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 JanXena on Les Echecs des Femmes Greetings, chess fans. I’ve been invited to do a column on women’s chess every month – a grand experiment! This is the inaugural issue. I’m experimenting with formatting and content, please feel free to let Chessville know what you think, pro and con. Recent Events
1. Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2492 7/11 The biggest shocker is that Kovalevskaya, an under-reported steady performer who has done quite well in the few international events she has entered in the past several years, got beat up! At Pamplona (December 21 - 29, 2007), WGM Monica Calzetta Ruiz (ESP 2287), a fixture on the Spanish chess scene, finished in 20th in the Open event with 6.0/9. Other top chess femme finishers in this 131 player event were: (25) Rozsa Ignacz (HUN 2079), 5.5; (28) WGM Mairelys Delgado Crespo (ESP 2285), 5.5; and (34) WIM Ioana-Smaranda Padurariu (ROU 2220), 5.5. I’ve watched Calzetta’s career since 1999 when she was pointed out to me by the late IM Ricardo Calvo as a rising star, but I think she hasn’t lived up to her promise.
Upcoming Events It’s January and Corus is already under way (hooray), a premier event held in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands (January 11 – 27, 2008). This year there are six chess femmes playing.
The “A” event, which features 14 of the world’s top players (8 of the top 10 are playing this year), has GM Judit Polgar (HUN 2708), currently 22nd in the world rankings, as its sole female player in this Category 20 event, Average Rating a whopping 2741. The “B” event (the winner gets to play in next year’s “A” event), a Category 15/Average Rating 2617, features GM Koneru Humpy (IND 2606) (2612 on FIDE’s current list) and WGM Hou Yifan (CHN 2502) (2527 on FIDE’s current list) matching wits against 12 male players. Koneru, who is now the second highest rated woman chess player in the world, pushed her ELO above 2600 for the first time in 2007 in her steady march toward the top featuring some excellent performances. Already a superstar in her home country of India and throughout Southeast Asia, Koneru is now on appearing on radar screens in the west. Hou, who turns 14 this year, has already developed quite a following on the international chess circuit and is likely being groomed as one of – if not THE - next great female chess star for China. Hou is currently the fifth highest rated female player in the world. She participated in the “C” event at 2007 Corus (January 13 – 28, 2007) and finished in 5th place with a highly respectable 7.0/13. In the “C” event (Category 10/Average Rating 2497), GM Peng Zhaoqin (NED 2419) (26th in the world on Women’s List), IM Irina Krush (USA 2475) (21st in the world on Women’s List and the USA’s current Women’s Chess Champion), and WGM Anna Ushenina (UKR 2486) (14th in the world on Women’s List) are playing in a field of 14. At 2007 Corus, Peng participated in the “C” event and finished in 11th place with 5.5/13. At the end of January there is the GibTel Chess Festival, which has developed into another outstanding international event. It was in last year’s GibTel that Irina Krush defeated both the venerable GM Viktor Korchnoi and GM Vladimir Akopian (the eventual winner; Akopian also conceded a draw to former Women’s World Chess Champion WGM Zhu Chen, the rest of his games were wins). This year’s Master’s Event line-up features 30 female players. Here are the top ten chess femmes by ELO: GM Zhu Chen (QAT 2548) (former Women’s World Champion); GM Pia Cramling (SWE 2524) (second woman to earn GM title); Zhao Xue (CHN 2517); IM Monika Socko (POL 2479); IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU 2464); GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL 2464) (former Women’s World Champion); IM Anna Muzychuk (SLO 2460); IM Anna Zatonskih (USA 2458) (2006 US Women’s Champion); IM Ketevan Arakhamia (GEO 2457); IM Dronavalli Harika (IND 2455). In the News The Indian press has always been active in reporting on local events and any international events in which an Indian is playing, but with the ascension of GM Anand to the World Champion title, their press coverage of chess events has increased even more. The Hindu online (January 4, 2008) reported that S.S. Hashini of Tiruchi won the Tamil Nadu State under-7 girls’ chess championship title with 9.0/10. I wonder how long the little girl has been playing? 9 of 10 is a huge score!
The
Navhind Times (January 2, 2008), reported that India’s Ivana Marie
Furtado, who has twice won the World Youth Championship Girls’ Under 8 title
(October 17 – 29, 2006, Batumi, Georgia, 8.5/11)( November 17 – 29, 2007,
Antalya, Turkey, 9.0/11), will participate in the
3rd Asian Schools Chess Festival organized by Chess Federation of Sri Lanka
and recognized by FIDE from January 3-10 in Kandy. Perhaps another chess
superstar in the making. (Photo: Dronavalli Harika, 2007 GibTel Chess Festival, monroi.com) Newindpress.com (January 1, 2008) reported that the Asian Team Chess Championships take place January 2 – 10, 2008 (Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, South India) www.apchess.net. IM Dronavalli Harika (IND 2455) and WGM Swathi Ghate (IND 2337) will lead the Indian-A and India-B women’s teams respectively. 15 teams from seven countries are taking part in the event. I’ll report on this event next month (assuming I’m back).
Newindpress.com also has an article (January 5, 2008) about six year old
chess player Muthyala Bansi Prathima. Bansi started playing chess when she
was five, and her coach says she’s a world champion in the making. It’s not
unusual for their study regime to be 8 hours a day. The six-year-old is
currently sixth in the all-India Under-7 rankings and she is her state’s
champion in the Under-9 category. Her participation in the 2007 World Youth
Chess Championship held at Antalya, Turkey (November 17 - 29, 2007), earned
her a special ‘Young Talent for the year 2007’ gold medal. Hmmmm, at some
point I expect infant players will show up at tournaments pushed in baby
carriages.
Here’s a story about a non-Indian chess femme -
Judit Polgar - surprise surprise - “Judit
Polgar Tops Women’s World List for 30th Time.” What is interesting
about this article is the fact that it is NOT news. Everyone expects Polgar
to be the top rated female player in the world, and everyone expects her to
continue to be in the world top 20 (although she slipped to 22 on the
January, 2008 FIDE ratings list), if not the top 10. It would be news
only should she ever stop being the top rated female player in the world
and/or drop out of the top 30 or so. Judit Polgar is the demigoddess
of chess. One confidently expects that she will go on and on forever and
ever, like the Energizer bunny. Right now Polgar is participating in the
2nd ACP World Rapid Chess Cup in Odessa, Ukraine (January 4 - 7, 2008),
which features a rich prize structure of $136,000 USD.
As always, you can find more news about women chess players at Chess Femme News at Goddesschess and the Goddesschess blog.
Also, JanXena is experimenting with formatting and content,
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(Photo:
Tatiana Kosintseva [left] and Nadezhda Kosintseva, 2007 European Individual
Chess Championships. Courtesy of
(Photo:
Elizabeth Vicary, 2007 U.S. Open. Courtesy of
WGM
Tania Sachdev (IND 2417)
