2014 European Individual Chess Championship - Update

Top Ten female players after R6 (with top player(s) included for comparison) -- 259 players through R6:

Rank after Round 6

Rk.	SNo			Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	33		GM	Motylev Alexander		RUS	2656	5.5	2568	17.5	19.5	5	2938	6	5.5	3.91	1.59	10	15.9

33

18

GM

Polgar Judit

w

HUN

2693

4.0

2594

20.0

22.5

2

2691

6

4

4.00

0.00

10

0.0

98

129

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

w

BUL

2476

3.5

2462

17.5

18.5

2

2455

6

3.5

3.44

0.06

10

0.6

105

137

IM

Melia Salome

w

GEO

2453

3.5

2429

16.5

18.5

3

2437

6

3.5

3.55

-0.05

10

-0.5

117

104

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

w

GEO

2546

3.0

2626

18.0

19.5

2

2546

6

3

2.87

0.13

10

1.3

120	167		WGM	Charochkina Daria	w	RUS	2374	3.0	2619	19.0	20.0	3	2536	6	3	1.81	1.19	10	11.9
121	160		WGM	Arabidze Meri	w	GEO	2388	3.0	2600	18.5	20.0	2	2529	6	3	1.93	1.07	15	16.0

128

186

WGM

Kursova Maria

w

ARM

2326

3.0

2531

17.0

19.0

2

2431

6

3

2.11

0.89

15

13.4

145

131

GM

Danielian Elina

w

ARM

2467

3.0

2427

16.5

19.0

2

2379

6

3

3.64

-0.64

10

-6.4

161

166

IM

Bulmaga Irina

w

ROU

2375

2.5

2618

19.0

22.0

1

2547

6

2.5

1.29

1.21

10

12.1

169

147

WGM

Goryachkina Aleksandra

w

RUS

2424

2.5

2507

16.0

18.5

2

2387

6

2.5

2.86

-0.36

10

-3.6

Five more rounds of action to come! It's not going to get any easier as the pairings in the second-half rounds get tougher and tougher.  Can Judit Polgar pull herself up into the top 10?  That's a BIG mountain to climb.  The next closest female player is GM Antoaneta Stefanova, in 98th place.  EEK!  Personal favorite IM Salome Melia, whom I got to "know" during her appearance at the Montreal Chess Championships back in 2009 (I think it was 2009), is hanging tough.  I would love to see her advance.

Stay tuned for reports as the action advances.

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 WWCC: Ushenina Wins Title!

From The Week in Chess:

27 year old Ukrainian Anna Ushenina emerged as the 14th World Champion. Ushenina won the second rapidplay game in the final against former champion (2004-6) Antoaneta Stefanova. Ushenina will defend the title against now former champion Hou Yifan in a match next year.

Name	FED	G1	G2	G3	G5	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 6 Match 01
Ushenina, Anna	UKR	½	½	1	0	½	1						3½
Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	½	½	0	1	½	0						2½

From the official website:

Anna Ushenina became the new World Champion

01.12.2012

The Ukrainian grandmaster defeated Antoaneta Stefanova on tie-break.

The tie-break between Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) was short, but the struggle was really tense.

Antoaneta Stefanova had White in the first rapid game. She obtained a minimal advantage in the opening, but her central break was a bit premature, as it allowed Black to open the files and activate her pieces. The position got simplified, and Black eventually equalized. In the subsequent maneuvering game White tried different tricks, but Black defended accurately and parried all threats. A draw was agreed on 89^th move.

In the second game Anna Ushenina demonstrated an opening novelty and seized the initiative. Stefanova ended up in a worse position and was short on time. After the exchange of queens White got a spatial advantage, invaded Black’s camp with her rooks and won a pawn. Stefanova did not want to defend passively and attempted to activate her pieces, but Ushenina exchanged a pair of rooks and denied her counterplay. Soon White won another pawn and accurately converted her decisive material advantage.

The score in the final is 3.5-2.5 in favor of Anna Ushenina (Ukraine). FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulated her with this historic achievement at the concluding press-conference. The FIDE President arrived today to Khanty-Mansiysk to participate in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Women’s World Championship.

Dudes!  Can't you tell the lady wants to visit the rest room?  She's already got her purse over
her shoulder eager to get away as Stefanova gives her a smiling fingers touch (lady handshake). 
Get that clipboard and pen out of her face, already!  Geez, sometimes dudes are so dense.

Interview with Anna Ushenina afterward at the official website.  Kirsan the Alien is also present and spoke more than Anna did.  Interestingly, he invited Ushenina to play in the next World Cup (Men's) that will be held in Tromso, Norway.  Let's see what happens, shall we...

2012 FIDE WWCC: Game 3 -- Stefanova Caught Flat-Footed!

Name	FED	G1	G2	G3	G5	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 6 Match 01
Ushenina, Anna	UKR	½	½	1									2
Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	½	½	0									1

From The Week in Chess:

Game 3 could not have gone better for Anna Ushenina who completely caught out Antoaneta Stefanova in a sideline of the Chebanenko Slav. Not only did Stefanova clearly not know the line but she also walked straight into the sharpest variation by rather naively playing 15...e5 rather than 15...Kh8 which was more restrained. It was all very gruesome after 17.Nxd5 and this win means a draw with black in game 4 will give Ushenina the title.

Oy!  So, is it all over now except for the shouting?  Will Ushenina play only for a draw tomorrow, knowing that's all she needs to secure the title for herself?  I'm wondering how Stefanova is going to respond to this do-or-go-home-with-less-$$$ situation. 

Before Game 3, Final.  Stefanova looks elegantly put-together -- love that faux fur shorty jacket/sweather she's
got on, and notice how color-coordinated her comfy low-heeled boots are with her slacks (NOT jeans).
She always looks serenely regal to me.  I love Ushenina's platinum blonde hair -- it suits her coloring to a T! 
She just looks like she's got a chip on her shoulder in this photograph.  Game face - yeah, she's got Game!
 

I'm also happy that Ushenina decided to retire her red sweater (how many times has she worn it during this championship, I wonder?), at least temporarily.  (Okay, I know you've all been noticing that too, but just didn't comment on it.  So, me bad!)  Today she wore a blue and white shirt.  Short sleeves in Siberia.  Rather reminds me of an NFL football player from the Packers playing at Legendary Lambeau Field in the play-offs in January -- when the windchill can drop well below zero and they pretend the cold doesn't bother them...

From the Official Website:

The current score is 2-1 in favor of the Ukrainian player.

In the third games of the Women’s World Championship final Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) played the Slav Defense. The Bulgarian went for the Chebanenko Variation (with 4…a6; also called the Chameleon Variation sometimes), which she didn’t use for a long time. Nevertheless, Ushenina was not caught by surprise. White played very well and got a small advantage. In an attempt to activate her pieces, Black carried out a pawn break in the center, which turned out very risky. White replied with an interesting tactical operation, trading two minor pieces for a rook and two pawns. Formally the material was still equal, however, White got a clear advantage: Black’s pieces were badly coordinated, and her king became weak.

Soon White advanced the passed pawn, and her position became overwhelming. Stefanova got into a time trouble and was unable to defend perfectly. Instead of seeking the vital counterplay on the kingside, she decided to play passively, which turned out to be a decisive mistake. Ushenina converted her advantage flawlessly, not giving her opponent any hope. Black resigned on the 37^th move.

By winning this game Anna Ushenina took the match lead – 2-1. The fourth game (and the last one with a classical time control) is scheduled on Friday, November 30^th. Antoaneta Stefanova plays White and needs a win to stay in the match.

Report from Chessbase, on Games 1 through 3.  Includes (at the end of the article) a board where you can play-through Game 3.

xxx

2012 Women's World Chess Championship: Summary Thus Far

Will I live to see the day when the press in the USA covers chess like the Indians do?  Nah. 

From The Times of India:

World Women's Chess Championship enters final stage

PTI | Nov 26, 2012, 10.10 AM IST

KHANTY MANSIYSK: The Indian interest over after D Harika's ouster, the World Women's Chess Championship entered into its closing stage in which Ukraine's Anna Ushenina will take on Anotaneta Stefanova for the top prize.

The upsets continued as Ushenina made the finals at the expense of Ju Wenjun of China winning the first set of rapid tie-break games that concluded.

After drawing two back-to-back normal time control games rather quickly, Ushenina struck with her white pieces in the first game of rapid tiebreaker and then drew the next to make it to the finals of the $4,50,000 championship.

Stefanova will now fight it out with Ushenina for the ultimate crown in a four games match that commences tomorrow.

Stefanova had beaten Harika in the other semifinal that lasted just two games. Harika had lost the first and drawn the second to bow out of the championship with a bronze medal.

At the award ceremony Harika thanked everyone involved to help her get to the semifinal stage.

"I am very grateful for the support from my friends, parents, grandmother, my trainer, who teaches me since my childhood. We were in touch during the whole championship. Grandmaster Eesha Karavade sent me her opening analysis.

"Grandmaster Ganguly participated in one of my training sessions prior to the championship. Grandmaster Harikrishna also helped me to prepare for some games," said the semifinalist.

After the ouster of top-rated Indian Koneru Humpy as early as in round two, all eyes were on Harika as she was playing quite well in the gruelling schedule.

Harika thought she should have done better when asked about what she felt about her achievement.

"My friends have mixed opinions. Everyone is happy for me, but they are also a bit disappointed, because I did not advance to the final, which I feel was possible," said Harika.

Citing tiredness as the main reason, Harika insisted that she had not lost focus.

"Cannot say I lost my focus, I just felt a bit tired. Maybe this is why I lost the first game to Stefanova."

The championship now enters the final stage where there will be four games in all. In case of a tie, shorter games will be played to determine the champion who in 2013 will play a match with Yifan Hou of China.

Stevanova Through to Final in 2012 FIDE WWCC!!!

Holy Hathor! Stevanova is just smoking hot hot hot right now.  She won her match against Harika Dronavalli 1.5 - 0.5 and will face either Anna Ushenina or Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Champion title.

Ushinina and Ju tied their match and so will be going to play-offs tomorrow!  What a way to spend a weekend, following this action!

Results Round 5, Game 2:

Name	G1	G2	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 5 Match 01
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)	1	½								1½
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)	0	½								½
Round 5 Match 02
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)	½	½								1
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)	½	½								1

Official website. 

The second games of the Women’s World Championship semifinals were played today in Khanty-Mansiysk
24.11.2012

Stefanova ascendant!

Harika Dronavalli (India) needed to win as White to tie the match score against Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria). In a slow maneuvering game the Indian advanced her pawns on the queenside, and Stefanova pushed on the kingside. As the game got more open, Black sacrificed a piece for White’s three central pawns and obtained a big advantage. However, Stefanova did not try to win the game outright and just forced a draw by repetition, securing the match victory. Now the former World Champion will have a chance to win her second title.

At the risk of jinxing her for tomorrow's play-off, Ushenina looks ready to rumble!  Killer eyes...
 

Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Ju Wenjun (China) agreed to an early draw. The Chinese was unable to get an opening advantage with White and offered a draw on the 18^th move. Tomorrow, November 25^th, the tie-break will determine the second participant of the final match. It will be the fifth tie-break at this championship for Ju Wenjun, and the second one for Ushenina.

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone.  Only Americans celebrate this iconic holiday on this particular day (the 4th Thursday in November), but there are similar holidays celebrated throughout the world, for the same reasons.  It is a combination of thanksgiving and harvest festival, a day of reflection and introspection, but also a day of overindulging in food and drink, watching NFL football on television practically non-stop until later tonight when the 7 p.m. game at last wraps up, and celebrating in one's own particular way.

About 30 minutes ago, I visited the official website to see if I could pick up information on the three different play-offs taking place in Kamksy Mansky, Russia (where?)  Okay, it's actually Khanty Masisky, no, that's not right either...  It actually Khanty Mansiysk - or something like that.  Anyway, my goal was to post a news flash here whilst in the midst of my Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

So, I had discerned that Stefanova had KNOCKED OUT GM Marie Sebag, and that one of the Chinese players had probably knocked out a different Chinese player, but it was basically undecipherable to me what the heck was actually going on - couldn't figure out how to register (not that I wanted to!), or to navigate the games properly, well, par for the course for moi. 

The Week in Chess to the rescue.  Here are the results from the Round 4 playoffs:

Name	G1	G2	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 4 Match 01
Sebag, Marie (FRA)	1	0	0	0						1
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)	0	1	1	1						3
Round 4 Match 02
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)	½	½	½	½	½	1				3½
Huang, Qian (CHN)	½	½	½	½	½	0				2½
Round 4 Match 03
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)	½	0								½
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)	½	1								1½
Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue (CHN)	½	½	0	½						1½
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)	½	½	1	½						2½

Players advancing from the play-offs to Round 5:  Antoaneta Stefanova, Ju Wenjun, and Harika Dronavalli.  Anna Ushenina had previously secured a spot for herself in the semi-final during regular play and did not have to go through a play-off.

I have to say, this is about an as unlikely group of potential female world chess champions as I could have imagined - and did not!  Holy Hathor! 

I'm just going to sit back and be entertained over the next several days, beginning with Round 5, whenever that is.  Don't the players EVER get a break in this event?  Geez! 

Chess Femme News

The Times of India
Easy outing for Humpy in Women's World Chess Championship
Hari Hara Nandanan, TNN, Dec 6, 2010, 12.57am IST

CHENNAI: India had a mixed bag in the first game in the first round of the Women's World Chess Championship at Hatay ( Turkey) on Saturday. While favourite Koneru Humpy whipped Melissa Greeff, a South African rated 518 points below her on the Elo scale, Dronavalli Harika conceded a draw to compatriot Kruttika Nadig with white pieces, a result that puts the India No 2 in a must-win situation in the return game with black if she has to avoid tiebreaks in the first round.

In fact, Harika's draw was one of the two surprises in the first game of the first round as she is expected to pull off some surprises by virtue of her healthy 2525 rating.

The second surprise of the first day was credited to local girl Yildiz Betul Cemre, who held Grandmaster Pia Cramling of Sweden (2526) to a draw.

Not chess femme news, but interesting nonetheless.  From Chessbase:
Rethinking top level chess – a mandatory move
05.12.2010 – Who is the strongest player in the world? Does the World Champion win his title in the most effective way? How much should we depend on the Elo rating system, and are there better alternatives for determining world rankings? After three years spent writing a PhD thesis on games and sports at the Paris-Sorbonne Manouk Borzakian turns his attention to chess in this thought-provoking paper.

Not mentioned is what I call, in women's chess, the "women's rating ghetto" effect of bunched - and low - ELOs.  The same effect happens when the same elite male players face the same elite male players over and over again, blocking out those below from having a chance to compete and earn those valuable ELO points on the same level.  Plus, it's damn borning.

From Chessbase
Report on First Game of R1, Women's World Chess Championship
2010 Women's World Chess Championship - Round one
05.12.2010

Lots of nice photos - the guys (and gals) at Chessbase are famous for taking lots of photos of the prettiest female players, like former Women's World Chess Champion  GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria (and her second, GM Cheparinov, ain't bad looking either, yum)

Glad to see Dylan Loeb McClain at The New York Times chess blog Gambit is featuring lots of articles about the chess femmes:

November 22, 2010, 1:08 am For Some Women, Russian Championship Is a Warm-up for World Championship
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

For 2nd Year, Younger Women Beat Older Men at Czech Event
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: December 4, 2010

Manager Blames Marriage for His Star’s Slump
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: November 27, 2010
Marriage seems to have hurt Veselin Topalov’s career, for now.

Topalov, 35, a former world champion who was ranked No. 1 in the world as recently as 14 months ago, has seen his ranking slide to No. 5.

His manager, Silvio Danailov, said in a recent interview with the Web site Chessdom.com that Topalov married a few months ago and was “enjoying life a little bit,” adding, “He is not motivated to play tournaments right now.”

His latest setback occurred at the Ajedrez UNAM Quadrangular tournament in Mexico City, which ended a week ago. It was a four-player rapid chess event.

Topalov easily won his semifinal match against Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico, 3.5 to 0.5. But in the final against Judit Polgar of Hungary, an opponent he was favored to beat, he was trounced, 3.5 to 0.5. In the last two games, he barely put up any resistance.

LOL! (That's my comment). Blame it on the new wife, heh? OHMYGODDESS!

InventiChess 2009

GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria and IM Anna Muzychuk are playing in the Invitational (website). Here are the standings after Round 5: 1. IGM E. Sutovsky 4.0 2. IGM E. Bacrot 3.5 3. IM A. Muzychuk 3.0 3. IGM G. Sargissian 3.0 4. IGM K. Sasikiran 2.5 4. IGM B. Socko 2.5 4. IGM A. Stefanova 2.5 5. IM B. Michiels 2.0 6. IGM J. Timman 1.5 7. IGM D. Howell 0.5

Rethymno 2009 International Open

One Hundred (100) players are taking part in this tournament in beautiful Rethymno, Greece, July 12 - 19, 2009. Here are the standings of the chess femmes participating (hope I didn't miss any) after R5: (9) IM Dembo Yelena GRE 2466 4,0 (13) IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2428 4,0 (18) GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2535 4,0 (24) WGM Paulet Iozefina ROU 2327 4,0 (37) IM Turova Irina RUS 2387 3,5 (46) WIM Chulivska Vita UKR 2304 3,0 (48) WIM Stiri Alexandra GRE 2163 3,0 (67) Sirletti Sonia ITA 1942 3,0 (78) Markaki Sofia U12 GRE 1709 3,0 Current leaders: (1) GM Werle Jan NED 2575 4,5 (2) GM Tukhaev Adam UKR 2534 4,5 (3) IM Smith Bryan G USA 2467 4,5 (4) GM Antic Dejan SRB 2523 4,5 Come on Stefanova, you can beat these dudes! Who is IM Bryan G Smith USA? I do not believe I have heard of him before!

Casino de Barcelona

Oh crap. Is there no good news in the world tonight to cheer me up a little bit? Stefanova lost her last round game to Dreev (tournament leader in Round 8), so she finishes with 4.5/9. 50% - not bad - but not so good, either. The final cross-table has not yet been posted at the official website, so I don't have final standings.

Casino de Barcelona

GM Antoaneta Stefanova, the sole chess femme at this invitational, has not lost a game. She is at 4.5/8 and has moved up in the standings, with one round to go; she is either in 4th or 5th. Alexey Dreev is in clear first with 6.0 Georgiev Kiril is in clear second with 5.5 USA's Boris Gulko is in clear third with 5.0 Baadur Jobava and Stefanova each have 4.5

GM Antoaneta Stefanova - On a Roll!

From internationalibox.bg Antoaneta Stefanova with at least four medals from the beginning of October Updated on: 04.11.2008, 17:43 Published on: 04.11.2008, 17:38 Author: Diana Stoykova Four medals, two golden and two silver, has won gross master Antoaneta Stefanova during the last month. First in the Chinese capital Beijing the ex-world and European champion won a golden medal in accelerated chess and a sliver medal in blitz at the first World Mind Games in Beijing. At the European Club Cup in Calethea (Greece) Stefanova won a silver medal with her new team Spartak Vidnoe (Russia) and a golden medal on the second board. "The competition was really hard. In Beijing it was difficult, because of the trip, the time difference and the new rules. I lost the blitz from Aelxandra Kostenjuk, but at the accelerated games I compensated the loss", stated Lazarova. Until the end of the year she will take part in a tournament in Barcelona where she will be the only woman. From 12 to 25 November in Dresden the Chess Olympic Games will be held, where Stefanova will be the first board of the Bulgarian team. "I hope that I will perform well on both tournaments", adds Antoaneta.

In the Casino de Barcelona Tournament (mentioned above), after six (of 10) rounds completed, Stefanova is at 3.5. She's had all draws and one win thus far. Dreev and Georgiev are tied for first place with 4.0 each, and Stefanova is tied with Lopez and Jobaba at 3.5.

2008 Gibtelecom Round 5 Standings

Stefanova continues to impress - but there's a long way to go. Can she hold her form?

3 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 4.5 BUL 2464
16 GM Cramling, Pia 4.0 SWE 2524
35 IM Muzychuk, Anna 3.5 SLO 2460
39 IM Dzagnidze, Nana 3.5 GEO 2429
40 IM Paehtz, Elisabeth 3.5 GER 2420
41 IM Foisor, Cristina Adela 3.5 ROU 2412
48 WGM Zhao, Xue 3.0 CHN 2517
50 IM Socko, Monika 3.0 POL 2479
51 IM Cmilyte, Viktorija 3.0 LTU 2475
52 IM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 3.0 GEO 2457
53 IM Harika, Dronavalli 3.0 IND 2455
58 WGM Shen, Yang 3.0 CHN 2429
61 IM Houska, Jovanka 3.0 ENG 2393
64 IM Wang, Yu A. 3.0 CHN 2391
65 WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 3.0 ROU 2386
72 IM Zozulia, Anna 3.0 BEL 2344
74 IM Klinova, Masha 3.0 ISR 2315
87 GM Zhu, Chen 2.5 QAT 2548
92 WGM Ramaswamy, Aarthie 2.5 IND 2322
103 WIM Nadig, Kruttika 2.5 IND 2208
116 WFM Norinkeviciute, Rasa 2.5 LTU 2064
121 WIM Makka, Ioulia 2.0 GRE 2186
145 Foisor, Mihaela-Veronica 2.0 ROU 2043
158 Jorgensen, Line Jin 2.0 NOR 1867
160 Loberg, Jo Kristian 2.0 NOR 0 *
164 WIM Greef, Melissa 1.5 RSA 2025
174 Jacobsen, Maria Pitz 1.5 NOR 1799
181 Georgieva, Emilia 1.0 BUL 1985
196 Mossiaguine, Anastasia 1.0 SWE 0 *
197 Mossiaguine, Arina 1.0 SWE 0 *
200 Hansen, Linda Marie 0.5 NOR 0 *

Typical Research Project Part 2 - Goddess Synchronicity

Ohmygoddess! I didn't think this would happen HERE - I mean, whoever is going to read this blog - but I guess I should know by now that one can always expect the unexpected when dealing with the Goddess of Chess. Synchronicity has been the sounding bell in my relationship with chess and my research since I and my chessly cohorts first embarked upon this path way back in December, 1998. Why should I be surprised when it shows up here? I shouldn't be - but I was! I must be getting old, sigh. After I wrote my prior post "Typical Research Project" this afternoon, I visited David Shenk's blog and wrote a post about a few examples of chessplayers that I thought fit the profile of his research. I'd been meaning to do that for some time but did not get around to it until earlier this afternoon. Mind, I've not yet finished David's book "A History of Chess" - I'm not quite to the half-way point. I then settled down to a couple of hours of reading on my deck, and then a 2 hour nap on my recliner. Ahhhh, I love my weekends! This evening, I visited Chessville and made a few posts there under my favorite topic, about women in chess/women and chess. Some people at Chessville evidently don't think much of me, comparing me to Sam Sloan (seriously!) But that's been done in private email - the people who (so I've been told) don't like me don't post such stuff at the Chessville forum, where folks could then debate the merits of whether I am, actually, a female Sam Sloan. Like the title of Jen Shahade's first book (that I didn't like at first because I thought it was denigrating to women, but after past and recent experiences, I have a better understanding about why Ms. Shahade titled her book that way), once a chess bitch, always a chess bitch. And proud of it. I just wish I could play chess as well as I think I can write... (Har!) Anyway, one of the posts awaiting me at Chessville was about the performance of the Kosintseva sisters in the recently concluded 2007 European Individual Chess Championships. I'd done a few posts there on the progress of that event, including the high drama of the sister versus sister game (it ended in a draw). Tatiana Kosintseva took first place with an impressive 10/11 score and had an even more impressive performance rating of 2774 - which puts her right up there with the elite chessplayers of the world. Her ELO is 2459 so her performance rating is STAGGERING. TN is 21 years old. Her older sister (by a year), Nadezhda Kosintseva, finished in 3rd place with 8/11; NK also had a fine performance rating of 2568, almost 100 points above her current ELO rating of 2475, but not staggering. GM Antoaneta Stefanova, no slouch when it comes to bringing the goods, finished in second place after a strong second-half performance, with 8/11 and a performance rating of 2572, also nearly 100 points above her current ELO of 2496. You can read more about all of this stuff here at my Chess Femme News report. All in all, it was a really impressive event. Lo and behold, while I was perusing through GM Susan Polgar's chess blog tonight, I discovered this article posted there, from that new chess guy over at the New York Times (McClain) - all about the Kosintseva sisters! Knock me over with a feather! The article also mentioned David Shenk's book "A History of Chess" - I haven't yet got to the part in his book where he talks about the Polgar sisters - and now I feel rather silly for having done that post at his blog - of course David Shenk would have known about the Polgars and their training, duh. What was I thinking??? I will keep following the Kosintseva sisters' chess careers with interest. Will they continue to improve and work their way up the ELO ladder? Or will they, like so many chess femmes before them and around them, seem to plateau and, eventually, drop out of the game altogether? It's a tough way of life, professional chess. There are so many other easier ways to make a living.