Chess Club Black & White (CCBW)

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Kazan Chess Grand Prix for Women - Watch Live 4.40 pm India Time

Koneru Humpy takes on Hou Yifan in Round 1 at Kazan Chess Grand Prix

Kazan Chess Grand Prix can be watched live from India time 4.30 pm India time from today at the official website. The opening ceremony took place on Saturday for the fourth part of the FIDE Women’s Chess Grand Prix Series 2011-2012 at the very beautiful Korston Hotel in Kazan, Russia. Twelve players representing nine countries are taking part in the event including women's world chess champion Hou Yifan and former women's world chess champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Antoaneta Stefanova. Also taking part are the women's chess current numbers three and four by rating - Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru. Four participants who represent the National Russian team and are the present Olympiad champions - Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alisa Galliamova - are also in the lineup.

Here is the complete list of participants that makes this one of the strongest gathering of women's chess players in recent times. You can click on the links to see each player's Fide rating card.

Participants
1. Hou Yifan GM CHN 2623
10. Anna Muzychuk GM SLO 2598
7. Tatiana Kosintseva GM RUS 2532
6. Nadezhda Kosintseva GM RUS 2528
11. Antoaneta Stefanova GM BUL 2518
2. Viktorija Cmilyte GM LTU 2508
5. Alisa Galliamova WGM RUS 2484
8. Alexandra Kosteniuk GM RUS 2457
4. Humpy Koneru GM IND 2589
9. Kateryna Lahno GM UKR 2546
3. Elina Danielian GM ARM 2484
12. Betul Cemre Yildiz WGM TUR 2333

The opening ceremony of the Kazan Chess Grand Prix was attended by the first President of the Republic of Tatarstan State Advisor of the Republic of Tatarstan, Senior Advisor to the FIDE President Mr. M. Shaimiev, Chief Executive Officer of FIDE Mr. G. Borg, assistant to FIDE President Mr. B. Balgabaev and distinguished guests. We can look forward to an exciting fortnight ahead of chess. Games will be played every day from India time 4.30 pm with rest days from chess being on June 14 (Thursday) and June 19 (Tuesday).

Sunday's Round 1 pairings are as follows:
Elina Danielian – Anna Muzychuk
Humpy Koneru – Hou Yifan
Betul Yildiz – Alisa Galliamova
Tatiana Kosintseva – Alexandra Kosteniuk
Viktorija Cmilyte – Katerina Lahno
Nadezhda Kosintseva – Antoaneta Stefanova

(Photos and inputs by Anastasiya Karlovich with kind

permission of FIDE via the Kazan Chess Grand Prix official website.)

Chess Scene from Bollywood Movie 'New York' with John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh

Bollywood movie 'New York' was released on June 26, 2009 and had a super chess scene. The movie was in the drama/thriller genre starring John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan with lyrics by Sandeep Shrivastava. The music was by Pritam and story by Aditya Chopra. Kabir Khan directed the movie.

Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and Sam (John Abraham) meet over a chess board as Maya (Katrina Kaif) looks on. The chess board becomes the starting point for the friendship between the three as they discover America and how 9/11 changes their life.

FIDE President Congratulates Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina at Special Function in Moscow

A special ceremonial felicitation ceremony was held in Moscow on May 8 to congratulate Women's World Blitz Chess Champion Valentina Gunina and Women's World Rapid Chess Vice-Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Chess Queen Kosteniuk missed the gold in the Rapid by half a point and a medal, also by half a point, in the Blitz. FIDE president, officials of the Moscow Sports Committee and Moscow Chess Federation felicitated both the talented chess players. The Women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships held in Batumi (Georgia) on June 1-5. Valentina Gunina has recently grown as a strong chess player with creative chess ideas.

The 12th Women's World Chess Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk, has always been known for her non-compromising, very attacking, and entertaining chess games since she was a kid. Kosteniuk's Chess Blog is also the #1 chess blog in the United States and her Chess Queen blog is her personal 'diary' that gives fans an insight into the life of a world chess champion.

Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Moscow Chess Federation president Vladimir Palikhata and first deputy chairman of Moscow Sports Committee Nikolay Gulyaev congratulated the chess players.

Russia's Maria Sharapova has beaten Italy's Sara Errani to lift her first French Open tennis title. Check out an old entry on Maria Sharapova's FB page:

Here is what I was doing while in Stuttgart...no no, not playing chess, just taking walks in some of the parks and pretending like I knew what I was doing with a chess board. Would be nice to learn...perhaps it will help my patience. - Maria Sharapova

Chess is always the big sports star!

Saturday #Chess Puzzle Level Difficult

Saturday #Chess Puzzle with level 'Difficult'
E. Saavedra (after G.Barbier), Glasgow Weekly Citizen, 1895
White to play and win (Use arrows in flashplayer to see solution).

The World Chess Championship for Rapid and Blitz qualifiers will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from July 1-5. The qualifiers are open to all players who have a rating of at least 2300. Applications have to be sent by the national federations only.
Participation fees
2300 - 2399 –100 USD
2400 – 2499 – 60 USD
2500 – 2600 - 35 USD
Above 2600 – no fee
Applications for participation are accepted before June 20, 2012.

The Rapid Chess Qualifier would be held as a nine-round Swiss chess tournament with the following time control: 15 minutes + 10 seconds. The top three winners will get free hotel accommodation costs and plane tickets to the world chess championship. Hotel costs and plane tickets for the world chess championship in the blitz section are free for the first three winners of the qualifier.

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