63rd Russian Women Super Final Chess Championship

While I've been engrossed in preparations and then playing in the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVIII and following news every few minutes wondering if my country was going to ACTUALLY jump off an economic cliff by gutting the Full Faith and Credit of the United States Government, a lot of chess was being played in Russia.  One of my favorite chess femmes, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 12th Women's World Chess Champion, came in second in this Russian Championship -- and I hope she's not too disappointed.  She and Gunina outclassed the rest of the field against some pretty tough contenders.  Congratulations to GM Valentina Gunina and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk for their fine performances.  The information below is from The Week in Chess: 

63rd ch-RUS w Nizhny Novgorod RUS (RUS), 5-14 x 2013															cat. VIII (2448)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Gunina, Valentina	g	RUS	2506	*	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	7	2661
2.	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2495	½	*	1	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	6½	2608
3.	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2485	0	0	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	5½	2523
4.	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2410	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	0	½	1	4½	2452
5.	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	wg	RUS	2436	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	4½	2449
6.	Kovanova, Baira	wg	RUS	2396	0	1	0	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	4½	2453
7.	Kosintseva, Tatiana	g	RUS	2515	½	0	0	½	½	1	*	0	½	½	3½	2360
8.	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	m	RUS	2459	0	0	0	1	½	½	1	*	0	½	3½	2366
9.	Kashlinskaya, Alina	wg	RUS	2435	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	1	*	½	3	2324
10.	Charochkina, Daria	wg	RUS	2343	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	2½	2293

Round 1 (October 5, 2013)
Gunina, Valentina	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	1-0	55	A07	Barcza System
Pogonina, Natalija	- Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	53	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Kovanova, Baira	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	1-0	53	B66	Sicilian Rauzer
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Kashlinskaya, Alina	0-1	45	C42	Petroff's Defence
Charochkina, Daria	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	½-½	47	A22	English Opening
Round 2 (October 6, 2013)
Kosteniuk, Alexandra	- Pogonina, Natalija	1-0	42	C54	Giuoco Piano
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Kovanova, Baira	½-½	42	E06	Catalan
Kosintseva, Tatiana	- Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	68	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Kashlinskaya, Alina	- Gunina, Valentina	0-1	52	D19	Slav Defence
Charochkina, Daria	- Bodnaruk, Anastasia	½-½	42	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Round 3 (October 7, 2013)
Gunina, Valentina	- Charochkina, Daria	½-½	63	A07	Barcza System
Pogonina, Natalija	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	½-½	55	D11	Slav Defence
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	½-½	29	B51	Sicilian Rossolimo
Kovanova, Baira	- Kashlinskaya, Alina	1-0	36	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	1-0	54	C91	Ruy Lopez
Round 4 (October 8, 2013)
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	46	D34	Tarrasch Defence, Main Line
Kosintseva, Tatiana	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	0-1	65	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Gunina, Valentina	0-1	40	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Kashlinskaya, Alina	- Pogonina, Natalija	½-½	58	C45	Scotch Game
Charochkina, Daria	- Kovanova, Baira	0-1	42	C58	Two Knights Defence
Round 5 (October 9, 2013)
Gunina, Valentina	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	½-½	111	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Kosteniuk, Alexandra	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	½-½	42	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Pogonina, Natalija	- Charochkina, Daria	1-0	28	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	- Kashlinskaya, Alina	½-½	56	C46	Four Knights
Kovanova, Baira	- Bodnaruk, Anastasia	½-½	49	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Round 6 (October 11, 2013)
Gunina, Valentina	- Kovanova, Baira	1-0	39	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Kosintseva, Tatiana	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	½-½	53	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Pogonina, Natalija	0-1	51	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Kashlinskaya, Alina	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	0-1	39	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Charochkina, Daria	- Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	0-1	50	B64	Sicilian Rauzer
Round 7 (October 12, 2013)
Kosteniuk, Alexandra	- Charochkina, Daria	1-0	29	B19	Caro Kann
Pogonina, Natalija	- Gunina, Valentina	0-1	53	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	- Bodnaruk, Anastasia	0-1	37	B40	Sicilian Classical
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Kashlinskaya, Alina	1-0	33	D40	Semi-Tarrasch Defence
Kovanova, Baira	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	0-1	34	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Round 8 (October 13, 2013)
Gunina, Valentina	- Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	½-½	94	D32	Tarrasch Defence
Kovanova, Baira	- Pogonina, Natalija	0-1	57	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kosintseva, Tatiana	- Kashlinskaya, Alina	½-½	101	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	0-1	84	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Charochkina, Daria	- Goryachkina, Aleksandra	½-½	61	B23	Sicilian Closed
Round 9 (October 14, 2013)
Kosteniuk, Alexandra	- Gunina, Valentina	½-½	60	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Pogonina, Natalija	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	1-0	48	E04	Catalan
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	- Kovanova, Baira	½-½	56	C46	Four Knights
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Bodnaruk, Anastasia	½-½	41	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Kashlinskaya, Alina	- Charochkina, Daria	½-½	61	B12	Caro Kann Advanced

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 European Individual Women's Chess Championship

And the WINNER is:  VALENTINA GUNINA!  Like - wow!  Not a player who's name I would have pulled out of the winner's circle hat.  Congratulations!

The early leader who started out of the gate on fire, GM Marie Sebag, finished in 5th place overall.  GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 12th Women's World Chess Championship, mounted a steady battle to move ooooh so close to the top 10!  You keep battling!  IM Melia Salome of Georgia, another personal favorite, moved up to 15th place from way down at the middle of the tournament.  I felt several of these players just ran out of time to mount their best come-backs!

Here are the complete final standings after R11:

Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts ratP BH.-1 BH. vict 1 8 IM GUNINA Valentina 2511 RUS 8½ 2660 70 74½ 6 2 6 GM KOSINTSEVA Tatiana 2513 RUS 8½ 2649 68½ 73 7 3 1 GM MUZYCHUK Anna 2583 SLO 8½ 2631 70 75 7 4 9 GM CMILYTE Viktorija 2497 LTU 8 2592 67½ 73 8 5 7 GM SEBAG Marie 2512 FRA 7½ 2570 71½ 77 6 6 5 GM STEFANOVA Antoaneta 2531 BUL 7½ 2544 68½ 73½ 6 7 3 GM LAHNO Kateryna 2546 UKR 7½ 2524 67½ 72½ 4 8 12 GM DANIELIAN Elina 2478 ARM 7½ 2515 60½ 64 5 9 10 IM KHOTENASHVILI Bela 2490 GEO 7½ 2503 61 64½ 6 10 17 WGM POGONINA Natalija 2449 RUS 7½ 2501 61½ 66½ 5 11 18 GM KOSTENIUK Alexandra 2448 RUS 7½ 2437 57 61½ 6 12 21 GM HOANG Thanh Trang 2438 HUN 7 2510 69 74½ 6 13 20 IM KHURTSIDZE Nino 2447 GEO 7 2505 66½ 71½ 6 14 2 GM DZAGNIDZE Nana 2559 GEO 7 2468 65 69 6 15 30 IM MELIA Salome 2400 GEO 7 2461 63½ 68 5 16 34 WGM KOVANOVA Baira 2392 RUS 7 2452 60 64½ 6 17 19 IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2448 GEO 7 2450 62 66½ 4 18 24 IM ROMANKO Marina 2417 RUS 7 2444 60½ 64 5 19 16 IM USHENINA Anna 2458 UKR 7 2429 58 62½ 4 20 23 GM ZHUKOVA Natalia 2435 UKR 7 2415 57½ 62 4 21 4 GM KOSINTSEVA Nadezhda 2535 RUS 7 2406 61 65 5 22 31 IM FOISOR Cristina-Adela 2398 ROU 6½ 2509 75 75½ 5 23 51 WGM SCHLEINING Zoya 2326 GER 6½ 2483 66½ 68 4 24 28 WGM GIRYA Olga 2406 RUS 6½ 2448 66 70½ 5 25 33 WGM GURAMISHVILI Sopiko 2395 GEO 6½ 2446 67 71½ 5 26 41 WGM VOJINOVIC Jovana 2356 MNE 6½ 2431 64½ 68 5 27 25 IM GAPONENKO Inna 2416 UKR 6½ 2428 62 66½ 5 28 22 WGM BATSIASHVILI Nino 2438 GEO 6½ 2424 63½ 69 4 29 14 IM PAEHTZ Elisabeth 2459 GER 6½ 2416 62½ 67 5 30 66 WGM SANDU Mihaela 2253 ROU 6½ 2404 58½ 63 6 31 38 WGM SZCZEPKOWSKA-HOROWSKA Karina 2369 POL 6½ 2391 57½ 61½ 6 32 47 WIM ARABIDZE Meri 2337 GEO 6½ 2365 62½ 66 5 33 27 IM BODNARUK Anastasia 2412 RUS 6½ 2354 57½ 62 5 34 57 WIM BULMAGA Irina 2307 ROU 6 2405 59 63½ 5 35 15 IM MKRTCHIAN Lilit 2458 ARM 6 2396 64 69 5 36 58 IM DWORAKOWSKA Joanna 2304 POL 6 2388 59½ 63½ 6 37 60 WGM VIDENOVA Iva 2301 BUL 6 2382 59½ 63 4 38 50 WGM KURSOVA Maria 2328 ARM 6 2373 62 64½ 4 39 40 WGM ZAWADZKA Jolanta 2358 POL 6 2355 61 64½ 5 40 46 WIM GORYACHKINA Aleksandra 2341 RUS 6 2351 63 64½ 3 41 54 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab 2321 AZE 6 2326 60 64 5 42 48 IM GVETADZE Sofio 2334 GEO 6 2325 62½ 65 4 43 29 IM PAIKIDZE Nazi 2406 GEO 6 2325 61½ 65½ 4 44 49 WIM MIKADZE Miranda 2329 GEO 6 2263 54½ 57½ 5 45 53 WIM MAMMADOVA Gulnar 2324 AZE 5½ 2421 67 71½ 4 46 61 WIM IVAKHINOVA Inna 2285 RUS 5½ 2415 65½ 70 5 47 13 IM SKRIPCHENKO Almira 2468 FRA 5½ 2377 59½ 64½ 3 48 44 WIM ZIAZIULKINA Nastassia 2343 BLR 5½ 2363 65½ 69½ 5 49 37 WGM CHAROCHKINA Daria 2371 RUS 5½ 2356 62½ 66 4 50 11 IM MUZYCHUK Mariya 2490 UKR 5½ 2338 58 63 3 51 64 WIM RAKIC Marija 2267 SRB 5½ 2326 57 60½ 3 52 32 IM BOJKOVIC Natasa 2395 SRB 5½ 2298 60½ 64½ 4 53 45 WGM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2342 TUR 5½ 2285 58 62 3 54 65 WGM CHELUSHKINA Irina 2263 SRB 5½ 2257 52½ 56½ 5 55 39 IM GALOJAN Lilit 2364 ARM 5½ 2254 56½ 60½ 3 56 62 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Turkan 2284 AZE 5½ 2254 50½ 54 3 57 73 WIM UMUDOVA Nargiz 2220 AZE 5½ 2236 55½ 58½ 4 58 56 WGM OZTURK Kubra 2314 TUR 5½ 2222 53½ 57 5 59 52 IM SAVINA Anastasia 2325 RUS 5½ 2203 55 59 3 60 72 WGM MAKROPOULOU Marina 2224 GRE 5½ 2201 53½ 56 3 61 68 WIM BRONNIKOVA Elizaveta 2252 RUS 5½ 2130 49½ 51 4 62 78 WIM KHARMUNOVA Nadejda 2191 RUS 5 2349 63½ 68½ 5 63 36 WGM KASHLINSKAYA Alina 2377 RUS 5 2312 61½ 66 4 64 42 IM SEDINA Elena 2353 ITA 5 2274 58 62½ 1 65 26 IM REPKOVA Eva 2416 SVK 5 2258 57 61 4 66 59 WGM BOROSOVA Zuzana 2302 SVK 5 2244 55 59 3 67 55 WGM MANAKOVA Maria 2315 SRB 5 2231 56 56½ 4 68 67 WIM KAZIMOVA Narmin 2253 AZE 5 2174 50½ 54 4 69 70 WFM FOISOR Mihaela-Veronica 2242 ROU 5 2171 53 56½ 3 70 69 WIM ABDULLA Khayala 2246 AZE 5 2103 48½ 51 5 71 71 WIM HAIRAPETIAN Anna 2227 ARM 5 2074 52 52½ 5 72 82 WFM CHEREDNICHENKO Elena 2130 UKR 5 2074 49 52½ 4 73 35 WGM MICHNA Marta 2383 GER 4½ 2258 61 65 3 74 43 WGM MOLCHANOVA Tatjana 2346 RUS 4½ 2240 64½ 67½ 4 75 74 WIM SEPS Monika 2208 SUI 4½ 2239 60½ 64 3 76 85 WIM ALEXANIAN Nelli 2114 RUS 4½ 2222 58 61 3 77 76 WIM BEZGODOVA Maria 2200 RUS 4½ 2217 58½ 61 2 78 79 WIM OLSAROVA Karolina 2189 CZE 4½ 2208 55½ 59 3 79 87 WIM BEZGODOVA Svetlana 2109 RUS 4½ 2172 53 53½ 4 80 80 WIM TSIGANOVA Monika 2185 EST 4½ 2170 51 54½ 3 81 75 WIM ISGANDAROVA Khayala 2203 AZE 4½ 2169 57 61 3 82 89 WFM MOTYCAKOVA Monika 2087 SVK 4½ 2165 56½ 59½ 4 83 83 WFM KINEVA Ekaterina 2126 RUS 4½ 2087 50½ 53 3 84 84 WFM DE SEROUX Camille 2122 SUI 4½ 2076 47½ 49 4 85 81 WFM COIMBRA Margarida 2156 POR 4½ 2035 50 53 3 86 96 PATEL Yesim 1839 TUR 4½ 2012 47½ 50½ 2 87 77 WGM SHAYDULLINA Sandugach 2197 RUS 4½ 2010 48 50½ 3 88 93 MENZI Nezihe Ezgi 1902 TUR 4½ 2008 47 47½ 4 89 97 OZTURK Hilal 1784 TUR 4 2202 57½ 61½ 4 90 86 WFM MARECKOVA Martina 2114 CZE 4 2054 48 50½ 3 91 95 ARIG Busra 1839 TUR 4 2015 47 49½ 3 92 90 WCM KAYA Emel 1997 TUR 4 1983 44 44½ 3 93 91 MESSINA Roberta 1957 ITA 4 1975 47½ 50 3 94 98 MARTYNKOVA Olena 1689 UKR 4 1754 41 42½ 3 95 63 WIM DRLJEVIC Ljilja 2278 SRB 3½ 2035 52½ 55 3 96 92 WCM CEMHAN Kardelen 1954 TUR 3½ 1911 44½ 47½ 2 97 88 WFM UTA Adeline-Ramona 2098 ROU 3½ 1883 42 44½ 3 98 94 SOYUNLU Narmin 1842 AZE 3½ 1767 40 41½ 1 99 100 DAI Irmak 1592 TUR 3½ 1590 39 39½ 2 100 101 BOZKURT Hatice Mislina TUR 3 1295 38½ 39 2 101 99 ALEV Gonulden Seda 1612 TUR 3 1282 38 38½ 2 102 102 DURMUS Aslihan TUR 2 1172 38½ 39 1 103 103 SAHIN Hayrun Nisa TUR 1 1219 39 39½ 0 .

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