If you are attending a school in which you learn chess, you may be revising now for your end of year chess exam.
If that is the case, as with children in Armenia, among others, then we wish you the very best of luck (and the energy to work hard).
It is a good idea to adjust the pieces on their suares before you start a game.
!emember, first, to make sure that the board is the right way round and the pieces are on the correct suares.
If the game has begun, remember to say jadoube before touching them.
"ne way to prepare for your games. #ou $ifan pictured (yifanhou.net) meditating.
In this issue%
& #"' $ifan ( )orld *hampion ( several times over + ,ateryna -A./" ( )omen0s )orld !apid *hampion 1 "lga .I!$A ( girl with a winning smile 2 &34+ )omen0s )orld 5lit6 *hampionship 7 Anna 8'9$*#', ( )omen0s )orld 5lit6 *hampion : ;u66les by <=> ,evin "0*onnell
>he <I?@ motto (over on the right)% ?oes your school have oneA
Gens Una Sumus !e a"e one #amil$%
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HOU Yifan World Champion several times over!
#ou first won the )omen0s )orld *hampionship title in &343. #owever, she was a world champion long before that. In &33B she won the )orld .irls u43 *hampionship. In that event in #alkidiki, .reece, $ifan was undefeated, with eight wins and three draws for C.1D44. >hat gave her clear first place, half a point ahead of Iran0s 8itra #@EA9I;"'!.
#ou in &331 (photo *hess5ase)
>his position is from the game Arielle -@ 5AI- F #"' $ifan in that .irls0 u43. 5lack0s move. $ou should spot this one uite easily.
19...g5xe3+ 20.b1-d2 [of course not 20.d3xe3 c7xc2#] and 5lack won rather easily, making the extra piece count% 20...c7c4 21.d3xc4 c8xc4 22.d1-e1 e3f4 23.h1-g1 0-0 24.g1-g4 f4xd2+ 25.c1xd2 f8c8 26.e4e5 c4xc2+ 27.d2d3 b7xf3 28.g4d4 d6xe5 29.e1xe5 c2xb2 30.e5c5 c8e8 31.d4c4 f3 e2+ 32.d3d4 e2xc4 33.d4xc4 b2c2+ 34.c4xb4 e8b8+ 35.b4a3 c2xc5 36.a3a4 c5 c3 37.a4a5 c3a3#.
>he following year, $ifan was still eligible for the u43s. 5ut she didn0t play in the .irls0 *hampionship, opting instead for the "pen. =he almost completed a uniue double. =he tied for first place with three others. All four scored CD44. #"'0s tieF break score gave her the bron6e medal. /ext a position from her game against 5oris ,#GA/ in that event.
38.h3h4! [38.c7xc4 g5xg3] 38...g5g4 [38...g5f6 39.!f4d5 f6f8 40.c7xc4] 39.c7xe7+ [39.c7xc4 is also mate in B" 39...g4 f3+ 40.h1-g1 f3xg3+ 41.g1-h1 f2h2# but the other way roundH] 39...g7g8 40.e7f7+ g8h8 41.f7f8# 3 FIDE-CiS FSM Magazine 075s FIDE Chess in Schools
#ou became the youngest female .randmaster in history in /ovember &33:, gaining the title aged 4+ years, 2 months, & days. Eudit ;olgar had set the benchmark (41y +m &:d) in 4CC4, three years before #ou was born. In the interim, India0s #umpy ,"/@!' had brought the record down to 41y 4m &7d. #ou smashed that. It was that same year, &33:, that $ifan almost captured the )orld )omen0s title for the first time. )hat a sensation that would have been ( )orld *hampion at 4+(H), but it was not to be. ;laying in /alchik, a !ussian city in the heartlands of world chess ( the *aucuses, #ou fought through the first five rounds of the knockout event, to play Alexandra ,osteniuk in the final. >he reigning champion, I' $uahua, had been knocked out in the second round while #"' dropped just 4.1 points before beating ,"/@!' in the semiFfinal (round 1). ,osteniuk won the first game of the final and ran out the winner by &.1F4.1. before the final game (photo *hess5ase)
It is nice to be able to read about our favourite players. It can help to inspire us to improve our own chess. >here is an excellent blog (yifanhou.net) with lots of photos of $ifan, where you can read about her exploits and her thoughts and ideas. >he blog is available in two versions ( @nglish and .erman. >he next picture, showing little $ifan, age 2, in &333 is from that blog.
>he blog is unusual ( it is written by a 5uddhist monk from .ermany who lives in =ri -anka. <inally, #ou pictured in ,hantyF8ansiysk this year, losing an eggFtapping game against Anna 8u6ychuk.
(photo from the official web site http%DDkhantymansiysk&34+.fide.comD) 4 FIDE-CiS FSM Magazine 075s FIDE Chess in Schools
Kateryna LAGNO Womens World apid Champion
,ateryna won the )orld !apid. #ere she is in a great photo by /ikol 5ochkarev from the official web site. )e saw some examples of her play in that event in the last issue (<=837+). /ow, let us take a look back to her early days and her adventures in winning the )orld u43 .irls0 *hampionship in 4CCC. <irst let0s note that ,ateryna was taking part in this tournament for the third timeH In 4CC7 (won by #umpy ,oneru), she finished 44 th , in 4CC: she moved up to 1 th , the event being won by Gera /@5"-=I/A. >he diagram position shows the position from the game ,ateryna -A./" ( Gera /@5"-=I/A from the 4CCC *hampionship. )hite to play and win ( game and *hampionshipH
24.d2xd6 1-0 If 24...d8xd6 25.d1xd6 f8xd6 26.f3xf7+ g8h8 27.f7g8#.
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Ol!a G"YA !irl #ith a #innin! smile and a !reat re$ord
"lga during the )orld !apid (photo /ikolai 5ochkarev)
"lga was second in the .rand ;rix and took the bron6e medal in the !apid *hampionship. #er single world title (so farH) is that of )orld .irls0 u4: *hampion in &33C.
=he had got the bron6e medal the previous year in the same u4: .irls0 event. It is from that tournament that we take this example of "lga0s courage, fight and resourcefulness. >he position is from the game 8aria ."=*I/IA, ( "lga .I!$A. )hite had been winning this game. 5lack fought long and hard when two pawns down. /ow the tables were turned%
>here was another change round in the finishing order of the 5lit6 *hampionship. >his time it was Anna 8u6ychuk who took pride of place. #ere are the top ten finishers%
Anna also emerged as a champion egg tapper (see p.B). =he suffered a horrible defeat against a former )orld *hampion on the second day of the event.
Anna, )hite, had the advantage, but... 70.b7a8 [70.b7c8+$ 70.b7a6 b1-a1+ 71.a6b7 a1-b1+ 72.b7 c8+] 70...b1-b8#.
KIt was horrible. I handled the game well, but blew it by blundering a mate in one. <ortunately, it didn0t knock me off, uite contrary% I was very aggressive in the second game and managed to even the score.0
>he final position (photo *hess5ase)
=uch strange things happen uite often in blit6. -ook at /ana ?6agnid6eFAlexandra ,osteniuk, for example.
#ere )hite checked again on f2. ?o you see something betterA $es, of course... mate in one (on h:).
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Anna +,*y$h,- Womens World )lit* Champion
#ere is a nice finish by Anna in the &331 5elfort )orld .irls, where she won the first (u42) of her two titles ()orld .irls u&3 *hampion in &343). Anna, 5lack, to move against 5arbara ;errusset.
At first sight, it seems that )hite0s pieces are well enough placed. #owever, too many of them have too many jobs to doH
20...f8xf1+ 0-1 It is hopeless% 21.e1xf1 (or 21.g1xf1 g4xh2+ 22.f1-g1 d4f3+; 21.d3xf1 d4xc2 22.e1-e2 g4xe3) 21...!d4xc2 22.d3xc2 !g4xe3.
Anna was really young when she started to learn chess. #ere are her own words from an article in *hess5ase about her and her sister% K)hen I was two years old I could put the beginning position on the board, and at three I could play chess with all the chess rules. )hen I was five I took part in my first chess tournament (championship of our sport school) and won the second place. At the same age I played in the *hampionship of -viv region (girls '43) and managed to win the second place.0
Anna, as do many players, likes other sports, especially table tennis. 8 FIDE-CiS FSM Magazine 075s FIDE Chess in Schools
Puzzles selected by FST & FM Kevin OConnell (www.kochess.com)