzychuk also said she was opposed to being “accompanied getting outside,” and to being made to feel like “a secondary creature."

By skipping the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which began Tuesday in Riyadh and end Saturday, Muzychuk said she was aware that not only was she set to “lose two World Champion titles — one by one,” but also to pass up an opportunity to “earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined.” The $2 million prize fund for the championships, which have been named for Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was declared by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to be “almost 350% more than the previous event."

The federation also said that the dress code for the event would entail “dark blue or black formal trouser suits, with high necked white blouses” for women. “There will be no need to wear a hijab or abaya during the games, this will be a first for any sporting event in Saudi Arabia,” FIDE announced in November.

Nevertheless, neither Muzychuk nor her younger sister Mariya, a former world champion in her own right, are competing at the championships. “I am really happy that we share this point of view,” Muzychuk said on Facebook.

The Riyadh tournament has also created headlines for the absence of chess players from Israel, who were denied visas. Saudi officials have said that they cannot issue the visas because their kingdom has no diplomatic ties with Israel, while the chess federation in the latter country is seeking financial compensation.

“There needs to be a clear separation between sports and politics,” said Lior Aizenberg, a spokesman for the Israeli Chess Federation. “We want our players to play in all competitions. What is going on in the Arab world does not interest us."

Hikaru Nakamura, the U.S.’s top-ranked rapid and blitz chess player, is also skipping the event. “To organize a chess tournament in a country where basic human rights aren’t valued is horrible,” Nakamura said in a November tweet. “Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is leading an effort, called Vision 2030, to modernize aspects of his society, and in September the government announced that women will be allowed to drive, starting in mid-2018. However, women in Saudi Arabia still need the permission of male guardians to marry, get divorced, attain employment, travel or have elective surgery (per CNN), and mixing with men in public places is still largely forbidden.

“As to whether it was right or wrong, there will certainly be people who will support me and people who will condemn me,” Muzychuk told Reuters of her decision to boycott the tournament. “But I took this decision and I am responsible for it."

2016 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship Match

How did I miss this?  Maybe because I find it insulting and ridiculous, but female chessplayers are as hungry for decent money to be made as male chessplayers are, so I don't fault the players for buying into the continuation of an utterly sexist structure that condemns female players to the eternal ELO ghetto of women's chess.

FIDE came up with a sponsor in Lviv, Ukraine.  The "match" features GM Mariya Muzychuk versus defending champion GM Hou Yifan.

Here's the official website.  Excellent coverage at the Week in Chess and Chessdom. You can find full games, photos, and analysis at these (and other) websites and Chessdom has live coverage.

March 2 - 18, 2016.

Six games have already been played and Yifan leads 4.0 to 2.0 with four more games to go.  Table below from The Week in Chess:

WCh Women Lviv
Muzychuk, Mariya	-	Hou, Yifan	½-½	31	C50	Giuoco Piano
Hou, Yifan	-	Muzychuk, Mariya	1-0	32	C80	Ruy Lopez Open
Muzychuk, Mariya	-	Hou, Yifan	½-½	36	E01	Catalan
Hou, Yifan	-	Muzychuk, Mariya	½-½	21	C83	Ruy Lopez Open
Hou, Yifan	-	Muzychuk, Mariya	½-½	33	A11	Reti Opening
Muzychuk, Mariya	-	Hou, Yifan	0-1	38	C50	Giuoco Piano

WCh Women Lviv (UKR), 2-18 iii 2016
Name	Ti	NAT	Rtng	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Perf
Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2673	½	1	½	½	½	1	.	.	.	.	4	2679
Muzychuk, Mariya	g	UKR	2554	½	0	½	½	½	0	.	.	.	.	2	2548

2013 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival

Hola darlings!

Yes, it's all over now.  The top-rated ladies did, overall, rather well this year.  Once again Stefanova, top finisher female, proved that she still has the goods.  The big winner was a male, and the rest I'm reporting are chess femmes. 247 players in this Masters Event.  I apologize to any femmes I may have omitted.  It is vey difficult to try to differentiate the gender of players when the names used are not within my limited "western" realm of familiarity and I do not want to spend all night at Fide.com looking up names.  Organizers could solve this problem quite simply by writing either F or M next to a player's name.  One would think for any successful tournament the organizers would want such information. Ha, who am I kidding?

Updated February 3, 2013:  Oops!  I thought that Stefanova was the top female winner, but I was wrong.  Good thing for double-checks, because tonight darlings, I discovered that it was GM Zhao Xue who took top female honors by finishing overall in 13th place, and kudos to her for doing so well in a VERY tough field.  See what I mean about not recognizing non-western style player names?  Didn't recognize Zhao Xue as a female player.  Should have, but didn't.

13

Zhao Xue

GM

CHN

2554

7.5

2621

2620 - takes top female prize of £12,000

Final Ranking after 10 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	RUS	2694	8.0	2830	2821	8	6.23	1.77	10	17.7

19	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2516	7.0	2611	2611	7	5.62	1.38	10	13.8    2nd place F: £8,000
20	IM	Gunina Valentina	RUS	2490	7.0	2593	2593	7	5.46	1.54	10	15.4     3rd place F: £5,000
21	GM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2582	7.0	2589	2586	7	6.75	0.25	10	2.5       4th place F: £3,500

28

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

GEO

2555

6.5

2572

2571

6.5

6.12

0.38

10

3.8           5th place F: £2,500

37	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2471	6.5	2516	2516	6.5	5.72	0.78	10	7.8   6th place F: £2,000
38	GM	Hoang Thanh Trang	HUN	2469	6.5	2512	2510	6.5	5.77	0.73	10	7.3   7th place F: £1,500
39	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2518	6.5	2509	2500	6.5	6.32	0.18	10	1.8   8th place F: £1,000
40	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2482	6.5	2504	2504	6.5	6.01	0.49	10	4.9   9th place F:    £600
41	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2514	6.5	2475	2475	6.5	6.80	-0.30	10	-3.0 10th place F:  £400

43

IM

Tania Sachdev

IND

2403

6.5

2461

2453

6.5

5.40

1.10

10

11.0

48

IM

Houska Jovanka

ENG

2416

6.5

2398

2398

6.5

6.56

-0.06

10

-0.6

54	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2403	6.0	2504	2504	6	4.45	1.55	10	15.5
55	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2515	6.0	2495	2495	6	6.09	-0.09	10	-0.9
56	WGM	Ju Wenjun	CHN	2505	6.0	2486	2475	6	5.99	0.01	10	0.1

72	IM	Milliet Sophie	FRA	2403	6.0	2329	2329	5	5.72	-0.72	10	-7.2
73	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2405	6.0	2326	2326	6	6.81	-0.81	10	-8.1

76

WGM

Vojinovic Jovana

MNE

2359

6.0

2294

2294

6

6.65

-0.65

15

-9.8

85	WGM	Dolzhikova Olga	NOR	2239	5.5	2353	2321	5.5	3.99	1.51	15	22.6
86	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2391	5.5	2351	2350	5.5	5.86	-0.36	10	-3.6
87	IM	Zatonskih Anna	USA	2491	5.5	2327	2318	5.5	7.25	-1.75	10	-17.5

97

WGM

Rudolf Anna

HUN

2312

5.5

2218

2217

5.5

6.60

-1.10

15

-16.5

153

WFM

Grigoryan Meri

ENG

2025

4.5

2124

2131

4.5

3.50

1.00

15

15.0

199

Iasman Inna

FRA

2019

3.5

1974

1927

2.5

3.11

-0.61

15

-9.1

203

Agbabishvili Lali

CAN

1954

3.5

1932

1931

3.5

3.79

-0.29

15

-4.3

07

Georgieva Emilia

BUL

1949

3.5

1914

1879

2.5

3.11

-0.61

15

-9.1

210

WFM

Reid Vaness

AUS

1844

3.5

1864

1846

2.5

2.48

0.02

15

0.3

214

Skrabakova Katarina

SVK

1991

3.5

1830

1823

3.5

5.43

-1.93

15

-29.0

220

Lochte Szilvia

HUN

1923

3.0

1873

1872

3

3.70

-0.70

15

-10.5

222

Neumanova Monika

CZE

1701

3.0

1836

1854

3

1.77

1.23

15

18.5

224

George Lolomari Erekosima

NGR

1869

3.0

1794

1811

2

3.11

-1.11

30

-33.3

230

Chidi Lovinia Sylvia

GER

1820

2.5

1779

1788

2

2.51

-0.51

15

-7.7

234

Kazmierczak Ewa

POL

1512

2.5

1676

1744

2.5

1.10

1.40

15

21.0

If I'm reading the report correctly, IM Valentina Gunina also scored her third and final GM norm, and WGM Ju Wenjun (CHN 2505) scored her third and final IM norm. 

2012 FIDE Women's Grand Prix - Kazan

It's all over, darlings.  Here are the results of the final two rounds, and the final standings.  Can you guess from this photo who won (har!)

Photo of co-winners and FIDE President Who-Speaks-With-Aliens.
From official website.

Round 10 on 2012/06/21 at 15:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
12	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2598	½-½	GM	Hou Yifan	2623	11
1	GM	Elina Danielian	2484	0-1	IM	Alisa Galliamova	2484	10
2	GM	Humpy Koneru	2589	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2457	9
3	WGM	Betul Cemre Yildiz	2333	½-½	GM	Keteryna Lahno	2546	8
4	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2532	½-½	GM	Antoaneta Stefanova	2518	7
5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2508	1-0	GM	Nadezhda Kosintseva	2528	6
Round 11 on 2012/06/22 at 13:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
6	GM	Nadezhda Kosintseva	2528	0-1	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2598	12
7	GM	Antoaneta Stefanova	2518	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2508	5
8	GM	Keteryna Lahno	2546	0-1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2532	4
9	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2457	1-0	WGM	Betul Cemre Yildiz	2333	3
10	IM	Alisa Galliamova	2484	0-1	GM	Humpy Koneru	2589	2
11	GM	Hou Yifan	2623	1-0	GM	Elina Danielian	2484	1

Ranking crosstable after Round 11
Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Humpy Koneru	2589	IND	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	7.5	0.5	36.75	3
2	12	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2598	SLO	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	7.5	0.5	36.5	3
3	5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2508	LTU	½	½	*	1	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	7	1	35	3
4	11	GM	Hou Yifan	2623	CHN	½	½	0	*	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	0	7	0	37.25	4
5	9	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2457	RUS	½	½	1	0	*	1	½	0	½	0	1	1	6	1	31	3.5
6	1	GM	Elina Danielian	2484	ARM	½	½	½	0	0	*	1	1	½	1	0	1	6	0	30.75	2.5
7	4	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2532	RUS	½	½	½	0	½	0	*	1	½	½	½	1	5.5	0	27.5	2
8	8	GM	Keteryana Lahno	2546	UKR	0	½	½	½	1	0	0	*	½	½	1	½	5	0	25.5	2.5
9	7	GM	Antoaneta Stefanova	2518	BUL	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	*	1	½	½	4.5	1	22	2
10	6	GM	Nadezhda Kosintseva	2528	RUS	½	0	0	½	1	0	½	½	0	*	1	½	4.5	0	22.75	2.5
11	10	IM	Alisa Galliamova	2484	RUS	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	½	0	*	1	3	0	13.5	1.5
12	3	WGM	Betul Cemre Yildiz	2333	TUR	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	*	2.5	0	14	1

So, how did I do on my prognostication for R9? Not so good:

Muzychuk wins over Hou Yifan (it was a draw) FAIL
Koneru wins over Kosteniuk (prove me wrong, Alexandra!) (it was a draw) FAIL, and good for you, Alexandra!
Lahno wins (Lahno lost) FAIL
T. Kosintseva over Stefanova (it was a draw) FAIL

Hmmmm, four for four FAIL.  I think I'll retire. 

Congratulations to Humpy and Anna, who share the title as co-winners and split the prize money evenly.

2011 European Individual Chess Championship

Unlike the European Individual Women's Championship, which had more than it's share of troubles before finally being scheduled - again - to take place in Turkey later this year (I'm not holding my breath, darlings), the 2011 EICC is taking place as originally scheduled. 

There are some chess femmes participating in the 2011 EICC - a relative handfull compared to the great number of chess dudes - and they will have their hands full trying to make decent scores against the tough competition.  I've tried to pick them out of the line-up of several hundred players, but no guarantee I've got them all:

12th European Individual 2011 (Aix-les-Bains FRA) Mon 21st Mar 2011 - Sun 3rd Apr 2011
Official Website (for English, click on the combined Stars and Stripes/Union Jack flag in the upper right). Photos below all from the official website.

Standings after R5 (393 players):
Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2653 5.0 3367 9.5 15.5 (not a femme - I put him here for comparison)
18 GM Polgar Judit HUN 2686 4.0 2794 9.0 14.5 (highest rated female player in the world)
44 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2437 3.5 2728 10.0 15.0
91 IM Dembo Yelena GRE 2457 3.5 2323 5.5 9.0
100 IM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2528 3.0 2654 7.5 12.5
147 IM Houska Jovanka ENG 2419 3.0 2477 7.5 13.0
160 IM Melia Salome GEO 2462 3.0 2379 7.5 13.0 (Go, Melia, Go!)
182 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta POL 2386 2.5 2488 7.5 12.5
184 IM Milliet Sophie FRA 2369 2.5 2469 7.5 12.5
185 WIM Pavlidou Ekaterini GRE 2204 2.5 2468 8.5 12.0
202 GM Cmilyte Viktorija LTU 2526 2.5 2402 8.0 12.5
207 WGM L'ami Alina ROU 2297 2.5 2383 7.5 12.5
228 GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2443 2.5 2344 9.0 12.5
256 WIM Dolzhykova Kateryna UKR 2265 2.0 2352 8.5 13.5
292 Klek Hanna-Marie GER 2149 2.0 2144 6.5 10.5
300 WIM Makka Ioulia GRE 2119 2.0 2088 6.5 10.5
301 WIM Boric Elena BIH 2292 2.0 2086 6.5 11.0
307 Vrhovnik Damir CRO 2063 2.0 2040 5.5 9.0
308 WFM Osmanodja Filiz GER 2055 2.0 2028 6.0 9.5
309 WGM Ptacnikova Lenka ISL 2307 2.0 2027 6.0 10.5
313 WGM Cherednichenko Svetlana UKR 2278 1.5 2359 7.5 12.0
314 WIM Steil-Antoni Fiona LUX 2117 1.5 2289 6.0 10.5
326 WFM Cherednichenko Elena UKR 2141 1.5 2131 8.0 13.0
337 De Seroux Camille SUI 2055 1.5 1841 5.5 8.5
349 Bismuth Lea FRA 1946 1.0 1906 6.5 9.5
359 Boyard Marie LUX 1976 1.0 1483 6.0 9.0
373 Minot Barbara FRA 1430 1.0 1024 6.0 9.5
374 Karsenty Madeleine FRA 1415 1.0 1015 5.5 8.5
377 Lucheva Velislava FRA 0 1.0 800 5.5 8.0
378 Mutzel Annabelle FRA 0 1.0 800 4.5 7.5
393 Vitasse Marie-Francoise FRA 0 0.0 792 4.0 7.5

GM Judit Polgar, R4

Don't be fooled by the relative scores of the ladies. All of the ladies other than Marie-Francoise Vitasse have higher-rated male players below them in the standings who have not done as well as they :) 
Marie-Francoise Vitasse is currently in last place.  Don't feel bad, Marie-Francoise, I'm rooting for you - I know how it feels! You've got guts playing in this event, and I salute you.

Highly-regarded male players such as GM Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria (2664) is in 26th place with 4.0; GM Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway (2606) is in 32nd place with 4.0; highly touted GM Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia (2729) is in 36th place with 3.5 (he came in as the #2 seed); GM David Navarra (CZE 2722) is in 48th place, with 3.5 (he came in as the #3 seed); GM Aleksey Dreev (RUS 2697) is in 57th place with 3.5; Russian GM Nikita Vitiugov is in 70th place with 3.5  Well, you get the picture.  It's a tough competition, heh.  From my perspective, all the more applause due to the ladies who are up against these dudes. 

Full standings at Chess-results.com.


IM Lela Javakhishvili

IM Anna Muzychuk



International Women's Chess Tournament Cotroceni 2011

Report from Chessdom.
March 2 - 11, 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. The 10-player round robin event is sporting a high average elo of 2456

Information from the official website.
GM Monika Socko had a marvelous start, gaining 4.5 points from five rounds, but then she suddenly blocked and got only half a point from the remaining four games. The top seed and reigning World Junior Champion, IM Anna Muzychuk, used the opportunity to overtake Socko and claim a clear first place with a total 6.5 points.

Final standings:
1. IM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2528 - 6.5
2. WGM Gunina Valentina RUS 2472 - 6.0
3. IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2499 - 5.5
4-6. GM Socko Monika POL 2495, IM Turova Irina RUS 2428 and IM Ushenina Anna UKR 2454 - 5.0
7-8. IM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2476 and IM Peptan Corina-Isabela ROU 2415 - 4.5
9-10. IM Repkova Eva SVK 2446 and WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita ROU 2343 - 1.5
USA's Anna Zatonskih had a good result in this international mix of strong players, as she charged up for next month's U.S. Women's Chess Championship. 

Anna Muzychuk continues her march toward - what, exactly?  She needs to stop playing in women-only events and get out of the female ratings ghetto.  She easily a 2600 + player, but she won't ever get there playing in women-only events.  Sad, but true.

Chess Femme News!

I don't remember if I picked this up from Dylan Loeb McClain's chess blog at The New York Times so, just in case, here it is:


Kateryna Lahno, 2010 Women's World Blitz Champion

 September 20, 2010, 12:27 pm
Lahno Wins Women’s World Blitz Championship

From Chessdom.com:

Interview with Anna Muzychuk during the Chess Olympiad
Her sister has birthday on September 21st
(I posted a photo of Anna Muzychuk below from R5 of the 2010 Chess Olympiad)

RI women’s chess team beats Sri Lanka
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 09/25/2010 12:09 PM | Sports
As you will see if you go to the end of the article and look at the "related links" below it, Woman Grand Master Irene Kharisma Sukandar (2372) is a big star in Indonesia.  She is a fine chessplayer and from interviews I have read, a very kind, level-headed young lady.  She is having a good Olympiad, with 4.0/5 (1 loss).

Comment from Chessvibes.com on results of R4 Chess Olympiad:

Olympiad R4: the King’s Indian is still alive
24 September 2010, 23.39 CET | Last modified: 9:47
The world’s best female player has been playing an important role thus far for her team in the Open section of the Olympiad. Today Judit Polgar’s win against Bu Xiangzhi was decisive in the Hungary-China match.