Chess Femme News by Goddesschess
 News About Women in Chess

I only report on tournaments where at least one female played.  If it's men only playing, it doesn't get reported here.  If I'm not sure a named player is male or female, I leave the name out, so on occasion I may omit a chess femme.  Love ya darlings !  Jan Newton
Goddesschess Goddesschess Blog Georgia's Chesstique


Added August 29, 2009:

Artemis Cup 2009 (1st Leros Open)
July 11 - 19, 2009
The event was won by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko with 7.0/9.  Here are the final standings for the chess femmes:  

(6) WGM Monica calzetta Ruis (ESP 2344) 6.5 (tied with 3 other players with 6.5 but finished below them after tie-breaks);  (22) IM Liubov Kostiukova (UKR 2208), 5.5;  (23) WGM Bianca Muhren (NED 2312), 5.0;  (24) WIM Sheila Barth Sahl (NOR 2217), 5.0;  (35) WFM Marie Frank-Nielsen (DEN 2000), 4.5;  (37) Ellisiv Reppen (NOR 1905), 4.5;  (56) Antonia Anagnostopoulou (GRE unr), 3.0;  (59) Maria Kouroumpa (GRE unr) 3.0; (65) Dimitra Gountinta (GRE unr) 2.5.  

July 27, 2009:

18th Maccabiah Games
July 12 -23, 2009
As part of this very large event held in Israel, there was a rapid chess tournament and a blitz chess tournament featuring top players from around the world.  GM Judit Polgar (yeaaahhhhhh, Judit!) was the lone chess femme in both of these premier events, and she did OKAY in the Rapid and BETTER in the Blitz.  Here are the final tables from both events, courtesy of The Week in Chess:

Richard Riordan GM Rapid Natanya (ISR), 12-14 vii 2009 cat. XVII (2664)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2663 * ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 9½ 2893
2. Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2632 ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 8½ 2824
3. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2662 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 7 2720
4. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2755 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6½ 2684
5. Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716 0 1 ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 2688
6. Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2650 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 2693
7. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2687 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 6 2661
8. Rodshtein, Maxim g ISR 2623 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6 2666
9. Roiz, Michael g ISR 2658 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 5½ 2635
10. Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2641 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 1 5½ 2636
11. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2599 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 5 2611
12. Fridman, Daniel g GER 2665 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 * ½ 3½ 2505
13. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2675 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * 2 2389

Richard Riordan GM Blitz Natanya (ISR), 16-16 vii 2009
cat. XVII (2664)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1. Fridman, Daniel g GER 2665 * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 9½ 2893
2. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2755 ½ * 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 9 2848
3. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2687 ½ 1 * 1 0 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 8 2786
4. Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716 0 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 7 2716
5. Rodshtein, Maxim g ISR 2623 0 0 1 ½ * ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 6 2666
6. Roiz, Michael g ISR 2658 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 6 2664
7. Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2650 0 0 1 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 5½ 2635
8. Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2632 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 2637
9. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2663 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 * 0 1 0 1 5 2606
10. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2675 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 0 1 1 5 2605
11. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2662 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 * 0 0 4 2538
12. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2599 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 * 0 4 2543
13. Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2641 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 1 * 3½ 2507

GM Daniel Fridman (GER 2665) is the husband of current U.S. Women's Chess Champion IM Anna Zatonskih.  

Donostia Chess Festival
July 7 - 16, 2009
(Prior posting under July 11, 2009)
Here are the final standings for the Women's Tournament (information from The Week in Chess):

Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa Donostia (ESP), 7-16 vii 2009 cat. III (2319)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Milliet, Sophie m FRA 2388 * 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7 2530
2. Melnikova, Yana wg RUS 2285 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6 2447
3. Sachdev, Tania m IND 2410 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 6 2433
4. Zakurdjaeva, Irina wg RUS 2305 0 ½ 0 * 0 1 1 1 1 1 5½ 2400
5. Pokorna, Regina wg SVK 2381 ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 2354
6. Michna, Marta wg GER 2379 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 4 2268
7. Hamdouchi, Adina-Maria wg ROU 2324 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 3½ 2237
8. Rozic, Vesna wm SLO 2239 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 3½ 2247
9. Ionica, Iulia-Ionela wg ROU 2263 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 2½ 2158
10. Karlovich, Anastazia wg UKR 2211 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 2 2110

July 26, 2009:

I'm in the process of updating the news for this month.  Please visit the Goddesschess blog for news on women in chess in the meantime.

In the News:

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Here is a feature on Abby Marshall by the new chess dude covering chess for the Milwaukee Examiner.

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Here is Susan Polgar's latest column at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal:  Polgar: Question of the week: Is chess more an individual or a team sport?

July 11, 2009:

Donostia Chess Festival
July 7 -16, 2009
Official website (in English)

Tania_Sachdev_2008_National_A_Championship_12_08.jpg (15025 bytes)Milliet, Sophie french championships 2008.jpg (43596 bytes)While the chess dudes with the big ratings are slugging it out in the equivalent of 2700 v. 2600 and 2600 v. 2500 tournaments, the chess femmes were given their own event.  Top seed is IM Tania Sachdev (IND 2410) (photo, right) (second seed IM Sophie Millet photo, left).  Call me suspicious - were the ladies chosen as much for their chess prowess as their good looks:

Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa Donostia (ESP), 7-16 vii 2009 cat. III (2318)
Name Ti NAT Elo DoB
Tania, Sachdev m IND 2410 1986
Milliet, Sophie m FRA 2388 1983
Pokorna, Regina wg SVK 2381 1982
Michna, Marta wg GER 2379 1978
Hamdouchi, Adina-Maria wg ROU 2324 1979
Zakurdjaeva, Irina wg RUS 2305 1982
Melnikova, Yana wg RUS 2285 1984
Ionica, Iulia-Ionela wg ROU 2263 1980
Rozic, Vesna wm SLO 2239 1987
Karlovich, Anastazia wg UKR 2211 1982

As far as I could tell, there are no official standings posted at the website.  So, I've totaled up the results from the action thus far - no guarantee this is correct, mind you, because I seem to be numbers-challenged these days. (Photo WGM Anastazia Karlovich, right). Also, I don't know how to do all the fancy relative ratings stuff to determine who comes out ahead in cases where players have a tied score, so this is just rough stuff, standings after Round 3:

(1) Zakurdjaeva 3.0;  (2) Melnikova 2.5;  (3) Milliet 2.0;  (4-6) Pokorna, Sachdev, Rozic 1.5; (7-9) Hamdouci, Michna, Ionica 1.0; (1) Karlovich 0.0.  

In the News:

bulletFIDE July, 2009 ratings are out.  GM Judit Polgar, the best female chess player in the world, has dropped in the standings from 37th to 43rd, with an ELO of 2687.  That's not chopped liver, but it is a far cry from her salad days when her highest rating was 2711 and she was in the top 10 more than once.  The new ELO "floor" for the top 100 players in the world is 2641.

So, how are the chess femmes doing rating wise?  Here are the top 10 in the world, minus GM Judit Polgar (last column is the player's year of birth):
 2  Koneru, Humpy  g  IND  2623  11  1987
 3  Hou, Yifan  g  CHN  2584  21  1994
 4  Zhao, Xue  g  CHN  2544  18  1985
 5  Muzychuk, Anna  m  SLO  2542  14  1990
 6  Kosintseva, Tatiana  m  RUS  2539  7  1986
 7  Dzagnidze, Nana  g  GEO  2536  9  1987
 8  Stefanova, Antoaneta  g  BUL  2535  8  1979
 9  Sebag, Marie  g  FRA  2531  14  1986
 10  Cramling, Pia  g  SWE  2525  5  1963
 11  Kosteniuk, Alexandra  g  RUS  2516  0  1984

July 6, 2009:

World Open
June 29 – July 5, 2009
Philadelphia, PA
(Also U-1800, U-1600, U-1400, U-1200, U-900 - not reported here)
Showing the winners of the sections reported on and the final standings of the chess femmes who played in those sections:

Open Section (98 players):
1 GM Hikaru Nakamura 2773 NY 7.0
2 GM Evgeny Najer 2714 RUS 7.0
66 WIM Alisa Melekhina 2315 PA 3.5

Under 2400 Section (129 players):
1 Gabriel Battaglini 2398 GA 7.0
2 Igor Sorkin 2392 ISR 7.0
3 FM Rodion Rubenchik 2340 PA 7.0
4 IM Angelo Young 2338 PHI 7.0
5 Siddharth Ravichandran 2331 IND 7.0
99 Jennie S Liu 2029 NJ 3.0

Under 2200 Section (185 players):
1 Scott T Low 2183 MD 7.5
2 William J Stewart 2181 GA 7.5
3 Abby Marshall 2190 VA 7.0
39 Hana Itkis 2061 NJ 5.5
113 Alena Kats 2042 NY 3.5
116 Darrian Robinson 2011 NY 3.5
118 Anna R Matlin 1999 NJ 3.5
130 Megan Lee 1972 WA 3.0

Under 2000 Section (223 players):
1 Alex Gianos-Steinberg 1928 WI 8.0
16 Louiza Livschitz 1956 CA 6.5
38 Amanda R Mateer 1986 AZ 5.5
59 Preetika Tayal 1983 IND 5.0
124 Linda V Diaz 1882 NY 4.0
129 Natasha Christiansen r/e 1815 MA 4.0
147 Becky Huang 1808 CA 3.5
177 Lilia M Poteat 1700 NY 2.5

July 4, 2009:

Happy Independence Day to all in the USA!  I'm desperately trying to catch up with recording the news and tournament results here - a losing proposition now that I'm "studying" for my upcoming chess match with Shira Evans in the Shira Chess Challenge.    

In the News:

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GM Susan Polgar has been presenting some game analyses this month at her world-famous blog:

This one is from July 1, 2009
Maia Chiburdanidze (2500) – Susan Polgar (2510)
Novi Sad Olympiad, 1990
Notes from my best-selling book Breaking Through

This one is from July 2, 2009
B. Igla (2291) – T. Kosintseva (2492)
European Team Chess Championship, Crete, Greece (1), 28.10.2007

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Ten Differences Between Men's and Women's Brains (June 16, 2009):  Oh for Goddess sake!  Haven't we heard all of this before?  Already some poor, misguided souls, evidently greatly influenced by this article, are pointing to these "facts" as the true reason for the relative differences in chess performance between men and women.  What's even sillier about this whole thing is that this article was posted at a blog called "Masters of Health Care/Online Health and Medicine Degrees."  Oh gee, that really sounds authentic, aina hey?  It's "Archives" go back a whopping three months.  This doesn't inspire any degree of confidence, particularly since no author's or authors' names were listed for this "article."  

July 3, 2009:

In the News:

bullet2008 WWCC Kosteniuk in costume.jpg (78281 bytes)GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, the reigning Women's World Chess Champion (pictured here in traditional Nalchik [where?] dress as she was crowned the Queen of Chess at the 2008 WWCC), will be playing at the 110th U.S. Open Chess Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1 - 9, 2009.  In addition to class prizes and an $8,000 first prize for the "Open" winner, 300 Grand Prix points are at stake (junior GP points are also available) and five qualification spots will be awarded for the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship, which will once again be held at the Chess and Scholastic Center in St. Louis.


bulletShahade Jennifer July 2009.jpg (114137 bytes)The lovely Jennifer Shahade is on the cover of the July, 2009 print edition of Chess Life, which cites itself as "The world's most widely read chess magazine."  Really?  Anyway, there is a two-page spread in Chess Life on Jen and her busy busy life.  In addition to being a co-founder of the great charitable foundation 9Queens, Jen is the editor of the on-line edition of Chess Life.  I have to say she is doing a great job there, the site is looking much spiffier these days than a few years ago and the news is now more timely reported.  Jen has her own website.

Upcoming Events:

bullet2010 U.S. Women's Chess Championship:  In an article written by Jerry Hanken (Chairman, U.S. Open Committee) in the July, 2009 edition of Chess Life print magazine (he was writing about the upcoming 100th U.S. Open - see Kosteniuk article above), he noted that five qualifying spots will be available for the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship, which will be held in the same venue as last year, and presumably once again sponsored by the same folks who back the St. Louis Chess and Scholastic Center.  No mention was made of the 2010 U.S. Women's Chess Championship - I hope the USCF got a package deal!
bulletThe 2009 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls (July 26 - 31, 2009):  Confirmed 60 players thus far, with a few still missing/yet to be confirmed.  This makes it the biggest SP National Invitational ever!  The event will take place on the grounds of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas (the players get free room and board including all meals, and parents and accompaniers get rooms and meals at greatly reduced rates -- much less than a hotel or motel)


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