This week, we are looking at the rising star Vaishali Rameshbabu, the 3rd woman in India to achieve the Grandmaster title. She and her brother are the first 2 siblings in history to be Grandmasters, to play in the Candidates, and to play in the Candidates in the same year.

For today though, we are going back just a couple of years to the 2022 Tata Steel Blitz tournament - Vaishali Rameshbabu versus Kulkarni Bhakti.

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1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bg3 c5 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. Ne5 Nc6 10. f4 Ne7 11. Qf3 Nf5 12. Bf2 Be7 13. g4 Nd6 14. g5 Nfe4 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg4 cxd4 17.cxd4 Rc8 18. h4 Rc2 19. h5 b5 20. g6 Qa5 21. Rd1 Nc4 22. gxf7+ Kh8 23. Ng6+ hxg6 24. hxg6+ 1-0

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Being the 3rd woman to achieve the Grandmaster title in India, playing in her first Candidates tournament last year, and setting her sights at the World Championship - it’ll be great to continue to watch Vaishali improve.

So that is all that we have for this week. Tune in next time where we will continue to work on our blindfold skills and look at another game of the Masters.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishali_Rameshbabu

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2420745

https://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the tumultuous and impressive life of the 4th World Champion - Alexander Alekhine.

Alekhine’s fingerprints are all over the game we know today - he had many openings named over him including the: Alekhine Defense (e4 Nf6), Alekhine Variations found in the Budapest Gambit, Vienna Game, Ruy Lopez, Winawer Variation, Sicilian Dragon, QGA, Slav, Queens Pawn, Catalan, and Dutch, he had composed several endgame studies, he wrote over 20 chess books, and he had a cat named ‘Chess’ that he took with him to tournaments.

Though not officially given the Grandmaster title since FIDE did not give those until 1950, he was given it unofficially from Tsar Nicholas II at the St Petersburg tournament of 1914.

This week, we are traveling back to 1921 - before he became world champion to The Hague - Alexander Alekhine versus Max Euwe.

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1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. a3 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 a5 14. Bb5 axb4 15. a4 Rd8 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Ne5 18. Ng5 f6 19. Bxe5 fxg5 20. Bc4+ 1-0

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Being ensnared in World War I, World War II, the Russian Revolution, leaving your home country to never return, all while being at the top of the chess world for 17 years, playing in 5 chess Olympiads, and breaking the simultaneous Blindfold Chess record 3 different times - Alexander Alekhine has earned his plaque in the Chess Hall of Fame.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012076

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alekhine

http://cassidynoble.com/

Welcome back! This week, we are taking a closer look at someone that Garry Kasparov has praised for her calculation skills, a 20 time US Women’s Chess Championship participant, 4-time US Women’s Champion, and someone who helped the United States win their first Olympic medal(s) - Anna Zatonskih.

For today’s game, we are traveling back to the 2nd round of the US Women’s Championship of 2017. Anna Zatonskih versus Emily Nguyen.

Now, if we’re ready - lets begin.

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1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Qc2 g6 13. O-O-O Qa5 14. Kb1 b5 15. h4 Rd8 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Rxh5 gxh5 18. Qd2 Kf8 19. Qh6+ Ke8 20. Qxh7 e5 21. Qg8+ Kd7 22. Nxe5+ Kc7 23. Qxf7 1-0

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A 3 time Women’s World Championship participant, a 20 time US Women’s Championship participant, a 4 time US Women’s Championship winner, a player in every Olympiad for a quarter of a century, and on the US Women’s team that help earn the United States women their first Olympiad medal - Anna Zatonskih has cemented her mark not only in Ukraine and the United States, but also across the world.

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1869995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Zatonskih

http://cassidynoble.com/