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How I Became Grandmaster at Age 14

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How I Became Grandmaster at Age 14 Alexandra Kosteniuk (}]<!)W 0 fJ3@)'3C!lfiD� (!] @[](!]Ulc!lfiDC!lEl�U' (!]Q ij� HlJlaTeJibCTBo <<ARKC>> Moscow 2001 SYNOPSIS Charming Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk, winner of numerous European and world girls' championship titles, invites you to join her on an exciting trip to the magical world of chess. This book will help complete novices get started and also aid more experienced players in their quest for improvement. Autobiographical accounts by Alexandra and her family are presented alongside of the instructional materials. The narrative is supplemented with articles by Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov, Grandmaster Aleksey Korotylev, and Russian National Master Evgeny Bebchuk. The author is very eager to hear readers' thoughts about this book. Please e-mail your comments to Kosteniuk @yahoo.com No part of this book may be reproduced in electronic, printed or any other form without prior written consent of the author. How I Became a Grandmaster at 14 Compiled by V. Barskiy Original Russian text edited by E. Kopeleva Cover design by D. Levin Page layout by 0. Sklyar Translated from Russian by V. Rubinchik English text edited by F. Del Rosario Photographs featured in this book were provided by B. Dolmatovsky, K. Kosteniuk, R. Knezevich, 0. Feshina, V. Barskiy, 0. Schweizer, the archive of "64 Chess Review" magazine, and the Kosteniuk family archive. ISBN 5-8293-0043-5 ©Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2001 © liJJlaTeJibCTBo"MIKC", 2001 Evgeny BEBCHUK Rector of the Moscow Chess Academy Chess master []0 �@)r;] 0£0c:J��[IY!\o 0[]llJ[p�lJ Lll [l;l£[;1\9��1/ When the number of years My experiences with fe male you've spent on this earth be­ chessplayers, however, are not as comes greater than the number broad. Ever since my childhood, of years you're <<supposed» to be I was certainly always amazed by here, you often stop experienc­ the great Nona Gaprindashvili­ ing the exhilarating fe eling of we are almost of the same age. amazement. << Been there, done Ten years ago, my older comrade, that>> becomes the way you think the legendary grandmaster Andre about everything. And in chess, Lilienthal, introduced me to the at least, this attitude is justified. young Judit Polgar. I must admit I remember being amazed by the that I was smitten not only by her instinctive positional understand­ ovetwhelming talent, but also by ing of the 10-year-old Tolya the girl's unbelievable charm. Karpov, the resourcefulness of <<How is such a kind and sweet the 10-year-old Lyosha Dreev, girl ever able to compete?>> was and the tactical vision and fiery the question that I asked Lil­ eyes of the 11-year-old Garik ienthal afterwards. << With that Weinstein. I mean, Kasparov, much talent, there isn't nearly excuse me... Without making as much need fo r the usual com­ anything up, I could name five petitive fe rocity,>> the venerable or six other amazing children grandmaster replied with a smile. who went on to become promi­ I mention this all by way of nent chessplayers. saying that among fe male chess- * Throughout this book, Alexandra Kosteniuk is called Alexandra, Sasha and Sa­ shenka. Alexandra is her full name, Sasha is an informal name, and Sashenka is a pet name. This is similar to referring to a person as Stephen, Steve and Stevie. How I Became a Grandmaster at 14 players, I've met more that were young players of today remem­ beautiful and charming, magnif­ ber all of the theory by heart. icent and even insanely astound­ 2.d4 d5 3.e5 it.f5 4.l2Je2 e6 ing (I hope they won't take of­ 5.lbg3 it.g6 6.h4 h5 7 .it.e2 it.e7 fe nse to my words!) than those 8.it.xh5 i.xh5 9.l2Jxh5 g6 lO.ltJf4 who were endowed with a chess Rxh4 ll.Rxh4 it.xh4 12.'ii'd3 talent from above, so to speak. The moves were relatively And that is why when I was first well-known and understandable introduced to the 9-year-old until this point, so the game went Sashenka, who looked so cozy, quickly. Before making her 12'h so homely if you will, I did not move, the girl thought fo r a bit completely understand why I and then fo und the most precise should think her to be a great reply. Now I can't play 12... it.g5 player. My first impression was because of 13.lbxe6! But does she also influenced by her fa ther who know that this position was an­ stood nearby, trying to hide his alyzed many years ago by the nervousness without much suc­ great Nimzovich? I pretend to cess. And a couple of years lat­ ponder the position and then er, I was even surprised to find commit a <<blunder>> ... out that Sashenka had already 12... l2Jge7! become a candidate master at The reply came in an instant . such a young age. After several 13.g3 months had passed, I got an Now I am going to show her opportunity to play her in blitz. that she's caught in a trap. How What' opening should an old will she handle it?! and experienced - even if age­ worn - master choose against a a b c d e f g h girl who hasn't even reached the age of 12? And so we began ... 7 6 A. KOSTENIUK - Y. BEBCHUK Moscow 1996 Nimzowitsch Defense BOO 4 l.e4 l2Jc6! 3 3 This is not what I usually play, 2 but I needed to somehow take 1 my opponent out of book. The a b c d e f g h Is not Sashenka Simply a Marvel? 5 13... �f5 ! 14.gxh4 l2Jfxd4 utes, and ended up losing after 15.l2Ja3 'iixh4 the natural 17.�e3. I offe red a So far, I've spent less than a draw, and immediately realized minute, while Sashenka has used that she would not have taken up twice that time� it had she had more time left 16.1ih3 'ii'g5!? on the clock. Sashenka has a strong character! But most in­ a b c d e f g h terestingly, she didn't see the 8 .X • 8 winning 20 ... l2Jb3!! in the line 7 '' ' 7 that I mentioned earlier, but 6 � ' ' 6 instead saw 20 ... l2Jf3!! as win­ 5 ·� if 5 ning fo r Black. 4 � l2J 4 I apologize to the less <<chess­ 3 iJ jy3 savvy�> readers fo r such a long I 2 8�� � 2 example, but I think that even they will now realize that we're 1 : � <it> 1 a b c d e f g h dealing with something that is beyond the ordinary. Truly, in­ Slightly smiling, I wait for 17. tuition is not something that can 'ifh8+ �d7 18.1ixa8 'ii'gl+ 19. be taught, it comes from heav- <it>d2 \Wxf2+ 20. <it>c3 l2Jb3!!, a line that was analyzed by the selfsame Nimzovich. The child spends as much as two minutes on the next move ... 17.ltJd3!! I have to admit that I was utterly shocked by this response. Three quarters of a century ago, Rudolf Spielmann, a major grandmaster and fa ntastic tactician, couldn't find this move after thinking fo r 25 min- How I Became a Grandmaster at 14 en. And it seems like yet an­ achievements that are already other chess jewel has been un­ beyond the ordinary, and yet I covered on Russian soil. want to direct the readers' at­ Since then, I've had a chance tention to something else: some­ to get well acquainted with the thing that is everyday, something fa ther, a very talented man, <<a personal, something lyrical, per­ skilled craftsperson of the peo­ haps?! ple)> as the Russian expression Sashenka is an absolutely goes. Everyone has seen parents wonderful human being, and become <<possessed)> by the zeal that's the most important thing. to do everything fo r their chil­ She is not at all big-headed, al­ dren, who naturally seem spe­ ways friendly and smiling, al­ cial to them. Those types of par­ ways wishing everybody well. ents are· common in chess as And is that trivial? Hardly! Peo­ well. But this case is certainly ple like us, who have seen so exceptional. «Konstantin, The many things in our day, know Chess Dad)> understood before how truly significant those qual­ anyone else that the child is not ities are. And imagine what hap­ ordinary, and decided to make pens when we multiply all this a drastic change in his life in by an amazing chess talent! order to help develop his daugh­ There is also a wonderful atmo­ ter's talents. He turned down the sphere at home, where Mom option of serving in the military, and Dad are strict on one hand, and gave up on his already-fin­ and on the other are always ished dissertation in a technical understanding and willing to field. Instead, he designed a pro­ help with everything. Add to gram fo r Sashenka's life, both in that a little sister, who not only chess and in academics. fo llows the elder's fo otsteps in Of course, many people chess, but also adores her... smiled at his decision, and some So what else is needed? even blatantly chuckled at the Sashenka will soon turn 17 - parent who had <<gone bananas.)> a critical age fo r a young lady, But soon, results started to be­ which also approximately cor­ come evident: Sashenka became responds to the crucial period the youngest grandmaster ever at in the formation of a chess­ 14, and finished her secondary player.
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