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Natalia Pogonina: http://www.pogonina.com/

Natalia Pogonina has recently been interviewed by the blog StartUpTown:
 

How did you enjoy the Chess Olympiad and why didn’t you play every round?

Hi! I have enjoyed Tromso a lot, from the friendly people to beautiful sceneries and the chess fever which is now taking place in Norway. Observing chess being broadcast on national TV every day for hours, plenty of chess merchandize in the shops and chess boards being offered at any bar was definitely pleasant for me. However, the organization of the Chess Olympiad itself left a lot to be desired. I don’t want to go into details, but it is enough to point out that two chess players/participants died during the Olympiad’2014. This is very sad.

I guess you were referring to a particular day when I didn’t play, right? It’s up to the captains to decide which line-up to choose for a particular match. This time I participated in 7 out of 11 rounds, although I would have certainly liked to play more and was always eager to compete.

Obviously, it was amazing to win the Chess Olympiad for the third time in a row. We have a fantastic team, and I am happy that we managed to perform so well.
 

At the Chess Olympiad in Tromso. Norway has become a chess country thanks to World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen’s achievements

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“The president has sent a congratulatory telegram to members and coaches of the Russian women’s chess team, which won the gold of the Chess Olympiad in Norway,” Peskov said.

Notably, Dmitry Peskov is the Head of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation. Other members are elite politicians, businessmen, artists, media moguls, et al.


Translation:

President of the Russian Federation. Notice by telegraph. Moscow, Gogol Boulevard, 14/1, Russian Chess Federation.

To Russian women's chess team: O.A. Girya, V.E. Gunina, A.K.Kosteniuk, E.A.Lagno, N.A.Pogonina

Dear Olga Alexandrovna, Valentina Evgenyevna, Alexandra Konstantinovna, Ekaterina Alexandrovna, Natalia Andreevna!

I heartily congratulate you on your triumph at the international Chess Olympiad in Tromso.

I am happy that our national team won the most prestigious cup in the chess community for the third time in a row, thus upholding the victorious traditions of our chess school. This remarkable achievement is a well-deserved reward for your mastery,  self-control and a truly fighting spirit. I wish you further successes and all the best!

V. Putin

5:41 p.m., August 16, 2014

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Natalia Pogonina (born 9 March 1985) is a Russian chess player who has been representing her country since 2004. She holds the titles of Woman Grandmaster and Grandmaster of Russia. Her highest FIDE rating was 2501.

Natalia is the reigning Olympic Women’s Chess Champion (team and individual gold), European Women’s Team Chess Champion (team and individual gold), Russian Women’s Team Chess Champion (team and individual gold) and Russian Women’s Chess Champion.

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1. As a reviewer it is of major interest for me to know, which books strong players, who reached the highest degree in chess, found especially useful and which they would recommend for the basic education of everyone who wishes to become better in chess.

Here is a list of some of my favorite chess books.

2. What do you think about the development of chess literature, especially with some promising publishing houses available nowadays, i.e. Quality Chess, Everyman Chess, Gambit books, Chess-Stars, NewInChess just to name a few. Do you have any idea which could improve modern chess literature?

In fact, I am positively surprised that authors are still working on chess books. As far as I know, an average chess book sells less than 2,000 copies, so the profit from releasing it doesn’t compensate the efforts of the author, especially if we are talking about the top players. I think most of them just love the game and feel like promoting it, sharing their passion with other people. Writing chess books is a form of educational charity.

Unfortunately, there are also many negative issues here. Certain publishers go for quantity, not quality. It is easier for them to release 10 mediocre titles than one real bestseller. They cut production costs by underpaying the authors (and, consequently, agreeing to work with just about anybody who is willing to accept their conditions), not reviewing the manuscripts well enough (resulting in misprints and chess errors), choosing generic and unattractive covers. Also, some of them are too inefficient and slow: the production cycle lasts so long that when the book actually makes it live, it is already outdated.

I believe that in general the trend is shifting towards e-publishing, and many publishing houses haven’t yet adapted to this new business framework. We will see how it goes.

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