IM Anna Zatonskih wins US Women's Championship

IM Anna Zatonskih has defended her title with an impressive 8.5 points out of 9 game performance at this year's US Women's Chess Champion, hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Defending U.S. Champion Anna Zatonskih, of Long Island, N.Y., finished off the tournament in style with a positional crush of Yun Fan, of Greencastle, Ind. She won the record $15,000 first place prize fund. Zatonskih ended with eight wins and one draw in nine games, and her 8.5 points were tied for the best result in the championship in more than 20 years. She said the championship was the best performance of her career.

Camilla Baginskaite finished in 2nd place with 6.5/9.0 to earn $12,000. Both players earn automatic qualifiers for the next Women's World Championship to be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

USCF News Release (and video recap)
CCSCSL Press Release
Final Standings
All games (via Chessgames.com)

Energy drinks and chess

I'm not saying energy drinks make you better at chess, but some energy drinks are actually pretty good. Enjoy!

National Chess Day

Many of you may not know it, but today is "National Chess Day".

On October 9, 1976 President Gerald Ford declared a National Chess Day. As we approach that anniversary date, we encourage state and local clubs to commemorate the day in some way, perhaps with a tournament or an educational program about chess in their communities.

National Chess Day began in South Carolina. It was created by the late Bill Dodgen, who was president of the South Carolina Chess Association for a number of years. It was originally a state chess day in South Carolina, but Bill quickly expanded it to a nationwide effort and was appointed National Chess Day chairman.

I would like to thank all on our chess community for your participation in the game that we love. And I encourage (challenge) you to go out this weekend and play some chess! Teach someone how to play or play with someone who hasn't played in a long time. But remember, you don't have to just play chess on National Chess Day!

If you haven't been following along, the US Women's Championship is currently taking place in St. Louis, MO. Ten of the best females in the country are competing for a $64,000 ($15,000 for first) prize fund. Currently, current US Woman's Champion, Anna Zatonskih, leads with 4.5 points out of 5.

Chess in our community:

• October 10 - Arizona Chess in Schools is hosting the Green Fields Open
• October 14 - Arizona Scorpions vs. San Francisco Mechanics in the US Chess League
• October 14 - Eastside Chess Club meets every Wednesday at the Jewish Community Center
  
• October 17 - League Match #1 at St. Cyril School
• October 18 - 9 Queens will host the All Queens Chess Day