Woman Grandmaster (WGM), three-times European champion (U16, twice U18), bronze prize winner at the World Championship (U18) and European Women Championship, winner of the gold medal at the 1st International Mind Sports Games,co-winner of the 2008 Student World Championship and Russian Superfinal-2010, and #1 at multiple prestigious international tournaments (2005 – Bykova Memorial, 2007 – Rudenko memorial, 2009 – Moscow Open, etc.). Ranked as 3rd most successful female chess player in the world in 2009 by the Association of Chess Professionals. As of 2010 Natalia's FIDE ratingwas over 2500 – a mark that is associated with the title of a male Grandmaster.
As of 2012, Natalia Pogonina is the only chess player in the world to hold simultaneously two prestigeous titles - European Team Chess Champion and European Club Chess Champion. She also became the runner-up at the World Team Chess Championship.
Pogonina.com offers the latest information about chess in general & Natalia's performances. Nonetheless, people often ask in which events Natalia is going to take part. Here is the list that will be updated regularly. Fans and organizers - take notice:
Event
Date
Type
Venue
Top-5 players by rating
Women's World Chess Team Championship
Dec. 17th-28th, 2011
Team tournament
Mardin, Turkey
Koneru Humpy (2600)
Hou Yifan (2578)
Nadezhda Kosintseva (2546)
Ju Wenjun (2543)
Zhao Xue (2541)
European Women's Chess Championship-2012
Mar. 1st-14th, 2012
Swiss
Gazantiep, Turkey
Anna Muzychuk (2583)
Nana Dazgnidze (2559)
Kateryna Lahno (2546)
Nadezhda Kosintseva (2535)
Antoaneta Stefanova (2531)
Russian Team Chess Championship-2012 (Men)
Apr. 8th-16th, 2012
Team tournament
Loo, Russia
Fabiano Caruana (2767)
Sergey Karjakin (2766)
Alexander Morozevich (2765)
Peter Svidler (2744)
Evgeny Tomashevsky (2736)
Women's World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships
May 30th - June 6th
Swiss
Batumi, Georgia
Russian Top League
June 15th - June 28th
Swiss
Tyumen, Russia
Russia vs China Match
July 1st - July 9th
Round Robin
St. Petersburg, Russia
Press "Read more" to view a list of Natalia Pogonina's main tournament results:
Watch Anand-Gelfand Live with Natalia Pogonina's Commentary
Written by Administrator
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Chessgames will be broadcasting live all 12 games of the Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship, joined by our very special guest, WGM Natalia Pogonina. As if that's not enough, Natalia will be joined by WGM Jennifer Shahade during game #3 and then again for the exciting final rounds (#10-12). Premium members are encouraged to come join us during the live action at our Live Broadcast Page.
P.S. For the sake of fairness, we would like to say that the official website of the World Chess Championship will be offering an amazing video coverage of the event with great hosts. Have fun following the match no matter which coverage you prefer!
When referring to general chess principles, approaches and structures in my articles I always add a disclaimer warning that a lot depends on the particular situation. A certain method might work in 9 cases out of 9, only to fail in the 10th. A general evaluation of the position is not sufficient for choosing the right plan and move. Chess engines have revolutionized our understanding of the game; many opening lines have been reconsidered. Some positions that were previously considered strategically hopeless are now being saved by precise play. Other variations turned out to be winning. By analyzing at home using engines modern chess players are often opting for strategically risky positions if they know they can back up their play with some concrete lines.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t study the classical strategic principles anymore. We can’t rely on brute force and try to calculate and evaluate all the possible continuations. And even the most uncommon and odd moves are based on some strategic concepts. Strong moves can’t be illogical.
A concrete approach is, first and foremost, not relying on platitudes. Here and there we have people claiming a two bishop advantage, all rook endgames being drawn, a bishop better than a knight in an open position and so on without even carefully assessing what’s happening on the board. Yes, one has to take note of all those factors, but it is also important to check if the calculations and your impression of what the game is going to be like support the principles. Some weaknesses might turn out to be strengths, and vice versa.
The more complicated the position, the more important it is to apply a concrete approach. The simpler it is, the more critical positional understanding is. That is one of the main reasons why young and sharp-eyed players love tactical struggles, while the seasoned veterans prefer grinding out technical endgames that are well-known to them.
The position after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bc3+ 6. Qc3 0-0 7. Bg5 or 4… 0-0 5. a3 Bc3+ 6. Qc3 d5 7. Bg5 has been known from the year 1930. Black has tried a lot of moves here, but only in 2009 the novelty 7…ñ5 was introduced. It is based on a pawn sacrifice in the main line and on severely damaging the pawn structure in one of the variations. The author of this move is Anand’s second Radoslav Wojtaszek, who used it against Alexei Dreev (both players are of 2700+ calibre). Up to this moment over 30 games have been played in this variation, including some of the very top-level ones. Below you can view a recent game of mine featuring this line:
Pogonina.com offers you a selection of some of the most informative and entertaining chess tweets from last week:
Quote of the week
Erdos, Antipov and Postny at 6.5/9
You never know
Anand-Gelfand: two draws so far
One of the things that can't be bought - time
What is more exciting for you, Levon?!
We also know
No comments
The future of world chess championships
Alexandra Kosteniuk: After all, the future of chess is tournaments. In matches the opponents are playing it safe, while in tournaments one has to win, take risks, aim for serious fights.
Kamsky-Svidler, spectacular for Peter's 26..Re2!! move, won the first prize as the best game played in 2011
ChessPro has published the final table of the best chess games played in 2011.
Here is the panel of judges, unique in terms of chess strength:
Valentina Gunina, Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Viktoria Cmilyte, Natalia Pogonina, Olga Alexandrova, Natalia Zhukova, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Tatiana Grabuzova, Alexander Grischuk, Dmitry Jakovenko, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Nikita Vitiugov, Adrian Michalchishin, Sergei Movsesian, Viorel Bologan, Emil Sutovsky, Sergei Rublevsky, Alexander Riaziantsev, Artem Timofeev, Mikhail Kobalia, Miguel Iljescas, Evgeny Miroshnichenko, Mikhail Krasenkow, Vitaly Golod, Igor Lysyj, Sergei Ivanov, Andrei Zontakh, Ruslan Scherbakov, Mikhail Prusikin, Dmitry Kryakvin, Maxim Matlakov, Alexandr Shimanov, Alexei Korotylev, Vladimir Barsky, Sergei Zagrebelny, Konstantin Landa, Evgeny Gleizerov, Konstantin Sakaev.
Natalia Pogonina voted the following way:
1. Gelfand - Grischuk. In my opinion, Boris was one of the best chess players in 2011. His victory in the Candidates was both convincing and beautiful. The decisive fight against Grischuk, which I have watched live, was a thriller. Gelfand has shown a lot of passion in that game: 18.Nh4 and 19.f4 capturing the centre. Alexander couldn't find any counter-arguments. First place for great play and importance of the victory.
2. Shirov - Kramnik. It looks like Vladimir Kramnik can play any opening and still have some interesting ideas up his sleeve. Very strong, almost impeccable play by Black.
3. Kamsky - Svidler. 26...Re2 is the move of the year. An exquisite combination by the World Cup winner. This game deserves to be in the top-3.
4. Carslen - Gelfand. Exciting action. Until the very end if was unclear who was winning. Boris had good attacking chances, but was the last one to make a mistake and lose. Got to give credit to Carlsen's steel nerves.
5. Grischuk - Kramnik. To play such a game blindfolded is a serious achievement. A spectacular game by Grischuk.
6. Vachier-Lagrave - Carlsen. Maybe Carlsen didn't sense the dangers of the position at the right time, or was too self-confident about his defensive skills. It's unclear why he chose to play that way. Nonetheless, it doesn't lessen Maxime's achievement. The French GM has demonstrated a perfect example of boa constrictor technique - squeeze and take advantage of the positional weaknesses in the opponent's camp.
7. Sutovsky - Naiditsch. Are you bored of boring Berlin endgames? Do you want to see something spicy and energetic? Invite Sutovsky! Emil is known for his chess fireworks, and in this case he has demonstrated an interesting technique using just a few pieces.
8. Pantsulaia - Polgar. It was hard for me to choose between this victory by Polgar and her game against Iordacescu. Finally I decided to settle with the Pantsulaia game. It is memorable for a few brilliant sacrifices aimed at keeping the White king in the centre followed by an unexpectedly quiet play for domination. White didn't last long.
9. Korobov - Vocaturo. 18.Rd8 came like a thunderbolt. A very nice win by Korobov.
10. Aronian - Svidler. 2011 will be remembered not only by Svidler's Re2, but also by striking chess geometry from Levon Aronian. The White queen has devoured virtually all the Black pawns just like a tornado.
The final table & all the 43 nominated games can be viewed here.
In Part I and Part II we were discussing the first four rounds of the Russian Team Chess Championship ’12. A few important clashes have happened already, but the most critical rounds are usually the final ones. The teams were competing not only for medals, but for qualification spots to the Eurocup.
In Loo (ironically, the name of the place we were playing) rainy days were replaced by sunny weather, this drawing an invisible line between the first and the second parts of the tournament.
In round 5 the following matches were played: St. Petersburg – Economist; Navigator – Chigorin Chess Club; SHSM-64 – Universitet; Ugra – Tomsk-400. Our team, Rakita, had to face Politechnik on board 5.
The Saratov team Economist was leading with a perfect score (8/8) and had huge chances to win the title. The crazy top game between Svidler and Morozevich ended in a draw, but it will still probably made it to the all-April chess hit lists. Four more encounters ended in a draw. Movsesian scored for St. Petersburg against Eljanov, thus granting a match victory for his team. Movsesian started with 0.5/2, but then pulled himself together and won 4 games in a row, including beating Motylev and Leko, with a final performance of 2814.
Photo by Mariya Fominykh, chesspro.ru
On board 2 Navigator drew Chigorin Chess Club; SHSM-64 crushed Universitet 5-1. The confrontation between Ugra and Tomsk was a matter of life and death in the sense that the winner had a chance to push for the medals, while the loser was out of contention and struggling to qualify for the Eurocup. Tomsk won with a minimal advantage: Sergey Karjakin defeated the European Chess Champion Dmitry Jakovenko with Black.
All the games in our match ended in a draw, except for my teammate Boris Savchenko’s time trouble loss against Dmitry Bocharov.
Try to find the best continuations in these positions without looking at the answers and then check your solutions:
Maria Sharapova would like to learn how to play chess (picture)
Written by Administrator
Monday, 07 May 2012
Not the type of dress the European Chess Union would approve, but good for a start!
Tennis super star Maria Sharapova has posted this picture (see above) and a note on her FaceBook account (which has over 7,000,000 "likes"):
Here is what I was doing while in Stuttgart...no no, not playing chess, just taking walks in some of the parks and pretending like I knew what I was doing with a chess board. Would be nice to learn...perhaps it will help my patience.
We guess that many chess players will now be spamming Maria with offers to teach her how to play. However, please keep in mind that she is having a wedding with basketball player Sasha Vujacic on November 10th. Please don't be too persistent and annoying!
