The Month of Beautiful Chess Femmes

Darlings!  The last part of July was spent on vacation and I paid scant attention to the chess news as the Invincible Goddesschess Foursome of JanXena, Isis, Michelle (photo, from left to right) and Mr. Don (manning the camera) for our annual Goddesschess anniversary get-together.  This photo was taken on the driveway in front of my house.

I'm tanned and rested and raring to go, sporting a shorter 'do' with a darker 'Xena-like' hair color.  Goodbye to my auburn tresses.  (Yes, I'm lugging another big handbag, but it's not the same one I was sporting in a photo from Madrid taken in October, 2002, featured in an earlier Chessville column).  If I do say so myself (and I do), we're three gorgeous chess femmes.  Patzers, yeah, but gorgeous.  From young to enticingly mature (hello, Mrs. Robinson...), July was overflowing with photos of beautiful women chess players, sponsors, hosts, reporters, authors.  More gorgeous chess femmes (definitely not patzers) are pictured below.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course; to Goddesschess, all of these women are beautiful.

Recent Events

The Philadelphia Open
June 26 - 30, 2008
Official website
Follow-up:  Here are the winner and final standings for the chess femmes in this 39 player event (from July's Chessville column):
1 GM Parimarjan Negi 2514, 7.0/9 $2,000
6 WGM Eesha Karavade 2303, 6.0 $450
17 WGM Nisha Mohota 2400, 4.5
18 WGM Swathi Ghate 2350, 4.5
22 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2316, 4.0
27 WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy 2298, 3.5
29 WIM Sai Meera 2227, 3.5
30 WFM Alisa Melekhina 2208, 3.5
36 Shelly Mays 2066, 2.0

WGM Eesha Karavade (photo from official website) earned an IM norm for her results in this event!  

North Urals Cup 2008
July 26 - August 4, 2008
Official website 
Some of the best chess femmes in the world faced off in the 5th edition of the North Urals Cup, fighting for prizes of $15,000.  This year's field:

GM Koneru Humpy (IND 2622)
GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL 2550)
GM Pia Cramling (SWE 2544)
GM Marie Sebag (FRA 2529)
GM Anna Muzychuk (SLO 2504)
GM Xu Yuhua (CHN 2483)
IM Anna Ushenina (UKR 2476)
IM Natayla Pogonina (RUS 2469)

Photo by Vadim Smalkov from a report at Chessbase: Top Row: Pogonina, Stefanova, Muzychuk, Ushenina; Bottom Row: Xu, Sebag, Cramling, Koneru.

GM Koneru Humpy had a tough first half.  She lost her first two games - playing white in Round 1 to Stefanova, and playing black in Round 2 against the latest chess femme to earn the GM title - Marie Sebag.  Cramling was scarcely better off!   Were these two GMs just off form - or is it that the chess femmes with ratings lower than theirs are underrated and they're much tougher competition these days?

This doesn't take a thing away from Humpy and Cramling, who are fabulous role models for chess femmes the world over and great chess players.  Cramling was the second woman ever to earn the GM title, a few months behind GM Susan Polgar, and Humpy is one of two women in the entire world with an ELO above 2600.  But women's ratings tend to be depressed because women often play in women-only events with other "lower rated" players, so spectacular performances (such as Stefanova's earlier this year in the 2008 European Individual Women's Chess Championship) get overlooked and women's relative ELOs don't necessarily reflect their true playing strength.  Darlings, never count out the ladies; as the old saying goes, the female of the species is deadlier than the male...

...as was well exhibited with the deadly Stefanova of the angelic face leading the ladies at the end of Round 6 with 4.0 with 1 round to go!   Here was the cross-table after Round 6:

There are lots of surprises in this table, not the least of which is the dangerous Anna Muzychuk (also of angelic face - well, not looking so angelic in the photo from Round 6, right) at only 2.5, and veteran GM Pia Cramling at 50% with 3.0, along with Koneru.

To complicate matters further, a solar eclipse was clearly visible from the playing venue during Round 5.  Oy!  Talk about a sign from the Goddess!  I think the "swallowing of the Sun by the Moon" (translation: The Goddess [Moon] swallowing the God [Sun]) surely added some interesting vibrations to the "air of the world" that can be accounted for in the scores of chess players in some key events taking place during this signal event.

What else accounts for Cramling defeating an otherwise red-hot Stefanova in a game that, according to Susan Polgar, should have been a draw:

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.g3 dxc4 7.Bg2 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Nc6 10.Ne3 Na5 11.Nd2 Bxc5 12.Nexc4 Nxc4 13.Nxc4 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Bxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Ke7 16.Rhc1 Rb8 17.Nb6 Rd8+ 18.Ke1 Nd5 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Rc7+ Kf6 21.Nxc8 Rdxc8 22.Rac1 Re8 23.R1c3 Kg6 24.Rd7 Re4 25.a5 d4 26.Rb3 Re5 27.Rbxb7 Rxb7 28.Rxb7 Rxa5 29.Kd2 Ra1 30.Rb4 Rb1 31.Rb6+ Kf5 32.Rxa6 Rxb2+ 33.Kd3 Ke5 34.Ra5+ Ke6 35.h4 g6 36.Ra4 Ke5 37.Rxd4 Rb3+ 38.Kc4 Rb2 39.Rf4 Ke6 40.Kd3 h5 41.Ra4 Kf6 42.Ke3 Rc2 43.Kf3 Rb2 44.Re4 Rb3+ 45.Kf4 Rb2 46.f3 Rb1 47.Ra4 Rb5 48.Ra6+ Kg7 49.e4 Rb4 50.Ra3 Kf6 51.Ke3 Rb6 52.Kf4 Rb4 53.Ra5 Rc4 54.g4 hxg4 55.Kxg4 Rb4 56.h5 gxh5+ 57.Kxh5 Rb6 58.Kg4 Rc6 59.Rh5 Kg6 60.Rg5+ Kf6 61.Rg8 Rc4 62.Re8 Kg6 63.Rg8+ Kf6 64.Kf4 Ra4 65.Rb8 Ra6 66.Rd8 Kg6 67.Rg8+ Kf6 68.Kg4 Ra1 69.Rb8 Rg1+ 70.Kf4 Rf1 71.Rb6+ Kg7 72.e5 Ra1 73.Kf5 Ra5 74.Rb7 Ra6 75.f4 Rc6 76.Rd7 Ra6 77.Ke4 Ra4+ 78.Rd4 Ra1 79.f5 Re1+ 80.Kd5 Rf1 81.f6+ Kg6 82.Kd6 Ra1 83.Ke7 Ra7+ 84.Rd7 Ra5?? (84...Ra6 =) 85.e6 Re5 86.Rd6 Re1 87.Kf8 fxe6 88.f7 Rf1 89.Rxe6+ Kh7 90.Re2 Ra1 91.Rh2+ Kg6 92.Kg8 1–0

The Round 7 match-ups were:

Pogonina - Muzychuk
Ushenina - Koneru
Stefanova - Xu Yuhua
Sebag - Cramling

With Cramling, Xu, Sebag and Koneru all with 3.0, Stefanova (4.0) and Ushenina (3.5) were not in comfortable positions.  My instincts told me there would be intense fights for full points instead of 20-move draws.

How did I do prognostication wise?  Here is the final cross-table after Round 7:

Pogonina and Muzychuk drew!
Ushenina and Koneru drew!
Stefanova and Xu drew!
Sebag defeated Cramling

Hmmm, I think I need to re-take Prognostication 101.  (Download games).

The winner - Stefanova!  Stefanova is having a banner year.  She'll be 30 next year, and she's approaching her ELO peak of 2560 last reached in January of 2003!  Since January, she's increased her ELO from 2464 to 2550!  It would be absolutely fabulous if she makes a push to get above 2600 in the year of her 30th birthday and become only the third female in the world to reach that mark.

5th Annual Susan Polgar Invitational
July 27 - August 1, 2008
The 2008 edition of the Susan Polgar Invitational took place on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.  Texas Tech, which is the site of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, not only provided a fine playing venue for this event, it also provided free rooms and meals for the players and accommodations and meals for accompanying family members at modest rates.  Several campus venues were also available for the use of the players and their family members during their stay at Texas Tech.

A player cannot just sign-up for this event; she (only chess femmes can play) has to be nominated to participate on behalf of her state by the state's chess federation or qualify by winning a spot in a qualifying event.  The competition is keen over the boards, and fast friendships are made off the boards.  

The winner of this year's Polgar Invitational is none other than Courtney Jamison (her high school photo, right), who was a wild card participant in the 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship (Courtney finished in last place - 10th - with only 0.5 points, and was the lowest-rated player in the U.S. Women's Championship, but oh, the experience, the experience darlings!)  Courtney breezed through the Polgar Invitational, being a perfect five for five, and drawing only her last game (Round 6), to secure the title.

Susan Polgar provided extensive coverage of the 2008 Polgar Invitational with many photographs by Paul Truong at her popular chess blog.   There were 52 players this year competing in six rounds for $125,000 in prizes and scholarships.  Here are the top finishers:

1 Courtney Jamison (2046) TX W26 W24 W14 W7 W10 D2 5.5
2-3 Linda Diaz (1726) D34 W40 W12 W5 W9 D1 5.0
2-3 Ashley Carter (1877) MI W33 L14 W28 W24 W7 W8 5.0
4-6 Rebekah Liu (1699) CA W37 W25 D5 D8 W13 D11 4.5
4-6 Angel Bohannon (1700) TX W27 W23 D4 L2 W33 W19 4.5
4-6 Nisha Deolalikar (1726) CA L23 W34 W39 D33 W14 W17 4.5

Mainz Chess Classic 
July 28 - August 3, 2008
The Chess Classic is composed of several events; here are three in which chess femmes participated:

• GrenkeLeasing World Rapid Chess Championship
  A double round-robin event.  Playing time is 20 minutes to each player and a 5 second increment after every move is made.  GM Judit Polgar, the greatest female chess player of all time (thus far), vied for this title along with Vishy Anand, my favorite romantic crush Alexander Morozevich, and young phenom Carlsen.  Judit was rusty - scoring only 1.5 points in 6 games.  Thank Goddess for appearance fees.   Love this Polgar comment "somehow I always go mad against Morozevich."  Yeah, I would too...sigh.  (Summary of action; Polgar and Morozevich, Round 2, photo from Chessbase).  
   

• Ordix Open
  693 players in this rapid chess event, won by GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS 2602), with 9.5/11.  He's another one of the chess whiz-kids, 17 years old. (Summary of the action).  Here are the chess femmes who participated and their final standings:

• FiNet Chess960 Women's Rapid World Championship
  Featuring GM Alexandria Kosteniuk, WGM Natalya Zhukova, IM Victoria Cmilyte, GM Kateryna Lahno.  The first part of this event resulted in Kosteniuk and Lahno with the best scores moving on to the final, which Kosteniuk won.  The Chess Mainz website has several photographs of the ladies, as does this report at Chessbase.  Pick out your favorites!  (Summary of action).  (Photo from Chesstigers website Summary page, no photographer listed: an intense Lahno waiting to meet Kosteniuk in the final).  Chessbase coverage (more great photos).

Upcoming Events

2008 Chess Olympiad
American Women's Team named:

Why oh why was Khodarskovsky named Captain of the team?  Darlings, I have no idea what kind of chess player he WAS, but he is the guy who was quoted in Jen Shahade's book Chess Bitch as stating during training sessions of the 2004 Women's US Chess Olympiad team that a woman is incapable of playing decent chess during her menstrual period due to hormones - causes her to become mentally unstable - or whatever, darlings.  Yeah, right.

That b-sh*t ranks right up there with such myths as "women aren't as good at math as men."  That has now been proven to be a frigging lie too!  Another one bites the dust, and another one down, and another one down, another one bites the dust...  Khodarskovsky is a dinosaur - but he hasn't figured out yet he's just a dead fossil.  Poor fellow.  Someone send him some flowers.  Egad, maybe he's a zombie...eek!

The USA is fielding it's strongest Women's Team since bringing home a Silver in 2004 (a US Women's Team one and only Olympiad medal in the entire history of the world)  when GM Susan Polgar played (S. Polgar  also earned an individual gold medal for her Olympiad performance that year).  Every one of those ELO points will be needed to counter powerhouses China, Ukraine, Russia and traditionally strong Georgia.  If we can get past those teams, we may stand a chance to medal.

India's team may also pose problems, despite Koneru not playing (she also turned down an invitation to play on the Men's Olympiad Team; there must be issues with the Indian Chess Federation).  A large contingent of Indian female players has been particularly active in international tournaments this year, going head to head against higher-rated male players and performing fairly well as a group.  There is no substitute for this kind of valuable playing experience, and the India Women's Team may come into Dresden loaded for bear, as the saying goes.

2008 Women's World Chess Championship
August 28 - September 18, 2008
Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
The action starts at the end of the month, darlings, and it looks like it will be full house despite the region's history for violence.  The chess femmes are either intrepid or tempted beyond rationality by the prize fund.  Personally, I think they're nuts playing in such an area.  Euros don't do you a damn bit of good if you're dead from a sniper's bullet between your boobs.  Well, okay, maybe I'm being just a little bit overly-dramatic.

Here are the pairings for Round 1:

In the News

• The Case of WFM Deysi Cori and IM Luciana Morales
  Fourteen year old Deysi Cori (2208) plays for Peru and has been on an absolute tear lately.  In the Benidorm Open (April 25 - May 4, 2008), she finished in 23rd place out of 198 players with 7.0/10, the highest finish for a chess femme in the tournament.  In May, she won the Panamerican Girls Chess Championship with 7.5/9.  In July Deysi won the Girls U-15 title in the 4th World Schools Chess Championship in Singapore.
  
  On July 22, 2008, it was reported in Livinginperu.com (Peru's Chess Federation changes rules - Top players may not see Olympics) that Peru's top two female chess players would no longer be automatically qualified for spots on the Women's Olympiad Team, but would have to compete in a qualifying event.  The report said this was a 180 degree turn-around from previously announced policy!  In addition, the same new rule was not put into effect with respect to choosing players for the Men's Olympiad Team:
  
  [T]he Federation had officially announced last year that International Masters Luciana Morales (ELO 2189) and Deysi Cori (ELO 2280) would represent the country at the World Chess Tournament, it has stated that rules had been changed and they would have to attend the qualifying match in La Oroya.
  
  According to Milton Iturry, the head of the Andean country's Chess Federation, female players can no longer automatically qualify for the World Tournament.  In an ambiguous explanation to El Comercio daily, Iturry stated that only Emilio Córdova and Julio Granda [two male players] could automatically qualify because there was "a much bigger difference".
  
  "In the case of the women, the level is much more even," said the head of the Federation.
  
  Because Luciana Morales lives in Beijing with her mother, she has affirmed that she will not be able to attend the event in La Oroya, which Iturry has stated "is nearby, just three hours outside of Lima".
  
  Morales has affirmed that changing regulations is a lack of respect on behalf of the Federation, stating she was the captain of the female team at the last Olympics and is one of Peru's three female International Masters. [end story]
  
  Shame, shame on the Peru Chess Federation!
   

• How many times can Ivana Maria Furtado be mentioned in the news in one month?  

  • July 20, 2008, The Press Trust of India (reported at Chess, Goddess and Everything):  Report on Ivana Furtado at the Asian Youth chess championship.  

  • July 13, 2008, Navhind Times: Ivana Furtado to play at Asian Youth Chess Championship.  

  • July 9, 2008, Navhind Times: Ivana Maria Furtado nominated as one of Dempo Group's Junior Goodwill Ambassadors.

  • July 6, 2008, Navhind Times:  Ivana continues to dominate.
     

• August 3, 2008, The Navhindtimes.com:  Bhakti aims to become Woman Grand Master.  Sixteen year old WFM Bhakti Kulkarni is on a roll, recently winner her fourth gold medal in an international youth event.  She won the gold in the 2008 World Schools Chess Championships in the Girls Under-17 category, she won the Asian U-14 girls title in Teheran, the  Commonwealth U-18 championships in Mumbai in 2006, and the national junior (under-20) girls event and now she has capped it up with World Schools U-17 title on her maiden appearance under the guidance of coach Raghunandan Gokhale.
   

• August 2, 2008, Lubbockonline.com:  Dallas teen wins Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls chess competition.  Sixteen year old Courtney Jamison (2046) of Dallas, Texas wins the Polgar Invitational with 5.5/6 points.  This article is an interview with Courtney and an overview of the event.
   

• August 2, 2008, The Hinduonline.com:  Young achievers felicitated.  Not only did each of the young winners receive money prizes, they were driven to the event venue in a horse chariot and garlanded (in flowers, one hopes).  P. Uthra won the gold in the girls’ under-18 section of the recently-concluded Asian Youth Chess Championships held in Tehran, Iran, while M. Mahalakshmi clinched the first place in the girls’ under 10 category (she was bestowed with an educational scholarship of Rs. 60,000).  (This is another example of the Indian press provides much needed publicity for the players and these events.)
   

• July 24, 2008, from The Hindu.com: Kruttika Nadig made a Woman Grandmaster norm by drawing with Brazil’s International Master Herman van Riemsdijk at the Balaguer International Open chess tournament at Balaguer, Spain.
   

• July 22, 2008, from Presna-latinaenglish.com:  Cuban Arribas Wins Top Chess Title.  Havana, Jul 22 (Prensa Latina) Cuban chess player Maritza Arribas Robaina (IM) became International Grandmaster at the 23rd International Chess tournament Cidade de Ferrol, Spain, on Jul 15-20.
   

• July 21, 2008, YorkRegion.com:  Jackie Peng Wins Age Group.  Ten-year-old Jackie Peng called checkmate on the nation, as she brought home the national chess crown for her age group in Quebec City [Quebec, Canada] Sunday.
   

• July 16, 2008, Armed Forced Chess Star Becomes Citizen, by Amy Macavinta.  Airman First Class Elena Dulger was sworn in as a U.S. citizen.
   

• July 14, 2008, Mangalorean,com, D'Souza sisters to represent State in U-13 chess tourney.  Vanessa D'souza scored 5.0/6 and younger sister Andrea D'souza scored 5.0/6 as runner-up to win places in the National Under 13 Chess Championship.
   

• July 3, 2008, Salfordadvertiser.co.uk: Isabel is crowned queen of chess, by Kathryn Ryan.  Twelve year old Isabel Cotogni becomes All England Girls Under-12s Chess Champion.

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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