Blog

Photos By: Betsy Dynako

[view:taxonomy_gallery_bdynako=page_3=218]

[view:float_right_thumb==1191]ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13, 2009 -- The 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, already had a clear winner going into the final round, but there was heavy drama in the battle for money, place and qualification for other tournaments.
   
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.

[view:float_right_thumb==1166]ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12, 2009 -- Anna Zatonskih clinched her second consecutive U.S. Women's Chess championship by defeating Sabina Foisor in round eight of the 2009 event at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

With one round remaining, she has acquired a near-perfect 7.5 out of 8 points and will win the record $15,000 first prize. No other woman has more than 5.5 points so Tuesday's final round will be for posterity, not place.

Zatonskih, of Long Island, N.Y., said she will still try hard. "It doesn't feel right to win the championship and lose the last round," she said.

Zatonskih also earned an automatic qualification to the 2010 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. She said she was nervous today for the first time all tournament, knowing that single bad move and "I could easily spoil everything."

[view:float_right_thumb==1155]

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 11, 2009 -- Top-seeded Anna Zatonskih moved one step closer to winning the 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship by defeating third-seeded Rusudan Goletiani, of Hartsdale, N.Y., in round seven. The nine-round tournament is being held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Zatonskih, of Long Island, N.Y., remains one point ahead of her nearest rival, Camilla Baginskaite of Sioux Falls, S.D., who kept pace by winning her game.
  
Zatonskih is trying to win the tournament by leading wire to wire. She has six wins and one draw and if she is able to win her final two games she will equal the lofty winning score of 8.5 out of 9, turned in by Irina Krush in 1998. Zatonskih has already beaten Krush, her closest rival, in round three. "I was expecting seven (wins) out of seven (games)!" Zatonskih joked after the game.