Saturday, January 1, 2011

Recap of Chess Femme News - 2010!

A brief review of stories - some big, some not so big - of Chess Femme News during 2010.

December, 2010:
GM Hou Yifan of China becomes youngest-ever Women's World Chess Champion at age 16
Hou's triumph caps a years-long surge of Chinese feminine chess talent who are now the ones to beat (other than, perhaps, the Georgians)

Meanwhile, GM Judit Polgar showed she still could play blitz and rapid with the boys, but did not finish in the top 10 of either 2010 European Championships (Blitz/Rapid) event....

November, 2010:
GM Koneru Humpy is a class act, and the second-highest rated female chessplayer in the entire world; GM Judit Polgar retains the top spot despite slipping below 2700 ELO.  Despite losing out to Hou Yifan in the 2010 Women's World Chess Championships for a second time (Koneru also lost to Hou in the 2008 version of the Championship), Koneru's overall results demonstrate that she is the better chessplayer. 

Czech Coal Chess Match 
15th European Club Cup for Women 2010:
2nd best player overall;
#1 board on winning team (Cercle d'Echecs de Monte Carlo ) with 5.5/7, 1point ahead of team-mate GM Hou Yifan, wih 4.5 on #2 board

2010 Asian Team Chess Championships:
Indian Women were shut out of medals after drawing their final round with Vietnam.  The final three teams were China, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. 

October, 2010:
Retrospect:  Lisa Lane, U.S. Women's Chess Champion

Philippines Chess Federation pulls Women's Team from upcoming Asian Games, purportedly because they don't stand a chance to medal

U.S. Teams shut out of medals at 2010 Chess Olympiads - we sucked.

September, 2010

GM Kateryna Lahno wins 2010 Women's World Blitz Championship

More tomorrow - I'm too tired to continue tonight :)

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