2015 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Hola darlings!

I missed it all - and didn't miss it at all, to tell you the truth.  I think the knock-out format is a joke and is not a true measure of the relative skills of the players.  Oh well.

The event was held in Sochi; I hope the Russian army was not out killing stray dogs like they did before the Olympics.  Official website has photos galore and daily reports/interviews, along with round by round results, video, and the games.

U.S. players were Tatev Abrahamyan and Irina Krush; Tatev got knocked out in the first round by India's Dronavalli Harika and Krush got knocked out in the second found, also by Harika.  Harika rendered an excellent performance, making it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Mariya Muzychuk; likewise, veteran player Pia Cramling (one of the first female players to earn a GM title in the 1980s in the traditional way) made it to the semi-finals and lost to Natalia Pogonina.  The semi-finals devolved into tense tie-break battles to determine who advanced:

Semifinal pairings / results Player Fed Rtg G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts Muzychuk, Mariya UKR 2526 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 3.5 Harika, Dronavalli IND 2492 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 2.5 Player Fed Rtg G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts Cramling, Pia SWE 2495 1 0 ½ 0 1.5 Pogonina, Natalia RUS 2456 0 1 ½ 1 2.5

Pogonina went to the final round and lost to Muzychuk, who is now the 15th FIDE Women's World Chess Champion.

Final rairings / results Player Fed Rtg G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts Pogonina, Natalia RUS 2456 ½ 0 ½ ½           1.5 Muzychuk, Mariya UKR 2526 ½ 1 ½ ½           2.5

Congratulations to GM Mariya Muzychuk.

From the FIDE website, here is the prize structure:

3. 9. Prizes for the Women’s World Championship 
3. 9. 1. Prize list
1st round 32 losers x 3.750 = 120.000
2nd round 16 losers x 5.500 = 88.000
3rd round 8 losers x 8.000 = 64.000
4th round 4 losers x 12.000 = 48.000
5th round 2 losers x 20.000 = 40.000
6th round 1 loser x 30.000 = 30.000
Women’s World Champion = 60.000
TOTAL: 450.000 USD

Evidently the knock-out championship was planned to be held in 2014, with a Women's World Championship "match" to be held this year in October.  Oops!

According to the FIDE website, bidding on the Women's World Championship "match" is open until April 20, 2015, with a minimum prize fund of $200,000 and various bribes administrative fees to FIDE, etc.  Well, who knows, somebody could bid on it and it could actually happen, and then Mariya Muzychuk would have to defend her title six months after winning it!

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! 

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

As always, India is in the limelight with providing coverage of its chessplayers.  I can just feel the love of a billion people rooting for their "home team" players!  This is Round 4, Game 1 news.  We are now down to 8 players.  Eight players, out of 64 of the world's top female players (other than GM Judit Polgar).

Harika draws with Zhao Xue in World Women's Chess Championship

The writer has posted comments on this articlePTI | Nov 20, 2012, 09.58 PM IST

KHANTY MANSIYSK (Russia): Grandmaster D Harika started her quarterfinal campaign with an easy draw with fourth seed Zhao Xue of China in the first game of the two-game mini-match that concluded in the World Women's Chess Championship.

After drawing with black, Harika holds a little edge going in to the second game in the $450000 prize money championship as she will play with white pieces in the return game. The Indian has succeeded in the championship thus far without losing a single game.

French Marie Sebag drew the first blood in the first game against former champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria and took an early lead. The Bulgarian will now have to score a victory in the next game to stay in the match.

The other two matches of the quarters were drawn. The championship that started with 64 players, is now down to eight. There are two games under normal time control till the final and in the event of a tied score, games of shorter duration are played to determine the winner.

Harika went for the Queen's gambit, declined as black and found out soon that the Chinese was not expecting this opening. After an early trade of minor pieces, Harika went for the thematic central break through and succeeded in reaching a level endgame.

Zhao Xue wanted to push for victory and in her effort she gave Harika a small chance that the Indian failed to notice with her clock ticking away. It was on move 30 that Harika missed what might have been a nagging advantage. The game was drawn five moves later.

Will Dronavilli Prevail?

From The Times of India

D Harika to meet Zhao Xue in quarterfinals of World Women's Chess Championship

The writer has posted comments on this articlePTI | Nov 20, 2012, 01.02 AM IST

KHANTY MANSIYSK (RUSSIA): Grandmaster D Harika will have to lock horns with Zhao Xue of China in the quarterfinals of the World Women's Chess Championship now underway.

Having reached the last eighth stage, Harika meets the biggest challenge in the championship and if she wins this match she can prove to be a very tough competitor for the other opponents.

The match against Xue will test her real skills as the Chinese is also the highest rated player remaining in the championship.

Harika spent the day preparing against Zhao Xue and looked determined while the tiebreaker of the third round was played in the main hall. This is already the second time in a row that the Indian has reached the quarterfinal stage. In 2010 she had lost to Ruofan Li of China.

The heat rose on the chess board even as the mercury plummeted to minus 17 degrees celsius in the Ugra region. The most intense battle was fought by the Kosintseva sisters who were pitted against each other in the third round match.
 
After drawing two games under normal time control both Nadezhda and Tatiana shared a victory each in the rapid games. In the subsequent ten-minute tiebreaker, Nadezhda won from a difficult position in the middle game and then held on to win the match.

In other tiebreak matches, it was China all the way as Ju Wenjun ousted Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine and Huang Qian showed Irina Krush the exit door in the rapid games itself.

The USD 450000 Championship is now down to eight players from 64 in the first round. The winner here will get to play a match with Yifan Hou of China in 2013 to decide the next world champion.

Big names of the game have exited the championship already. The top three seeds -- Koneru Humpya, Yifan Hou and Anna Muzychuk -- packed their bags after the second round and fifth seed Kateryna Lahno faced a similar situation too.

16th European Club Cup for Women 2011

How did my ladies do?  Here are the relative rankings of players who played five or more games by Board.  I've highlighted the ladies I was following in red:

Board 1

Rank		Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	man	Rtg-O
1	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2528	AVS	2674	0	2481
2	GM	Zhukova Natalia	2416	Giprorechtrans	2551	0	2494
3	GM	Hou Yifan	2578	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	2526	0	2401
4	IM	Bojkovic Natasa	2378	BAS	2466	0	2409
5	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2469	SHSM-RGSU	2459	0	2459
6	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2525	AEM Luxten Timisoara	2420	0	2420
7	IM	Fierro Baquero Martha L	2378	CS R. Fischer Chieti	2408	0	2351
8	GM	Danielian Elina	2517	Mika	2402	0	2402
9	WIM	Yildiz Betul Cemre	2308	Anatolia	2254	0	2379
10	WFM	Dimitrijevic Aleksandra	2287	ZSK Maribor	2200	0	2393
11	WFM	Johnsen Sylvia	2038	Oslo Schakselskap	1571	0	2371

Board 2

Rank		Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	man	Rtg-O
1	IM	Muzychuk Anna	2545	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	2611	0	2418
2	IM	Dembo Yelena	2471	BAS	2606	0	2413
3	GM	Lahno Kateryna	2554	AVS	2589	0	2464
4	IM	Harika Dronavalli	2505	Mika	2578	0	2420
5	IM	Gunina Valentina	2499	SHSM-RGSU	2550	0	2425
6	IM	Zatonskih Anna	2508	AEM Luxten Timisoara	2469	0	2419
7	IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	2465	Giprorechtrans	2447	0	2504
8	WIM	Ozturk Kubra	2260	Anatolia	2289	0	2346
9	IM	Sedina Elena	2337	CS R. Fischer Chieti	2280	0	2337
10	WGM	Srebrnic Ana	2222	ZSK Maribor	2224	0	2349
11	WFM	Frank-Nielsen Marie	2020	Oslo Schakselskap	1946	0	2347

Board 3

Rank		Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	man	Rtg-O
1	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2464	AEM Luxten Timisoara	2593	0	2400
2	IM	Zaiatz Elena	2441	Giprorechtrans	2498	0	2441
3	GM	Cramling Pia	2489	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	2473	0	2348
4	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	2525	AVS	2434	0	2434
5	GM	Zhu Chen	2490	Mika	2415	0	2365
6	IM	Zimina Olga	2337	CS R. Fischer Chieti	2344	0	2219
7		Khachatourian Yerazik	1967	Oslo Schakselskap	2112	0	2237
8	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	2287	BAS	2089	0	2362
9	WCM	Kaya Emel	1994	Anatolia	2083	0	2323
10	WIM	Ankerst Milka	2084	ZSK Maribor	1866	0	2267

Board 4

Rank		Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	man	Rtg-O
1	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	2385	SHSM-RGSU	2484	0	2291
2	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	2446	AVS	2482	0	2357
3	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2475	Mika	2450	0	2292
4	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	2416	AEM Luxten Timisoara	2425	0	2276
5	GM	Socko Monika	2490	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	2360	0	2303
6	WIM	Drljevic Ljilja	2256	BAS	2290	0	2290
7	IM	Vasilevich Irina	2393	Giprorechtrans	2217	0	2410
8		Orehek Spela	2020	ZSK Maribor	2085	0	2234
9		Di Primio Eugenia	1974	CS R. Fischer Chieti	2037	0	2162
10		Reppen Ellisiv	1969	Oslo Schakselskap	1745	0	2146

Dronavalli Harika Earns GM Title

From thetimesofindia.com

After GM title, Harika sets eyes on World Championship
PTI | Jul 25, 2011, 09.26PM IST

HYDERABAD: After becoming only the second woman chess player from India to achieve the Grandmaster title, Dronavalli Harika has now set her eyes on winning the World Championship.

Harika, who drew with Anna Zatonskih of the United States in the Women's Grandmasters tournament in China to earn a chess Grandmaster title on Saturday, told reporters after returning from China that she wants to achieve a lot more in her career now.

"This is one of my happiest memories in my chess career. It is also like telling me that I have to concentrate more now and have to try and achieve a lot more. So I am looking forward to practice well and do much better than this," Harika said.

"Whatever I will do, I will look forward to win a World Championship. I will work harder from now on to achieve my goal one day. I can try to improve my yellow rating," she added.

Insisting that her journey to winning the GM title was not easy, Harika said she would like to look ahead rather than brooding over the past.

"It is hard. There are hurdles and there will be some hurdles in anything you do in life. But I am happy and why to think about all the hurdles I had," the 20-year-old said.

Asked if she would advice youngsters to opt chess as a career option as the game does not enjoy much limelight like cricket, Harika said that young boys and girls should choose a career that excites them.

"I agree that compared to cricket, badminton, there is less publicity in chess but I think it is one of the famous indoor sports. When I started playing chess, I knew how it is. I see the difference now. Many people say that it is an intelligent sport.

"Right now, it is very good. I don't say you can make career in chess, but whatever you do in life, you just have to enjoy it," Harika said, adding that chess is a part of her life and she cannot think of her life without the game.

Fellow-Andhraite Koneru Humpy is the only other Indian woman who has achieved the GM title and Harika feels that it is just a coincidence that her compatriot is also from the same state.

"May be, it is a coincidence that we are from Andhra Pradesh. But there are many players from other states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Delhi. There are many top players from other states as well," she said.

Stating that she considered both the GM title and Arjuna award equally important, Harika said, "From chess point of view, GM title is always special. But I know, how important Arjuna award is. There is more recognition after I got Arjuna award. I can see that. So, both are special for me."

Our Newest Female GM: Harika Dronavalli!

Dronavalli scored her third and final GM norm thanks to her excellent performance in the 2011 Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament, where she finished in second place overall with 5.5/9.  The GM title enrolls her in a small group of female players who have either been awarded the GM title or earned it the traditional way.  Dronavalli has also pushed her ELO above 2600 by her most recent tournament performance, thereby joining a very small, elite group of female chessplayers:  Judit Polgar at 2699 (HUN) and Koneru Humpy at 2614 (IND).  Congratulations to Harika!  These are wonderful achievements!

I don't pretend to understand all of the intricacies of how one scores a GM norm in tournament play - you can read about the former and current rules in this article at Wikipedia. 
Article from The Hindu Online

HYDERABAD, July 23, 2011
Harika realises one of her dreams
By V. V. Subrahmanyam

Photo from Chessbase 2008 interview. 

Dronavalli Harika reached another significant milestone in her chess career by becoming only the second woman chess player from India to win the Grandmaster title in men's category when she drew with Anna Zatonskih of the United States in the Women's Grandmasters tournament in China on Saturday.

The Indian girl drew her final round game to finish second overall with 5.5 points, but more importantly crossed the crucial Elo 2600-mark to earn the coveted GM title in the men's section. Koneru Humpy is the only other Indian to have achieved this.

The 20-year-old Harika says one of her two dreams has finally been realised. “I always used to tell my friends and fellow players that I have two objectives — to be a Grandmaster in the men's category and to be the World champion. I feel relieved that one hurdle is crossed,” Harika told The Hindu from China.

Sentimental feat

“This is a very sentimental achievement for me. For, only last month I lost my grandfather (Krishna Rao) and I was in Guntur only for a day to attend the 11th day ceremony before leaving for the circuit. At the small gathering, I thought to myself that the best tribute to pay him was to achieve something special. Now, I think I have done my best and done what he had wanted for long,” the champion player from Andhra Pradesh said.

“It is a huge honour to be a men's GM considering that there are only about 25 of them [females who have earned or been awarded the GM title] in the world. And definitely, this is a huge motivation ahead of a demanding schedule next year,” says the reigning Asian women's champion.

“It is true that I have been waiting for this since 2007. I have been missing the GM norms very narrowly in many events. So, in that context, today I am really pleased after getting the final GM norm,” the former World junior champion said.

“I dedicate this achievement to my parents (Ramesh and Suvarna) and to my coach N.V.S. Ramaraju. They have been a source of great inspiration right through my career,” said Harika, sponsored by Airports Authority of India and Lakshya.

Reflecting on the big events ahead, Harika said she had received an invitation to play in the prestigious Corus championship besides other majors in the next few months.

“With the World championship and the Olympiad ahead, I am just hoping everything will fall in place,” said the winner of three World youth titles.

Silent performer

“She is a silent performer of Indian chess. Has abundant talent and is one of the strongest contenders to be a World champion,” says IM Lanka Ravi, who is a close follower of Harika and Humpy's careers.

“Now the big dream needs to be chased — to be a World champion. I am aware that it is not going to be easy but I can tell you that it is the ultimate target for me as I prepare for the Worlds next year with all seriousness,” signed off Harika.

2011 Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament

Dronavalli is showing what she's made of! She is mounting yet another come-from-behind charge in the second half, and I sure won't count her out.

Ranking crosstable after Round 7

Rk.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	WGM	Ju Wenjun	2515	CHN	*	½		½	1	½		1	1	1	5.5	0.0	4	16.50
2	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	2560	RUS	½	*	½	½	½	½	1			1	4.5	0.5	2	15.00
3	IM	Harika Dronavalli	2513	IND		½	*	½	½	1	1	½	½		4.5	0.5	2	14.50
4	GM	Sebag Marie	2510	FRA	½	½	½	*		1	0	0	1		3.5	0.0	2	12.75
5	GM	Zhao Xue	2470	CHN	0	½	½		*	½	1		½	½	3.5	0.0	1	11.25
6	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	2557	RUS	½	½	0	0	½	*		1		½	3.0	1.0	1	10.75
7	GM	Zhu Chen	2485	QAT		0	0	1	0		*	½	1	½	3.0	0.5	2	8.50
8	GM	Hou Yifan	2575	CHN	0		½	1		0	½	*	½	½	3.0	0.5	1	9.50
9	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2537	GEO	0		½	0	½		0	½	*	1	2.5	0.0	1	7.50
10	IM	Zatonskih Anna	2522	USA	0	0			½	½	½	½	0	*	2.0	0.0	0	6.25

Round 7 on 2011/07/21 at 15:00
Bo.	No.		Name	Result		Name	No.
1	4	GM	Zhu Chen	1 - 0	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	10
2	5	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	0 - 1	IM	Harika Dronavalli	3
3	6	WGM	Ju Wenjun	½ - ½	GM	Sebag Marie	2
4	7	IM	Zatonskih Anna	½ - ½	GM	Hou Yifan	1
5	8	GM	Zhao Xue	½ - ½	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	9
Round 8 on 2011/07/22 at 15:00
Bo.	No.		Name	Result		Name	No.
1	10	GM	Dzagnidze Nana		GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	9
2	1	GM	Hou Yifan		GM	Zhao Xue	8
3	2	GM	Sebag Marie		IM	Zatonskih Anna	7
4	3	IM	Harika Dronavalli		WGM	Ju Wenjun	6
5	4	GM	Zhu Chen		GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	5

Chess Femme News!

Armenian press continues to write about their Open and Women's Chess Olympiad Teams even though, with only 1 round to go, neither team  has a chance for a medal, despite going in with high hopes (particularly Armenia's Open Team). A great show of support for the home teams:

At Panarmenian.net
World Chess Olympiad last round scheduled for October 3


October 2, 2010 - 14:08 AMT 09:08 GMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian men and women’s teams will rival France and Slovenia respectively in the last round of the World Chess Olympiad on October 3.

Men pairs are: Levon Aronian – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vladimir Akopian – Fressinet Laurent, Gabriel Sargissian – Vladislav Tkachiev, Arman Pashikian – Romain Edouard.

Women: Elina Danielyan – Anna Muzychuk, Lilit Mkrtchyan – Jana Krivec, Lilit Galoyan – Darja Kaps, Nelly Aghinyan - Vesna Rozic.

Currently, Armenian men’s team is 6th; women are in the 15th place.


Big news in Uganda as the Ugandan Women's Team defeats the Ethiopean Women:
CHESS: Uganda outwits Ethiopia
Friday, 1st October, 2010 E-mail article Print article
By Phillip Corry


Chessbase's report on Round 10 Action: Ukraine Crushes France; Russian Women are Gold
01 10 2010


Chessdom's report on Russian Women Win Gold with One Round to Go, including interesting information on how the tie-breaks are calculated


Chessvibe's report on Round 10 and the Russian Women's Victory.  Kudos to Chessvibes for putting up a selection of women's games, even though they are at the very bottom of the scroll-down list - see the list near bottom of article linked.  I believe that if the games were stripped of identification markers so that we were not able to readily pick out "Grandmaster so and so's game v. Grandmaster so and so" the ranking of these games in terms of interesting play would be a lot different! Some folks might be able to pick out a few games that exhibit tell-tale markers of the play of certain GMs, but overall, the average (and even above-average) player would not be able to discern a gender turn in the moves.  The bias against "women's chess" is so silly. 




IM Dronavalli Harika of India,
contemplative before a game

 Mainstream press coverage of the Indian Women's Team loss to China, which put them out of medal contention:
Indian eves out of medal contention
PTI, Oct 2, 2010, 11.30am IST
The Times of India

Indian Women played without the presence of the second highest rated female player in the world:  GM Koneru Humpy.  Certainly Humpy is good enough to play on the Open Team, and may have aided in that team's quest for a medal. I don't doubt that she would have been a valuable addition to the Indian Women's Team.  I don't know or care who is "right" or "wrong" in the dispute between Koneru and the official chess federation of India (the official federation at the moment - there is another organization contending for that role) - I just find it very sad because, ultimately, the game of chess itself and chess fans everywhere are the losers.  Frankly, in a game that is struggling for financial support and where all except the top few players in the world cannot make a living doing what they love and are best at, no one (that includes organizations) can afford to offend the game and its audience these days!  Like - duh!

Press coverage of the Vietnamese Women's Team:
Vietnamese girls shine at World Chess Olympics
Nhan Dan (not dated)

Chess Femme News!

Some news reports from around the world on their Olympiad Teams' (with emphasis on the women's teams) results in R1:

First up, a R1 report by Jen Shahade at the U.S. Chess Federation website
US Olympic Teams Perfect in Round 1
September 21, 2010
Our US Olympic teams swept the Faroe Islands (Open) and Dominican Republic (women's) in round 1 of the Olympiad! US Women's Champion Irina Krush executed a quick attack [you can play through her game at the link].

Azerbaijani chess teams start successfully at Olympic Games
Wed 22 September 2010 05:51 GMT | 0:51 Local Time
The first round of the Chess Olympig Games has been played in Khanti-Mansiysk (Russia). Men and women teams of Azerbaijan started participation with victories. Both teams won with the equal score 3.5:0.5. During the meeting of the women’s teams of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan Zeynab Mammadyarova (2234) beat Marvori Nasriddinzoda (1943), Turkan Mammadyarova (2301) played a draw with Nadejda Antonova (1838), Gulnar Mammadova (2293) beat Lydia Antonova (0), and Nargiz Umudova (2251) defeated Asila Mukhtojzoda.

Chess Olympiad: Indian women thrash Albania 4-0; men dump Wales
India Express.com
Posted: Wed Sep 22 2010, 12:55 hrs
Led by Dronavalli Harika, Indian women started off with a clean 4-0 first-round victory over Albania in the 39th Chess Olympiad here.  The girls were quite impressive and made it all look easy without any hiccups. On the top board, Harika won with white against Eglantina Shabanaj in a chance-less game. Tania Sachdev had to sweat it out against Alda Shabanaj on the second board. Playing black, Tania was up against the Queen pawn opening and her choice of the Queen's Indian came good. The middle game saw Shabanaj caught in a tactical web and the Albanian got her queen trapped. On the last two boards for India, Eesha Karavade and S Meenakshi got the better of Rozana Cimaj and Roela Pasku, respectively.

From her popular chess blog, I learned that GM Susan Polgar is now in Mansky Kamsky (a/k/a Khanty-Mansiysk)!  Actually, I thought she was already there, as she is the official ambassador for promoting Tromso's bid for the 2014 Chess Olympiad.  SP is also co-chair of the FIDE Committee on Women's Chess (along with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who is playing on Russian Women's Team 1).  I don't know if the Women's Chess Committee will be making a report or presentation to the FIDE Congress, but as a committee member SP would want to be present in any event.

Reykjavik Open 2009

The event was won by GM Hedinn Steingrimsson (ISC 2547) with 7.0/9. Here are the final standings of the chess femmes after Round 9 (out of 110 players): 18 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2473 6,0 56 WIM Cori T Deysi PER 2256 4,5 61 WGM Ptacnikova Lenka ISL 2249 4,5 71 WGM Karlovich Anastazia UKR 2251 4,0 76 Finnbogadottir Tinna Kristin ISL 1660 4,0 77 WIM Andersson Christin SWE 2132 4,0 102 Gudmundsdottir Geirthrudur Ann ISL 1775 2,5 105 Helgadottir Sigridur Bjorg ISL 1646 2,5 107 Johannsdottir Johanna Bjorg ISL 1724 2,5 Dronavalli was the 8th out of 8 players to finish on 6 points. I have great admiration for Dronavalli. I was also very pleased to see Deysi Cori (or is it Cori Deysi???) playing in this event. Congratulations to all of the chess femmes!

Corus 2009 Update

Group B standings after Round 10: 1. N. Short 6½ 2. A. Volokitin, A. Motylev, D. Navara, F. Caruana, R. Kasimdzhanov 6 7. Z. Efimenko, F. Vallejo Pons 5½ 9. E. l'Ami 5 10. Y. Hou, D. Reinderman 4 12. H. Mecking 3½ 13. K. Sasikiran, J. Werle 3 Group C standings after Round 10: 1. T. Hillarp Persson 7½ 2. W. So 7 3. A. Giri 6 4. D. Howell, A. Gupta, D. Harika, F. Holzke, M. Bosboom 5½ 9. E. Iturrizaga 4½ 10. M. Leon Hoyos 4 11. F. Nijboer, A. Bitalzadeh, R. Pruijssers 3½ 14. O. Romanishin 3 According to this story (I read it at Susan Polgar's blog), Dronavalli could score a GM norm - that would be wonderful!