Saturday, November 24, 2012

Stevanova Through to Final in 2012 FIDE WWCC!!!

Holy Hathor! Stevanova is just smoking hot hot hot right now.  She won her match against Harika Dronavalli 1.5 - 0.5 and will face either Anna Ushenina or Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Champion title.

Ushinina and Ju tied their match and so will be going to play-offs tomorrow!  What a way to spend a weekend, following this action!

Results Round 5, Game 2:

NameG1G2R1R2r3r4B1B2SDTot

Round 5 Match 01
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)1½
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)0½½

Round 5 Match 02
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)½½1
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)½½1

Official website

The second games of the Women’s World Championship semifinals were played today in Khanty-Mansiysk


Stefanova ascendant!






At the risk of jinxing her for tomorrow's play-off, Ushenina looks ready to rumble!  Killer eyes...
 



Friday, November 23, 2012

2012 FIDE WWCC: Harika Storms Into Semi-Final

From The Times of India

Harika storms into semifinal of World Women Chess Championship

PTI Nov 22, 2012, 09.34PM IST

KHANTY MANSIYSK (Russia): Grandmaster D Harika came up with a spectacular performance in the tiebreak games to beat Zhao Xue of China and enter the last four stage of the World Women Chess Championship.

The Indian set the records right after a real scare in the second game on yesterday and displayed top form to win the first rapid game and then drawing the second easily as white.

The victory means Harika will not only remain in the championship but will also have a fair chance of having a shy at the title with just two matches to go in the premier women event.

In the next round now, Harika will meet Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria who was world champion in 2004.

Chinese Ju Wenjun defeated compatriot Hunag Qian, while Stefanova accounted for Marie Sebag of France in the other tiebreak matches.

In the other semifinal, Wenjun will meet Anna Ushenina of Ukraine who had won in straight games against Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia.

Harika won with black in the first rapid game that proved to be the decisive factor in the match. Zhao Xue was the last fancied player remaining and she was knocked out in great style.

Taking a cue from her last game, Harika went for something she knows best instead of speculating. The King's Indian turned out to be a good choice as Zhao Xue could not get favourable complexities she was hoping for.

The middle game had all virtues of a typical King's Indian wherein black always had counter play against white's initiative.

Harika obtained a dangerous passed pawn in the center as the game progressed and took it to the seventh rank after Zhao blundered. The game lasted 33 moves.

In the return game, Harika faced the Hedgehog structure with white pieces and got a winning position in quick time. However, she played it safe for a long time and obtained the required draw after 85 moves.

Stefanova beat Marie Sebag 2-0 in rapid games, while Wenjun drew both rapid games but won the ten-minute blitz by 1.5-0.5 against Huang Qian to remain in hunt.

Results quarterfinals: Huang Qian (Chn) lost to Ju Wenjun (Chn) 1-1, 1-1, 1.5-0.5; D Harika (Ind) beat Zhao Xue (Chn) 1-1, 1.5-0.5; Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul) beat marie Sebag (Fra) 1-1, 2-0; Anna Ushenina (Ukr) beat Nadezhda Kosintseva (Rus) 1.5-0.5.

WFM Mahalakshmi Defeats a GM, heh heh

From The Times of India

Mahalakshmi shocks Sahaj Grover in round

CHENNAI: [Excerpted] Woman FIDE Master M Mahalakshmi caused a big upset by bringing down Grandmaster Sahaj Grover in an exciting Nimzo Indian game even as top seed Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov of The Netherlands won both the games to stay in lead after the second round in Commonwealth Chess Championships, on Friday.

Sharing the lead with Tiviakov at two points were GMs Oleksienko Mikhailo (Ukraine), Marat Dzhumaev (Uzbekistan), Lintchevski Daniil (Russia), S P Sethuraman, M R Venkatesh, M R Lalith Babu, S Arun Prasad, R R Laxman (all India), IM Oliver Dimakiling (Philippines) and Mahalakshmi among others.

In the second round, after a sedate start, Mahalakshmi went for a king-side assault that had the Delhi based Grandmaster in trouble.

An exchange sacrifice in the 31st turn could not stem the queen, rook and bishop battery and Sahaj gave up faced [with defeat] after 41 moves. Mahalakshmi had won the Gold medal in the Under 14 Girls section, last week in the World Youth Chess Championships at Maribor, Slovenia.

Newly crowned National Premier Champion and International Master G Akash (ELO 2404) suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the 16-year-old Madhurima Shekhar (ELO 1959).

The French game developed into an interesting tussle and Madhurima equalised quickly and the queenless middle-game slowly moved in her favor. Giving up his rook for bishop on the 31st move, could not solve Akash's difficulties and faced with a mate, he resigned on 40th move.

A big win for the Delhi girl and good show from here, will help her to strike a Norm.


WFM M Mahalakshmi - GM Sahaj Grover 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Bxc3 5.bxc3 c5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O d6 9.e4 e5 10.d5 Ne7 11.Nh4 Bg4 12.f3 Bd7 13.f4 Ne8 14.f5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Qxh4 16.Rf3 Qe7 17.Rh3 f6 18.Qh5 g6 19.Qh6 gxf5 20.exf5 Kh8 21.Be3 Rg8 22.Qh4 Nc7 23.Be4 Qf7 24.Rf1 Bb5 25.Rf2 a5 26.Rb2 Rab8 27.c4 Bxc4 28.Bf3 Bd3 29.Bh5 Qe7 30.Bg6 Rg7 31.Bh6 Rxg6 32.fxg6 Bxg6 33.Rd2 b5 34.Rf3 Ne8 35.Rdf2 b4 36.Bc1 Rc8 37.Qh6 Qg7 38.Qh3 Qb7 39.Bg5 f5 40.Rxf5 Bxf5 41.Qxf5 1-0

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

It is SEMI FINALS time, and the action is fast and furious.  Without further ado, here are the results, darlings:

Round 5 Match 01
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)1 1
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)00

Round 5 Match 02
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)½0.5
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)½0.5

Can Stefanova win the title again?  The 33 year old was crowned the Women's Champion in 2004 and held the title until 2006.  At that time, I considered her in her peak form.  Her performances since then have been, for the most part, steady but not spectacular; however, her peak ELO rating of 2560 was achieved in May, 2010 so --. She is one of the pros who makes a living playing the circuit in Europe as well as in the European, EU and various women's and team championships, sometimes performing well enough to finish in the money.  She has made some Grand Prix appearances and also regularly plays on teams (such as the .  Stefanova is currently ranked 19th on the Top 100 Women list, with an ELO of 2491, certainly respectable in terms of her peers.  But, check this out:

2Koneru, HumpygIND261071987
3Hou, YifangCHN260661994
4Muzychuk, AnnagSLO258661990
5Zhao, XuegCHN256541985
6Dzagnidze, NanagGEO255501987
7Lahno, KaterynagUKR2553151989
8Kosintseva, NadezhdagRUS253901985
9Cmilyte, ViktorijagLTU252461983
10Sebag, MariegFRA252101986
11Gunina, ValentinamRUS2517101989
12Cramling, PiagSWE251661963
13Kosintseva, TatianagRUS251501986
14Harika, DronavalligIND251271991
15Khotenashvili, BelamGEO250401988
16Kosteniuk, AlexandragRUS250161984
17Ju, WenjunwgCHN250141991
18Ruan, LufeiwgCHN250101987
19Stefanova, AntoanetagBUL249151979

Nearly all of the players ranked above Stefanova on the Top 100 Women list were also playing in the FIDE 2012 WWCC - and all have been eliminated except for Harika Dronavalli (14th) and Ju Wenjun (17th)! Anna Ushenina is ranked 38th with an ELO of 2452!  I'm pretty sure that no one expected Stefanova, or the other semi-finalists for that matter, to have come this far, including me!  So, YOU GO, GIRLS! 

Obviously, Harika Dronavalli has her back against the chessly wall, and MUST win tomorrow in order to force a play-off.  Holy Hathor!  I'm not even going to venture an opinion here, I've been so wrong about SO many things in the course of this Championship, LOL!  So, I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy, darlings, and watch in amazement at whatever happens.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Is Lakshmi a Goddess in Name Only?


Is Goddess Lakshmi only figurative? Posted By: Poonam Srivastava/Atika Singh at NDTV Good Times
(November 11, 2012)


The festive season is a buzz with excitement, happiness all round, the city lit up, the sweet shops bustling, people rejoicing in the festive spirit. For a lot of us this festive season also becomes path to connect with the divine and pray to Goddess Lakshmi, who for us represents the epitome of bringing wealth and prosperity.

There is obviously notable furor of activities in the temples as people actively pray and ask for blessings. I was crossing once such temple and that’s when I observed something very disturbing right in the heart of all the festivities. There was this group of men, who had just come out of the temple and probably finished praying to Goddess Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity, and to my horror; start eve teasing two girls barely 25 feet away from Goddess Lakshmi’s abode!!!

I was left astounded with the stark irony where, in a country like ours on one side all of us including men pray to Goddesses like Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati and bow their heads in respect. And yet the living feminine form is treated so badly. Every day in the news we hear of rape, honour killing, dowry deaths; in fact we don’t even have to look outside, in our very own homes men and women are not treated at par. While times have changes and there is considerable liberalization especially in the upper strata of society.

Today’s working woman is not only supposed earn but also look after the home and the family irrespective of whether the man helps her or not in the household. A woman is expected to play the roles of a mother, wife, daughter-in-law, sister, daughter to perfection! Does a man have the same pressure of expectations?

I recently watched the movie ‘English Vinglish’ I’m sure some of you would have seen it as well. It was a beautiful interpretation of a middle class family and especially how woman of the house is expected to only give and if she makes the mistake of expecting something in return she is sure to be disappointed. What touched me most was the scene where the protagonist, says that she is not even seeking love from her husband and children but all that she wants is a little respect.

Is that also too much to ask for considering we are living in the 21st century and claim to be modern and free thinking? So while we rejoice, pray and seek blessings from our Goddesses’ lets also spare a little thought for the Goddesses’ in our family and bring in a little light into their lives this festive season!

(Poonam Srivastava is a Delhi based writer who has published books and articles on subjects of social innovation and practical spirituality. She also actively volunteers her time to promote causes related to these spheres.)

(Atika Singh is a post graduate in Counseling Psychology from Amity Institute of Behavioral & Allied Sciences and graduate in History from Delhi University. She has been actively involved in the emotional counseling space; and is passionate about empowering individuals to deal with their personal and professional issues, and achieve greater success. She is a certified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner.)

Sculpture of Chinese Goddess Nv Wa unveiled ...

...at UN headquarters in Vienna.

(Xinhua)

10:00, November 22, 2012

VIENNA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A sculpture of the Chinese Goddess Nv Wa was unveiled Wednesday at the UN headquarters in Vienna to mark the international efforts to protect the ozone Layer.

The 4.1-meter-high sculpture, designed and donated by Chinese artist Yuan Xikun, is inspired by the old Chinese legend "Nv Wa Patches up the Sky" and symbolizes the need to protect the ozone layer.

The event was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the 20th anniversary of relevant programs launched by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

"As a signatory country of the Montreal Protocol, China is also actively involved in the program of the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and has created noteworthy achievements under the coordination of UNIDO," Cheng Jingye, China's permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, said at the unveiling ceremony.

The Montreal Protocol, adopted in 1987, is considered crucial in the efforts to restore and protect the ozone layer by phasing-out various substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

In 1992, UNIDO became the fourth implementing agency of the Montreal Protocol. It has been playing a positive role in international programs of ozone layer protection since then and was chosen as the best implementing agency for nine consecutive years.

China is considered to be one of the countries which have implemented the largest number of protection programs organized by UNIDO.


******************************************

 I don't know who this Goddess is --- okay, some little brief research says she's Nu Wa, Mother Creator Goddess.  She is a Goddess that is part serpent, part human, if my recollection of long-ago research serves me!  I didn't recognize the name immediately because in the West, she is also known as Nu Gua (varies from region to region such as Nu Kua, Ku Gua, Neu Kwa, Cang Jing or NYwa (the Y has an umlaut over it.)

More information on Nu Wa a/k/a Nu Gua:

Wikipedia (among other things, mentions that Nüwa is also regularly called the "Snake Goddess". Also mentions that ...[Emperor] Zhou [of Shang Dynasty] was completely overcome with lust at the very sight of the beautiful ancient goddess Nüwa (who had been sitting behind a light curtain) --

This reminded me very much of a scene from "The Golden Child" where a character played by Eddie Murphy descends into a basement to meet up with a mysterious "woman" who may provide him with some answers he has been seeking.  He goes into a room that has a section divided off by semi-sheer white curtains.  Then he hears a noise that seems to be a rattling kind of sound, similar perhaps to the noise a rattle snake would make.  And then he sees the shadow of a shapely woman cast upon the white curtain -- from behind it.  It is the woman herself, but she is undulating in a very strange way, and makes hissing noises every now and then when provoked by his questions...  A short time later the character portrayed by Eddie Murphy pulls down the curtain and lo and behold, is a "dragon woman!"  Her upper part is that of a beautiful woman; her lower half is that of a "dragon" or serpent.

Chinese Were Created By A Goddess-Nuwa 
 
Goddess Nuwa Makes the Human Being

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone.  Only Americans celebrate this iconic holiday on this particular day (the 4th Thursday in November), but there are similar holidays celebrated throughout the world, for the same reasons.  It is a combination of thanksgiving and harvest festival, a day of reflection and introspection, but also a day of overindulging in food and drink, watching NFL football on television practically non-stop until later tonight when the 7 p.m. game at last wraps up, and celebrating in one's own particular way.

About 30 minutes ago, I visited the official website to see if I could pick up information on the three different play-offs taking place in Kamksy Mansky, Russia (where?)  Okay, it's actually Khanty Masisky, no, that's not right either...  It actually Khanty Mansiysk - or something like that.  Anyway, my goal was to post a news flash here whilst in the midst of my Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

So, I had discerned that Stefanova had KNOCKED OUT GM Marie Sebag, and that one of the Chinese players had probably knocked out a different Chinese player, but it was basically undecipherable to me what the heck was actually going on - couldn't figure out how to register (not that I wanted to!), or to navigate the games properly, well, par for the course for moi. 

The Week in Chess to the rescue.  Here are the results from the Round 4 playoffs:

NameG1G2R1R2r3r4B1B2SDTot

Round 4 Match 01
Sebag, Marie (FRA)10001
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)011 13

Round 4 Match 02
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)½½½½½1
Huang, Qian (CHN)½½½½½0

Round 4 Match 03
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)½0½
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)½1

Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue (CHN)½½0½
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)½½1½

Players advancing from the play-offs to Round 5:  Antoaneta Stefanova, Ju Wenjun, and Harika DronavalliAnna Ushenina had previously secured a spot for herself in the semi-final during regular play and did not have to go through a play-off.

I have to say, this is about an as unlikely group of potential female world chess champions as I could have imagined - and did not!  Holy Hathor! 

I'm just going to sit back and be entertained over the next several days, beginning with Round 5, whenever that is.  Don't the players EVER get a break in this event?  Geez! 

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Chessbase Reports on WWCC Round 4

Women’s World Championship – Ushenina in the semis

21.11.2012– IM Anna Ushenina from Ukraine faced a formidable opponent in round four of this knock-out event: Russian GM Nadezhda Kosintseva, rated close to 90 points above her. In the first game Anna was on verge of defeat but managed to save the game, in the second she won nicely with a pawn sacrifice. Stefanova beat Sebag to equalise their match. There will be three tiebreak encounters on Thursday.

[Note:  You can download PGN and also play through some of the games of the final eight at Chessbase.  This is an excerpt of the full article.]

Anna Ushenina
The first game between Nadezhda Kosintseva (Russia) and Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) was extremely nervous and full of action. The players castled to the opposite sides of the board and began preparing for mutual attacks.

Kosintseva, NadezhdaUshenina, Anna½–½B94WWCC 201241.3Khanty-Mansiysk20.11.2012
 
1.e4c5
2.f3d6
3.d4cxd4
4.xd4f6
5.c3a6
6.g5bd7
7.e2h68
.h4g6
9.0-0-0e5
10.b3e7
11.f3b5
12.a3c7
13.b1f8
14.g4b7
15.f2g7
16.h4ab8
17.e3b6
18.c1c4
19.d3a8
20.g1b4
21.axb4b6
22.g2xb4
23.g5hxg52
4.hxg5d7
25.d1a3+
26.bxa3xc32
7.b2c7
28.c4c6
29.f4b7
30.f2b6
31.xa6xa6
32.xa6a4
33.c4xb2
34.xb2exf4
35.xf4 f6??Ushinina: "I had spent too much time in the middlegame, and made a couple of serious mistakes under time pressure, when all I had to do was calculating a couple of simple lines." 35...e8for instance would have kept Black on the offensive. 36.a2??A missed chance. "When I played 35...f6, Nadezhda began to think, and I instantly noticed that she can take on f6 twice. However, she rejected this move."
36.gxf6+xf6+
37.xf6!xf6
38.xd6+36...hf8White still has the advantage, but is now unable to turn it into a full point. 37.d4d738.e6a4
39.df1be840.d5d741.e6a442.b3d743.e6and draw by repetition. " In the final position Nadezhda still had a big advantage and could torture be for a long time," said Anna Ushinina. ½–½

In the second game Anna sacrificed a pawn and, after Nadezhda some imprecise moves by her opponent won it back with a decisive advantage. For the first time in her life the 27-year-old Ukrainian IM has advanced to the semifinals of such an event.

Sad News: Former U.S. Women's Chess Champion Elena Donaldson Has Died

It was a hugely romantic and scandalous story at the time:  A Soviet female player eloped to the USA with the captain of the United States Chess Olympiad Team!  I did a "Blast From the Past" on the story on July 7, 2007.  She was far too young to die, only 55. 

From The New York Times

Elena Donaldson, Chess Champion in U.S.S.R. and Then U.S., Dies at 55

Elena Akhmilovskaya
from New in Chess
1986
Elena Akhmilovskaya Donaldson, who was a chess champion in both the Soviet Union and her adopted country, the United States, and once ranked among the world’s top female players, died on Sunday in Kirkland, Wash. She was 55.

The cause was brain cancer, said her husband, Georgi Orlov.
      
Ms. Donaldson was known as Elena Akhmilovskaya when, in 1978, she helped the Soviet Union win the chess Olympiad, a biennial international team tournament, finishing with a perfect record, 10 wins in 10 games. She played on the triumphant Soviet team again in 1986, and the same year, as the second-ranked woman in the world, she lost a world championship match with another Soviet player, Maya Chiburdanidze.
      
She made her biggest headlines during the 1988 Olympiad in Salonika, Greece, when she eloped with the captain of the American team, John Donaldson. They settled in Seattle, and Ms. Donaldson, who reached the level of women’s grandmaster, went on to win three United States women’s championships, in 1990, 1993 (a shared title with Irina Levitina) and 1994.
      
Elena Bronislavovna Akhmilovskaya was born in Leningrad on March 11, 1957. Her father was an engineer, and the family moved often; young Elena spent much of her childhood in Krasnoyarsk, a river city in east central Russia, where her mother, Mr. Orlov said, was a regional chess champion before she died when Elena was a teenager.
      
She studied law and physics at the local state university (now part of Siberian Federal University), but she left school before graduation to pursue her emerging chess career.
      
Ms. Donaldson’s first marriage, in the Soviet Union, ended in divorce, as did her marriage to Mr. Donaldson.
      
Mr. Orlov, an international master (one designation below grandmaster) who had helped train Ms. Donaldson for top-flight matches in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, moved to the United States in the early 1990s; they married in 1995 and lived in Redmond, Wash. In recent years, the couple operated a chess school in Redmond and in nearby Seattle.
      
In addition to her husband, Ms. Donaldson is survived by a sister, Tatiana Resninskaya; a daughter, Donna Van Zandt; and a son, Nicholas Orlov.

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Round 4, Game 2 results:

NameG1G2R1R2r3r4B1B2SDTot

Round 4 Match 01
Sebag, Marie (FRA)101
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)011

Round 4 Match 02
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)½½1
Huang, Qian (CHN)½½1

Round 4 Match 03
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)½00.5
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)½11.5

Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue (CHN)½½1
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)½½1

Antoaneta Stefanova
Three of the four pairings going to the play-offs tomorrow, wow!  Ushenina, whose play has been uneven the past few years, knocked out Nadezhda Kosintseva -- so Russia has NO PLAYERS LEFT IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP.  I haven't looked back at the history of the knock-out events, but I'm thinking that's unprecedented at the stage of the quarter-finals. 

With three players still in it, the odds favor a Chinese champion.  But I really have no clue what may happen.  This championship has had totally unexpected results but I am also happy to see the names of players other than the favorites time after time, event after event!  I am a fan of Marie Sebag, who earned her final GM norm a few years ago playing in the European Chess Championship (Open).  Dronavalli is another player I admire because, like Sebag, she also plays in Opens on a frequent basis.  Her chess progress had seemed to stall a bit the last few years, but something sure lit a fire under here, and I'm glad to see her advance this far.  Perhaps that spark will burn even brighter in the coming years.

We'll see.  Tomorrow four players will go home, and only four will remain.  Woo woo!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

As always, India is in the limelight with providing coverage of its chessplayers.  I can just feel the love of a billion people rooting for their "home team" players!  This is Round 4, Game 1 news.  We are now down to 8 players.  Eight players, out of 64 of the world's top female players (other than GM Judit Polgar).

Harika draws with Zhao Xue in World Women's Chess Championship






2012 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Round 4, Game 1 results!

NameG1G2 R1 R2 r3 r4 B1 B2 SDTot

Round 4 Match 01
Sebag, Marie (FRA)1 1
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)0 0

Round 4 Match 02
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)½ 0.5
Huang, Qian (CHN)½ 0.5

Round 4 Match 03
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)½ 0.5
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)½ 0.5

Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue (CHN)½ 0.5
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)½ 0.5

Monday, November 19, 2012

Orthodox Church Condemned to Turkey

Historic Orthodox Church to be demolished, not restored
November/08/2012



The decision to demolish a 232-year-old Orthodox Church in the Bodrum district of the western province of Muğla has surprised locals who had been expecting it to be restored, daily Radikal reported today.

Locals had applied to restore the Saint Nicolas (Aya Nikolaya) church, however the Bodrum municipality decided to demolish it instead, according to a claim by Pamukkale University that declared the church building rotten.

The decision was signed by Dursun Göktepe of the Republican People's Party (CHP), who was substituting for Mayor Mehmet Kocadon while the latter was in prison on allegations of corruption. However, Kocadon was against the demolition and has announced that he will launch an investigation into the decision.

Since 1965, the Saint Nicolas Church had been used as a storage site, cinema, theater and boat shed.

Interview with Scholar Karen L. King

Harvard divinity professor relishes adventure, research

Jesus finding put scholar in spotlight

2012 FIDE World Youth Chess Championships - Girls

Asian under 10 Girls Chess Champion N Priyanka Won World Youth Chess Championship
Published on: 19-NOV-2012

Asian under 10 girls chess champion Nuthaki Priyanka bagged the world youth chess championship at Maribor, Slovenia on 18 November 2012. She completed with 9.5 points of 11 rounds.

Priyanka completed her game against US-based Wang Annie in 38 moves. She is the 5th standard student of Mustabada Sports and Educational Academy. She became the second girl to win the title from Hyderabad after Koneru Humpy who bagged her title in 1997. V.R. Bobba, the noted coach provided training to Priyanka.

In the middle of the game, the Hyderabadi girl committed blunders by running into the time trouble, but despite losing there she bagged the title.

She has become the fifth one to bag the title from Andhra Pradesh in the under-10 category after P. Hari Krishna, K. Humpy, Ch. Moineesh and Sahajasree. On her victory, Global Chess Academy director, District Sports Development Officer as well as Krishna District Chess Association secretary congratulated her.

*************************************************************************

Full Final Standings.  Final Standings (Girls):

U08 Girls

Rk.NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts.TB1 TB2 TB3
1
Asadi MotahareIRI0Iran10.50.071.075.0
2
Tereshechkina TaisiyaRUS1642Russia9.00.070.073.0
3
Juhasz JuditHUN1710Hungary8.50.071.576.5
4
Jiang TiantianCHN0China8.00.068.073.0
5
Lehaci Miruna-DariaROU1445Romania8.00.064.067.5
6
Khegai YuliaUZB0Uzbekistan8.00.063.063.5
7
Biran AnastasiyaBLR0Belarus8.00.062.066.0
8
Zhu HarmonyCAN0Canada7.50.074.579.5
9
WCMIsmayil MalakAZE0Azerbaijan7.50.074.078.5
10
WFMAssaubayeva BibissaraKAZ1698Kazakhstan7.50.073.578.0

U10 Girls

Rk.NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts.TB1 TB2 TB3
1
Priyanka NIND1576India9.50.070.074.5
2
Badelka OlgaBLR1653Belarus9.00.066.068.0
3
Maltsevskaya AleksandraRUS1954Russia8.50.066.569.5
4
Heydarova AytajAZE1628Azerbaijan8.50.063.567.5
5
WFMAntova GabrielaBUL1683Bulgaria8.00.072.575.0
6
Zhu JinerCHN1827China8.00.070.575.0
7
WCMSerikbay AsselKAZ1679Kazakhstan8.00.061.566.0
8
Ferkova DominikaSVK1576Slovakia7.50.068.072.0
9
WFMWang AnnieUSA1809Usa7.50.067.573.0
10
Zahedifar AnahitaIRI1763Iran7.50.067.572.0

U12 Girls

Rk. NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1
Vaishali RIND1970India9.00.075.081.0
2
WIMAbdumalik ZhansayaKAZ2173Kazakhstan8.50.075.581.5
3
WCMSavant RiyaIND1896India8.50.073.078.0
4
Yuan YeCHN1946China8.50.071.575.5
5
WFMObolentseva AlexandraRUS1957Russia8.50.066.571.0
6
WFMKazarian Anna-MajaNED1873Netherland8.00.072.577.5
7
WCMBychkova AlinaRUS1909Russia8.00.061.064.5
8
Chu RuotongCHN2008China7.50.074.079.5
9
Shuvalova PolinaRUS1866Russia7.50.068.573.5
10
WFMMammadzada GunayAZE1927Azerbaijan7.50.066.571.5

U14 Girls

Rk. NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1
WFMMahalakshmi MIND2001India9.00.573.578.5
2
Khomeriki NinoGEO2049Georgia9.00.572.578.5
3
WFMMonnisha GkIND2027India8.00.073.578.0
4
WIMIvana Maria FurtadoIND2103India8.00.071.076.0
5
Drogovoz IrinaRUS1921Russia8.00.065.568.5
6
Rodionova DariaRUS2069Russia8.00.064.069.0
7
Tohirjonova GulruhbegimUZB2002Uzbekistan8.00.063.567.0
8
WFMHaussernot CecileFRA2052France8.00.060.564.0
9
Abdusattorova BakhoraUZB1813Uzbekistan7.50.071.074.0
10
Gal Hanna KrisztinaHUN2027Hungary7.50.070.576.0

U16 Girls

Rk. NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1
WFMStyazhkina AnnaRUS2113Russia9.01.075.580.5
2
Rodionova PolinaRUS2040Russia9.00.069.573.5
3
WFMXiao YiyiCHN2136China8.50.072.578.0
4
WIMSaduakassova DinaraKAZ2297Kazakhstan8.50.071.576.5
5
Lei TingjieCHN2231China8.00.075.079.0
6
Imnadze NatoGEO2070Georgia8.00.067.571.0
7
WIMKhademalsharieh SarasadatIRI2303Iran8.00.065.569.5
8
WFMOsmanodja FilizGER2206Germany8.00.064.569.0
9
WFMBivol AlinaRUS2172Russia7.50.075.579.5
10
WIMNicolas Zapata IreneESP2201Spain7.50.073.078.5

U18 Girls

Rk. NameFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1
WGMGoryachkina AleksandraRUS2378Russia9.50.071.575.5
2
WIMSchut LisaNED2281Netherland8.50.068.573.0
3
Severina MariaRUS2196Russia8.00.072.077.0
4
WIMNguyen Thi Mai HungVIE2269Vietnam8.00.065.570.0
5
WIMVarga KlaraHUN2191Hungary8.00.065.569.5
6
WIMBrunello MarinaITA2248Italia7.50.068.072.5
7
WFMQiu MengjieCHN2069China7.50.062.066.5
8
WFMAsgarizadeh MinooIRI2106Iran7.00.075.080.0
9
WFMChumpitaz AnnPER2219Peru7.00.073.577.0
10
WIMEfroimski MarselISR2168Israel7.00.069.574.0

Women's Top Seeds Exited Early - Who Will Win?

From The New York Times

Top Seeds Make Early Exits at Women’s Title Event

Hou’s challenger in last year’s title match, Humpy Koneru of India, who is No. 2, also lost, to Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine. Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia, No. 4, fell to Anna Ushenina, another Ukrainian. But the top Ukrainian grandmaster, Kateryna Lahno, No. 7, lost to Lela Javakhishvili of Georgia.
The highest-ranked remaining players are Zhao Xue of China, No. 5, and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia, No. 6.
      
The startling series of upsets was in stark contrast to Round 1, when there was only one.
      
In an effort to bring in more women from countries that are not usually represented at such tournaments, the World Chess Federation allocated spots based on regional competitions. Some of the women who qualified were not close to being among the elite. In the first round, the highest seeds were pitted against the lowest ones, most of whom ended up losing badly.
      
Hou’s first opponent was S. D. Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka, who is ranked No. 3,174 among active women players. She was no match for the defending champion. Koneru also had little trouble dispatching Denise Frick of South Africa (No. 2,671).
      
The lack of early tests might have contributed to the poor performances of the top seeds in the second round as their opponents were in better form from their own first-round matches. In Hou’s match against Socko, she won the first game and only had to draw the second to advance. But, as sometimes happens in such situations, she was too cautious.
      
Since Socko needed to win the second regulation game, she played the Sicilian Defense, which offers Black the best chance for a counterattack against 1 e4.
      
Hou’s strategy of playing for a draw was evident early when she played 4 Qd4 instead of 4 Nd4, which is the more aggressive move.
      
Hou’s 7 Qd2 was an odd retreat for her queen; almost any other move would have been better. Her decision to fianchetto her bishop by playing 8 b3 was also peculiar. Clearly, she just wanted to trade dark-squared bishops, but Socko easily sidestepped the maneuver with 10 ... Nf6.
      
Hou also should not have postponed castling, and she made a bad decision by exchanging her light-squared bishop for Socko’s knight. Still, despite those missteps, she was fine until 21 Rc7. It was essential for her to play 21 f4 to limit the range of Socko’s dark-squared bishop.
      
Socko played well from then on. One of her nicest moves was 24 ... d4. Hou did not play 25 Bd4 because she would have lost a piece after 25 ... Bd4 26 Qd4 Ba4, when she could not recapture the bishop without being checkmated.
      
Hou resigned after 33 ... Qd4 because she would have faced checkmate in a few moves.
      
Though Hou is out of the tournament, she has the consolation of knowing that she can regain the title next year because, as the winner of the recently completed Grand Prix, she is already the designated challenger for a title match. The date and location of that match have not yet been announced.       
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