JanXena on
Les Echecs
des Femmes
July, 2008
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It's All Local...
(Photo, above: yours truly, hard at work in her chess femme cave. A
sneaky Mr. Don snapped the shot in December, 2007). Here in Wisconsin,
June surrounded me with disaster after disaster - tornadoes - floods - sewer
back-ups as the sanitary sewerage systems of shoreline communities were
overwhelmed by 9 inches of rain that fell over a two day period in early
June. The bad news was non-stop. With each new inch of rain, the
suffering has increased . Our third "100 year flood" since 1986 -
tributaries continue surging downstream and along the mighty Mississippi,
wiping out community after community. Thirteen inches and counting -
the most ever for a June since records started being kept 150 years ago.
Yesterday and early this morning three more storm fronts rumbled through,
dumping at least another inch of rain on a lawn that, ironically, was
showing signs of parching in the intense heat and humidity that have held
sway as this never-ending storm system seems permanently rooted over the
Midwest. All those foot-acres of water lay just out of reach of
thirsty grass roots. I watched from an upstairs bedroom in alarm as
downburst winds hit and the gigantic elm that overhangs my house in the
backyard dangerously swayed as I've never seen it do in nearly 20 years
living here. The ground is saturated - roots have a precarious hold.
More storms threaten today.
Still, I have survived relatively unscathed. I counted
my blessings and an idea came to pass. After talking it over,
Goddesschess decided to fund special prizes of $100 this year in honor of
each of the three behinds-the-scenes folks who do the day to day grunt-work
for Goddesschess and the
Goddesschess blog. You can read about our choices for the prizes
at the Goddesschess blog. But - eek!!!! - we haven't been able to find
a local chess event in Las Vegas, Nevada to which to offer the prize money!
Yeah, it's only $100, but darlings, you never know, it might make a big
difference to a local chessplayer or two down the line. We would
appreciate any suggestions and contact information for local Las Vegas
events you can provide - HELP!
Recent Events
Panamerican Girls Chess Championship
May 10 - 15, 2008
WFM Cori Deysi won the event
with 7.5/9. [She came to my attention last month by her performance in the
Benidorm Open.
Chessville coverage of Benidorm Open, scroll down to article.]
Here are the
final standings:
Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2
1 WFM
Cori T Deysi PER 2208 7,5 40,5 48,0
2 WIM
Chirivi Yenny COL 2168 7,0 35,0 48,0
3 WIM
Rivera Ingris COL 2144 6,0 28,5 49,5
4 WFM
Herrera Milena COL 2007 5,5 29,5 45,5
5
Orozco Luz Elena COL 1946 5,5 25,5 42,0
6
Orozco Lina Yomayra COL 1955 5,0 27,0 44,0
7
Castrillon Melissa COL 1946 5,0 26,5 48,0
8 WFM
Aliaga Fernandez Ingrid Y PER 2097 5,0 25,0 45,0
9
Guarin Daniela COL 1846 5,0 22,0 40,0
10
Aguilar Natalia Andrea COL 1966 4,5 19,0 33,0
11
Cardona Carolina COL 1919 4,0 20,5 40,5
12
Ocampo Garcia Derly COL 0 4,0 20,0 40,0
13
Galvis Maryory COL 0 3,5 18,5 32,0
14
Galvis Pedraza Selene COL 0 3,0 14,5 32,0
15
Rodriguez Sofia COL 1998 2,5 10,0 31,0
16
Chavez Diana Maria COL 1850 2,0 10,0 37,5
17
Cuervo Mendoza Lina COL 0 1,0 6,0 32,5
Chinese Chess
Championships
May 29 - June 8, 2008
"U can't touch this..." Hou Yifan yawns her way to the
Chinese Women's Championship. (Photo: Hou Yifan at the
2008 Ataturk
International Women Masters Chess Championship). Final cross-table:
ch-CHN w Beijing
(CHN), 29 v-8 vi 2008 |
cat. V (2355) |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
1. |
Hou Yifan |
wg |
CHN |
2549 |
* |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
2599 |
2. |
Zhao Xue |
wg |
CHN |
2523 |
½ |
* |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7½ |
2473 |
3. |
Shen Yang |
wg |
CHN |
2439 |
½ |
1 |
* |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
2449 |
4. |
Zhang Xiaowen |
wm |
CHN |
2361 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
* |
½ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
6 |
2390 |
5. |
Ju Wenjun |
|
CHN |
2374 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
* |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
5½ |
2353 |
6. |
Gu Xiaobing |
wg |
CHN |
2225 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
* |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
5½ |
2367 |
7. |
Zhang Jilin |
wg |
CHN |
2361 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
* |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
5½ |
2354 |
8. |
Tan Zhongyi |
|
CHN |
2353 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
* |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
5½ |
2355 |
9. |
Wang Yu A |
m |
CHN |
2387 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
* |
½ |
½ |
1 |
5 |
2316 |
10. |
Ding Yixin |
wf |
CHN |
2292 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
* |
1 |
½ |
4 |
2259 |
11. |
Xu Tong |
|
CHN |
2188 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
* |
1 |
4 |
2268 |
12. |
Wang Xiaohui |
|
CHN |
2211 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
* |
1½ |
2059 |
Uruguayan Women's
Championship
May 30 - June 8, 2008
Official Website
I don't read or speak Spanish, but I think that La defensora del
femenino 2007, MN Camila Colombo, repitió en este 2008 means that MN
Camila Columbo successfully defended her 2007 title and won the
Uruguayan Women's Championship again in 2008. Here is the Women's final
cross-table:
ch-URU w
Montevideo (URU), 30 v-8 vi 2008 |
Rank |
Name |
Fed. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Score |
BH |
SB |
Rating |
TPR |
W-We |
1 |
Colombo, Camila |
URU |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
6 |
22 |
18.5 |
1962 |
2626 |
0.84 |
2 |
Silva, Natalla |
URU |
1 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4.5 |
23.5 |
12.75 |
2054 |
1652 |
-1 |
3 |
Larrea, Daniela |
URU |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
4 |
24 |
12.5 |
0 |
1790 |
1790 |
4 |
De Leon, Patricia |
URU |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
½ |
3.5 |
24.5 |
10 |
1728 |
1815 |
0.16 |
5 |
Domenech, Micaela |
URU |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
25 |
9.25 |
0 |
1790 |
1790 |
6 |
Donatti, Sofia |
URU |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
25 |
10.75 |
0 |
1915 |
1915 |
7 |
De Leon, Daiana |
URU |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
2.5 |
25.5 |
6.25 |
0 |
1642 |
1642 |
8 |
Lima Gainzarain, Gabriela |
URU |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1.5 |
26.5 |
5 |
0 |
1180 |
1180 |
|
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(Photo:
Camila Colombo, from chess blog
Jóvenes Promesas del Ajedrez Uruguayo, December 22, 2007: "Oro" -
I think that means "gold" in Spanish, so I'm thinking that this
photograph is from a report (in Spanish) that Colombo won a gold medal
for best female finish in the U-18 category at the IV Sudamericano
2007, only it's not a gold medal, it's just a cheap glass chess set.) |
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2008 Indian Women National "B" Chess Championship
June 6 - 12, 2008
I'm
extremely disappointed in the coverage this event received. Several of
India's up and coming chess femmes participated and the Indian Chess
Federation website could not even be bothered to publish a final cross-table
of results. That's a crock of you know what, darlings! Here are final
standings I put together based on information from coverage at The Hindu
Online.com. (Photo: Eesha Karvade with her trophe).
The top 9 finishers (these
ladies move on to the National "A" Championship):
1. Eesha Karvade 8.5
2. Mary Ann Gomes 8
3. Nisha Mohota 8
4. Bhakti Kulkarni 8
5. Swati Ghate 8
6. Kruttika Nadig 8
7. Pon N. Krithika 8
8. Padmini Rout 8
9. Amruta Mokal 8
Susan Polgar World Open
for Girls
June 7 - 8, 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada
Susan Polgar Blog info. U-19 Champion Rebecca Lelko and U-14
Champion Sayaka Foley both won 4-year out of state scholarships to
Texas Tech University (worth approximately $36,000 each).
Here are the final standings for each
section:
Under 19:
1
Lelko, Rebecca OH 1619 4.5/5
2 Hernandez, Sandra NV 1449 4.0
3 Chen, Janice UT 1772 3.5
4 Wassell, Kylie NV 1080 3.0
5 Bat-amgalan, Maral CA 1289 3.0
6 Barkell,Erica Daw ID 1315 2.0
7 Crank, Averie AZ 915 2.0
8 Gill, Charlotte MN 822 2.0
9 Zheng, Emily CA 249 1.0
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Under 14:
1
Foley,Sayaka B AZ 1652 5.0/5
2 Botez, Alexandra KS 1588 4.0
3 Koong,Joanne CA 1263 3.0
4 Vohra,Sonya IL 1572 3.0
5 Comas,Rinelly PRI 1140 3.0
6 Simon,Ellie CA 1279 3.0
7 Qu,Ashley CA 163 3.0
8 Ulan,Emily AZ 802 2.0
9 Drake,Kristen ID 2.0
10 Zhou,Diana CA 1.0
11 Zheng, Belle CA 445 1.0
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Under 11:
1 Hwa,
Leanne WA 1436 5.0/5
2 Bian, Victoria I L 1400 4.0
3 Kao, Christina CA 1074 4.0
4 Wong, Vanessa ID 1086 4.0
5 Mortera, Victoria TX 935 4.0
6 Andrea, De la Parra Hurtado MEX 4.0
7 Torres, Arissa Jade CA 912 3.0
8 Lu, Jennifer CA 607 3.0
9 Eng, Rachael AZ 917 3.0
10 Homidan, Jesslyn CA 574 3.0
11 Guillen, Sarai A TX 935 3.0
12 Mata, Victoria IL 651 3.0
13 Lerner, Marcy AZ 283 3.0
14 Cherepakhin, Olga WA 868 2.0
15 Martinez, Alexia NV 793 2.0
16 Anthopoulos, Shelley CA 857 2.0
17 Sawamura, Kaela CA 547 2.0
18 Drake, Jolie Miche ID 2.0
19 Shao, Stephanie CA 2.0
20 Min, Kathy ID 2.0
21 Tam, Kayleen ID 2.0
22 Yang, Katherine ID 2.0
23 Chillakanti, Mahim CA 179 1.5
24 Sun, Sarah CA 1.5
25 Crutcher, Eleanor MI 271 1.0
26 Wu, Iris CA 428 1.0
27 Sussman, Allison IL 100 1.0
28 Chillakanti, Kirth CA 100 0.0
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Under 8:
1
Wang, Annie CA 820 4.0/5
2 Zlotchevsky, Nicole NY 881 4.0
3 Chawla, Alisha CA 924 4.0
4 Deng, Queena CA 689 4.0
5 Liu, Rachel ID 756 3.0
6 Marquez, Alexis TX 635 3.0
7 Mata,Isabel IL 556 3.0
8 Schneider, Claudia WI 530 3.0
9 Wong, Jennifer ID 534 3.0
10 Duan, Casey CA 215 2.5
11 Yang, Megan CA 568 2.5
12 Rodriguez, Zowie TX 458 2.0
13 Jin, Carol ID 473 2.0
14 Wang, Helen ID 100 2.0
15 Vela, Gabriela Michelle NV 178 1.5
16 Ervin, Haley AZ 1.5
17 Lin, Jessica B CA 1.5
18 Whiting, Amanda Ma CA 1.5
19 Pruyn Goldstein,Liana CA 100 0.5
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Upcoming Events
Turkish İş
Bank Chess League
June 23 - July 3, 2008
Official Website (in Turkish)
22 GMs, 18 IMs, 15 FMs, 15 WGMs, 2
WIMs and 2 WFMs among the players participating on the 16 teams. I don't
normally report on team or league events, but this report at Chessbase
caught my eye. The playing format requires that three chess femmes be part
of the 10 boards for each team: board 5 is a woman's board, board 8 is
reserved for an U-16 girl, and board 10 is for an U-14 girl. The
photographs in this pictorial report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich (UKR
2212) and Özgür Akman are stunning. Here are a quad - proving once again
that chessplaying women are among the most beautiful in the world. (All
photos from ChessBase article unless otherwise noted).
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WFM
Kubra Ozturk (TUR 2169)
playing for Besiktas |
WIM Zehra Topel (TUR 2234)
playing for Istanbul Technical University |
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WIM Betül Cemre Yildiz (TUR
2205)
playing for Adana Truva |
WGM Anastasiya Karlovich (UKR
2212) playing for Pamukkale Üniversitesi Spor Kulübü |
Ozturk has twice won
Gold, in the 2006 European Youth Chess Championship -U-16 Girls in 2006
(9/10/06 - 9/19/06, Herceg Novi, SCG) and in the 2007 European Youth Chess
Championship - U-16 Girls (9/14/07 - 9/23/07, Sibenik, CRO). Topel
is the current Turkish Women's Chess Champion and a three time U-18 Turkish
champion. Eighteen year old Yildiz is a five-time Turkish Women's
Chess Champion! She recently competed in the
2008 Ataturk International Women
Masters Chess Tournament with some of the best female chessplayers in
the world (see the
April, 2008
Chessville column). Karlovich has not been able to distinguish
herself among the powerhouse female players of Ukraine, such as Lahno
(world 19), Ushenina (world 21) and Zhukova (world 34), but
has been writing feature articles for Chessbase and may develop a career in
chess reporting.
The 2008 Philadelphia
International
June 26 - 30, 2008
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA)
Please - will Bill Goichberg hire someone who knows how to put a website
together! What a crappy mish-mash!
In the 39 player field, a large contingent of players from India (14
players) is visiting, including several chess femmes: WGM Nisha Mohata
(2400) (I think it's Mohota); WGM Swathi Ghate (2350); WIM Kiran Manisha
Mohanty (2316); WGM Eesha Karavade (2303); WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy (2298); WIM
Sai Meera (2227) There are a couple of American chess femmes playing too:
WFM Alisa Melekhina (2208) and Shelly Mays (2066). Go chess femmes, go!
Standings after Round 5 (chess femmes only):
(13) WGM Eesha Karavade, 3.0;
(17) WGM Nisha Mohata (sic), 2.5; (24) WGM Swathi Ghate, 2.0; (26) WGM
Aarthie Ramaswamy, 2.0; (28) WFM Alisa Melekhina, 2.0; (32) WM Kiran
Manisha Mohanty, 1.5; (33) WIM Sai Meera, 1.5; (37) Shelly Mays, 1.0.
2008 Women's World Chess Championship
August 28 - September 18, 2008
Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, RF (where???)
Okay,
okay, I've seen the map, and I still can't get it fixed in my brain where
Nalchik is. Ohmygoddess! Talk about a goddess-forsaken place, geez! They
don't even take credit cards. Now there is something seriously wrong with a
place that does not accept credit cards but demands cash up front from all
of the chess femmes, etc. who will be descending (as into HELL) upon Nalchik
for the WWCC. THEY DON'T TAKE CREDIT CARDS????? How does any civilized
country in the world today operate without accepting credit cards? Well - I
just answered my own question - NONE! Darlings, this place is NOT
CIVILIZED. The prize money offered is JUST enough to possibly be
tempting and overcome the heebie-jeebies on the part of the qualifying
players about traveling to such a place. Still - it remains to be seen who
shows up and who gives this event a pass. After all, who the hell wants to
earn 15 seconds of fame on CNN as a sniper victim splayed dead with her
brains shot out on the main street of Nalchik, heh?
You would think that holding a
world chess championship in SUCH a place would generate some notice in the
world press, wouldn't you? But - noooooo. Other than a nod at
Mig's Daily Dirt chess blog which, by the way, filled me in on the
background of Nalchik! (see "attacked in Nalchik lately") - there's
been nothing mentioned in the conventional press. Will the chess femmes get
coverage in the mainstream press (ha! JanXena is having a pipe dream!) - or
at the mainstream chess sites? Well, you can count on coverage here at
Chessville, and at
Susan Polgar's blog. I salute any chess femmes foolhearty
brave enough to show up.
I have a further bone to pick.
Supposedly the information about the WWCC has been available online (yeah,
right - I can tell you it was not) since June 3, 2008. The deadline
of JUNE 17, 2008 for submitting the usual crap to FIDE and paying forth much
money in advance has passed. Did any of the eligible chess femmes KNOW
about this??? Even worse (can things possibly get worse - well - read on)
this WWCC is going to be another one of those knock-out things. Oh for
Goddess sake. Give me a break!
I hope NONE of the chess femmes
show up!- oh, well, forget about it darlings, this is all such a crock, I
simply cannot write another word about it this month.
In the News
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June 28, 2008,
ABS-CBN
News Online: Eight-year-old Samantha Glo Revita from
Pangasinan (The Phillipines) recently brought home a gold, two silver and
two bronze medals won in the 9th ASEAN Age Group Chess Competition held
from June 8-18 in Vietnam.
-
June 27, 2008, The Hindu
Online:
Mary outwits Abhijeet: Mary Ann Gomes stunned
Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta in the second round of the Sort Open chess
tournament on Wednesday. Second round: Abhijeet Gupta (1) lost to
Mary Ann Gomes (2). [WIM Gomes (IND 2321), age 17, won the gold
medal at the 2007 Asian Junior Chess Championships - Girls (December 13 -
21, 2007) with 7.5/9 (20 players)].
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June 24, 2008, Chessbase:
Kasparov's
Master Class. It's that time of year and GM Garry Kasparov's
Chess Foundation
(based in New York, New York) hosted the most promising young American
chessplayers (under age 18) at a special week-long training session with
The Champ himself. Chess femmes included Alisa Melikhina and
Alena Kats and at least one other unidentified chess femme, judging
from the photographs. I didn't see anything about this event at the
Kasparov Chess Foundation website. Come on webmaster, get with the
program already!
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June 24, 2008,
Chessbase:
Yet more opinions about the Krush-Zatonskih Armageddon game at the
2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. It's more of the same - nothing
new. Will this become a really lousy "never-ending story?" Honestly, if
America's chess sweetheart hadn't accused Zatonskih of "cheating," would
we even be having this conversation? There is absolutely no dispute -
this kind of play-off decides titles in THE BIGS all the time. So what's
the issue here? Is it the fact that it's WOMEN who were playing, and
Irina got ticked off when things didn't break her way and decided to whine
about it? Is that what is really going on here? Like - the WOMEN
can't play like the MEN, they can't suck it up and take the consequences
of losing on time. So, we must give America's Chess Sweetheart a
break. I don't know who the hell WE is - but I'm saying give ME
a break! PLEASE! Yet more on this subject (gag):
-
June 22, 2008,
Susan Polgar's chessblog:
Tom Braunlich responds to Phil Innes' letter. Can we PLEASE be done
with this, already?
-
June 21, 2008,
Susan Polgar's chessblog:
Chessville's Phil Innes submits an open letter with questions concerning
the Armageddon play-off game between Krush and Zatonskih to the United
States Chess Federation Executive Board.
-
June 21, 2008, Sun-Sentinel.com:
Chess: A Knight's Tour by Bill Cornwall, commentary on the
Armageddon game between IM Irina Krush and WGM Anna Zatonskih
at the 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
-
June 23, 2008,
Mangalorean.com: I wish the
American press were as diligent in covering local and national chess
events as is the Indian press. This story caught my eye because she's so
cute - a little doll of a Chess Princess. In the Karnataka State Under 7
Boys and Girls Chess Championship organized by Bangalore district Chess
Association (India) on behalf of United Karnataka Chess association from
20th to 22nd June 2008 at Bangalore, in Girls, Swathi Bhat secured
Runner Up by scoring 3.5 points in 5 rounds. Swathi Bhat has therefore
qualified to represent Karnataka in the Upcoming National Under 7 Girls
Chess Championship to be held in Mumbai. Congratulations to Swathi Bhat.
-
June
22, 2008,
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Susan Polgar's latest column: With
encouragement, girls can be as good as boys at chess.
-
June 20, 2008, Del Rio
News-Herald.com:
10-year-old seeking international chess title. Chess Princess
Claudia Munoz, who resides in Mexico but plays in international events
under the US flag, will be representing the USA in the Pan-American Youth
Festival International Chess tournament begins June 29 and continues
through July 6.
-
June 20, 2008, Chess,
Goddess and Everything:
Malaysian Women's Closed Chess Championship: Queen Control. Story
from the Malaysian Star Online.
-
June 18, 2008,
The Daily Review (insidebayarea.com):
Alisha Chawa, 7-year old Chess Princess! One of the largest
trophies in Alisha's growing collection came less than two weeks ago, when
she tied for first in her age group at the Las Vegas International Chess
Festival, winning four of five games. Her achievement landed her a spot in
the prestigious Susan Polgar National Invitational For Girls at Texas Tech
in July, an event that will bring together the country's top young female
players.
-
June
16, 2008,
Press Trust of India: (Photo:
Humpy receiving the 2007 Padma Shri Award) GM Koneru Humpy (IND
2603) was invited to play on the Indian Men's Olympiad Team in
Dresden this year, but has opted out of the competition in favor of
playing in the Cap
d'Agde with a star-studded line-up: Magnus Carlsen Norvège GM 2765;
Teimour Radjabov Azerbaïdjan GM 2751; Vasily Ivanchuk Ukraine GM 2740;
Ivan Cheparinov Bulgarie GM 2696; Hikaru Nakamura USA GM 2686; Anatoly
Karpov Russie GM 2655; Maxime Vachier Lagrave France GM 2632; Fabiano
Caruana Italie GM 2620; Humpy Koneru Inde GM 2603; Hou Yifan Chine
WGM 2549; Sebastien Feller France GM 2540; Alexandra Kosteniuk
Russie GM 2523; Marie Sebag France GM 2521; Katerina Lahno
Ukraine GM 2479; and Almira Skripchenko France WGM 2443. Like -
whoa! Double whoa! Humpy says it's all a matter of bad timing - but is
it really???
-
June 15, 2008,
The Times.co.za: Chatsworth
chess whizz wants to test her talents in Spain (profile of 15 year old
Seshni Govindasamy).
-
June 5, 2008,
The Star (South Yorkshire, England):
Chess queen has all the right moves (profile of 13 year old Evie
Hollingsworth).
-
May 17, 2008,
The Hindu Online (a late entry):
An interview with Aruna Anand, wife of GM Viswanathan Anand, on
what it's like to be a Grandmaster's other half.
Featured Chess Femme
WIM Mary Ann Gomes (IND 2321)
(Photo:
Chesspics, 2006
Olympiad) For the success she has had, there is not a lot of
biographical information available about Mary Ann Gomes. She was born
in 1989, but I don't have a birthday. Sometime in 2009, she will turn
20. Her FIDE
chart shows a long slow ELO climb, from her first FIDE recorded games
in October, 2000 when she was rated 2040. Mary Ann is not on the
World Top 50 Women or the World Top 20 Girls. On the
India
list, she is ranked 72nd in the top 100 players. By rights, she
should not be as famous as she is. And yet -
...and yet - she
continues to generate headlines in the Indian press and turns in
impressive performances.
Mary Ann first gained
national attention in the Telegraph Schools’ Chess Championship in
1996 when she won her first two games and briefly shared first place.
In 1998 she played in the national under-9 championship, but her first
claim to fame came in 2004 when she won her first WIM norm following
her triumph in the National B championship. The following year
she confirmed her WIM title after winning the Asian under-16 title.
She joined the Dibyendu
Barua Chess Academy in 2005 and, it may be coincidence or it may not,
her chess improved markedly. In the third Parsvnath
International Open chess tournament in New Delhi in early 2005, "Mary
Ann Gomes achieved the only other norm from the event. The
youngster, playing her first open event, collected 7.5 points for a
maiden Woman International Master norm. Armed with a modest
rating of 2207, Mary faced opposition with an average rating of 2303
and performed like a 2375 player for a whopping 35-point gain."
(Information from
Sportstar, Vol.
28 :: NO.05 :: Jan. 29 -
Feb. 04, 2005).
In 2007, Mary Ann scored
all three norms needed for the WGM title. She scored her first WGM
norm after finishing in second place in the National Women’s A. Her
second norm was earned when she finished in
6th place with 7.5/9 in the 2007 World Youth Chess Championships
(U-18 Girls) (November 18 - 28, 2007). Mary Ann earned her third WGM
norm in December, 2007 by winning the Asian Junior Girls title.
More information about Mary Ann
Gomes:
View some of Mary Ann's
chess
games (from chessgames.com)
Articles about Mary Ann:
-
Hope achievement motivates others: Mary, December 24, 2007, The
Telegraph India
-
Mary Ann Gomes
assured of Asian Junior chess title,
December 20, 2007, Rediff India Abroad
-
Mary-Ann wins title, becomes WIM, June 5, 2005, The Hindu Online
-
Mary Ann Gomes wins U-16 Indian
National Children's Rapid Chess Championship,
May 30, 2004, The Hindu Online
-
Focus Now On Greece - National B win will always remain special,
says Mary Ann, August 30, 2004, The Telegraph (Calcutta, India)
-
Mary Ann Champion, August 28, 2004, The Telegraph (Calcutta,
India), Fifth seed Mary Ann Gomes of Bengal emerged champion with
7.5 points in the women’s national B chess championship
|
As always, you can find more news about women
chess players at
Chess Femme News at
Goddesschess and the
Goddesschess blog.
Archives
"Xena"
(a/k/a Jan Newton) is one of the principals at
Goddesschess, a popular "niche"
website since its debut in 1999. Goddesschess publishes articles from
authors around the world as well as producing and publishing the principals'
own work. In addition to promoting views about the goddess side of
chess, Goddesschess publishes news and articles of general interest about
board games, research concerning the development and history of board games
and archaeological discoveries related to board games. Jan also
regularly publishes women's chess news at
Chess Femme
News. Enjoy!
Also, JanXena is experimenting with formatting and content,
please feel free to
let
Chessville know what you think, pro and con.
Pablo's Chess News
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