The North Urals Cup 2004 is the second international super-tournament
– for female chess players! it is being held in Krasnoturinsk. Pictures...
The city is located in the north of Sverdlovsk area in 426 kms from the regional
center Ekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg). It is the cultural center of Northern
Ural and the home of a number of outstanding Russian scientists. More...
The tournament is a nine round round robin with ten very strong female chess
players, amongst them the current women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova
(2527, BUL), five times world champion Maia Chiburdanidze (2498, GEO) Russian
women's champion Alisa Galliamova (2490, RUS), two-times women's champion of
the USSR Svetlana Matveeva (2482, RUS), European women's champion 2000 Natalia
Zhukova (2475, UKR), US women's champion 1998 Irina Krush (2459, USA) and 2001
European women's champion Almira Skripchenko (2453, FRA). Data
of all participants...
After five rounds we have Ekaterina Kovalevskaya and Almira Skripchenko in
the lead with 3.5 points, followed by Maia Chiburdanidze and Irina Krush.
Standings after five rounds
Picture gallery
The beautiful lakeside hotel where the players are staying
The Palace of Culture where the tournament is being held
All the ladies together at the openings ceremony
A pop group in an astonishing array of costumes
Acrobatic performances for the participants and visitors
Alisa Galliamova, Almira Skripchenko and the guest of honour Boris Spassky
Boris said that his passion for chess was born when at nine he had seen a
sign saying "Chess Club" in a magnificent summer garden. He joined
and started to play. Boris spoke about the first game, the first defeat, the
first tears in his life and the decision never to lose. The 67-year-old veteran
cannot imagine life without chess. He keeps up with all chess events and is
interested in women chess. The 10th world champion thinks that the present
champions neglect work with sparring partners and are too dependent on computers.
Boris Spassky considers training with the computer rather superficial. He spoke
about his own concept of training, which is centered around ideas – idea
of game, idea of move. If Boris Spassky teaches, he teaches ideas. However
he admits that he is not a good trainer.
Chess legend Boris Spassky talks about his life at the press conference.
The playing area in the Palace of Culture
Top seed and women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova
Natalie Zhukova (and Alisa Galliamova in the background)
Almira Skripchenko vs 18-year-old Maria Kursova in round one
Svetlana Matveeva
Ekaterina Polovnikova
Five-time world champion Maia Chiburdanidze
Former US Champion Irina Krush
Maria Kursova
Boris Spassky analyses with players and visitors
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