Stefanova Leads Women's World Chess Blitz in Batumi after 9 Rounds; Kosteniuk, Koneru, Harika Right Behind

Fantastic Chess continued on the third of the Batumi Women's World Rapid Chess Championship on Saturday in Georgia. Overnight joint leaders Antoaneta Stefanova and Koneru Humpy had varying fortunes. Stefanova is now sole leader after nine rounds with 7.5 points as she drew with Koneru Humpy, beat Nino Khurtsidze and Kateryna Lahno. Humpy, on the other hand, after drawing with Stefanova, lost to Kateryna Lahno and beat Guo Qi. That dropped Humpy to joint third with Kateryna Lahno and Anna Muzychuk.


Opening ceremony of the Batumi
Women's World Chess Championship.
In hot pursuit behind Stefanova is the very talented 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Her fiery attacks and sharp play fetched her a draw against Huang Qian, plus two superlative wins over Elisabeth Paehtz and Tan Zhongyi.

Read more »

Women's World Rapid Chess Championship in Batumi: Koneru Humpy Leads with Stefanova; Alexandra Kosteniuk Upsets Top Seed Muzychuk

Exciting chess is defining the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship currently on in Batumi, Georgia. The first six rounds have been played and already the 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has beaten top seed Anna Anna Muzychuk of Slovakia. The attacking champion is in joint second place after six rounds even as India's Koneru Humpy and Bulgaria's Antoaneta Stefanova lead just a half point more. Apart from Humpy, India's other player Harika Dronavalli is doing pretty well too. Here are great video reports of the proceedings so far:








The top standings at the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2012 after six rounds is as follows:

1		GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2589	5.0	17.0	24.5	2708
2		GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2518	5.0	14.5	21.5	2720
3		GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	RUS	2457	4.5	15.5	23.0	2714
4		WGM	Huang Qian	CHN	2417	4.5	15.0	22.5	2716
5			Wang Jue	CHN	2364	4.5	12.5	20.0	2706
6		GM	Lahno Kateryna	UKR	2546	4.5	12.5	18.5	2623
7		GM	Zhao Xue	CHN	2549	4.0	16.0	24.0	2596
8		GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2478	4.0	15.5	21.5	2588
9		GM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2598	4.0	13.0	19.0	2510
10		IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2491	4.0	12.5	17.5	2545

Three rounds would be played on Saturday - 7,8, and 9. The top pairings for Saturday include Stefanova-Humpy, Lahno-Jue, Kosteniuk-Huang, Muzychuk-Cramling, and Zhongyi-Harika.


You can watch the Batumi chess championship live from India time 4.30 pm onwards at the official website. 

Read more »

Anand Retains World Chess Champion Title: Experts Comment Including Legendary Gary Kasparov

World Chess Championship 2012 - A selection of expert comments were compiled by Pogonina.com. After drawing Boris Gelfand 6-6 in the classical part of the match Anand won the rapid tie-break 2.5-1.5 to retain the World Chess Champion title. Here's what some of the well-known chess experts have to say about it:

Read more »

World Chess Championships - Sexy, Exciting, and Fast?

Top Seed Anna Muzychuk

If you are a little taken aback by that chess headline, don't be. Such a chess championship can truly take place. In fact, it would be true from May 31 itself! The World Rapid Chess Championship for Women is taking place from May 30 to June 6 in Batumi, Georgia. The championship will be held at the swanky Sheraton Hotel. It is being organized by the ACP and the Georgian Chess Federation. Read full post for top players' list and format. Women's World Chess Championship challenger Koneru Humpy is the second seed. Also playing is the very attacking 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, European Women's Chess Champion Valentina Gunina, Armenia's top woman player Elina Danielian, and others.

Read more »