Who says that beauty and chess genius won’t go together? Chess goddess Alexandra Kosteniuk, an aspiring model and the 2008 Women’s World Champion of chess disproves that. Before you even think of challenging her to a game of chess, you better read this post first.



This 24-year old Russian beauty has the following credentials to boast of:

- 2008 Women’s World Chess Champion
- Currently 10th in FIDE ratings (women) as of January 2009.
- Current ELO rating of 2516
- Russian Champion 2005
- European Champion 2004
- At 17, Women’s Vice Champion of the World, 2001
- At 14, she became International Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
- Grandmaster (Men), the 10th woman in the whole history of chess who got this title
- At 12, World Champion of girls 12-under.
- At 10 (1994) European Champion girls 10-under. Shared first/second place at World
- Championship for girls 10-under
- Learned chess at age 5

Ms. Kosteniuk, after being trained by her father at age 5, went on reap to awards and titles one after another. She went a mile further by opening a website (which is maintained by her husband), carried a motto that chess is cool, and encouraged young people to play the game. She also established a Chess fund to promote chess in the world, and to encourage children to take the sport. Her mission is a very noble one and 50% of the profits earned from her site go to that fund.

She has been in the cover of many magazines (sports and fashion) in the past. She’s often compared to tennis goddess Anna Kournikova, but Alexandra has won real tournaments. To know more about her, check her website at kosteniuk.com. It’s not just about pretty pictures but also about chess and improving one’s game.

I started playing chess at age 5 too. Though there was this passion, we do not have the resources to go further than the neighborhood and school games. I was the elementary school champion at age 10, but I was stuck at that, having lost more games at the division level. The passion just died down when my neighbors began to shift to another sports. I wished I would go back in time and devote more time for that sport which I first loved.

Now, if given a chance to play one-on-one, face-to-face with the chess queen Alexandra Kosteniuk, would you be up for the challenge?

Nah, I’d rather watch her play.

Note: picture was found in the internet but not from her official website. I guess this one is sourced from her website too.

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