In Europe the game of chess is as popular as are professional sports in America. In America most people do not know the current American Chess Champion (Gata Kamsky) or the strongest American player (Hikaru Nakamura) or even the current World Champion (Viswanathan Anand). But in Europe, the top players are household names and true celebrities. The greatest player ever, the American Bobby Fischer, used to gripe that at home he was a nobody but in Europe he was a superstar!
In Russia, chess is more popular than in any other country on this planet and so it is fitting that in celebration of April Fool’s day and to encourage the youth to get even more involved in the game, their chess federation is holding a unique event. 1st of April, the international day of the joke aka April Fool’s day, will be celebrated by an all female chess-style beauty contest – ten Blondes will challenge ten Brunettes in a battle of the minds over the chess board. The tournament will be a 10 rounds event, with the time control of 5 minutes per player.
These woman are very serious and strong players, the weakest of them would easily beat 99 out of 100 typical male chess players. A list of the participants follows with their chess rating and titles (WGM = woman grandmaster, WIM = woman international master, and WFM = woman FIDE master, where FIDE is the international chess governing body)
We say that from now on Miss America and other beauty pageants should include a chess competition!
The Blonde Team
WGM Valentina Gunina 2472
WGM Olga Girya 2425
WGM Tatiana Grabuzova 2336
WGM Irina Vasilevich 2324
WGM Maria Fominikh 2303
WIM Tamara Minogina 2244
WFM Alina Bivol 2137
WFM Nadezhda Potikhoshkina 2167
Maria Severina 2049
The Brunette Team
WGM Nazi Paikidze 2425
WGM Anastasia Savina 2383
WGM Svetlana Mateeva 2380
WGM Maria Manakova 2336
WGM Alina Kashlinskaya 2320
WIM Daria Charochkina 2330
WIM Karina Ambartsumova 2308
WFM Varvara Saulina 2286
WFM Tatiana Bogumil 2096
WFM Victorya Zarivkina 2059
