Anna Ushenina
Encyclopedia
Anna Ushenina is a Ukrainian
chess
player with the titles
of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).
. In her spare time, she enjoys reading detective novels and listening to classical and pop music.
), she finished in fourth and sixth places respectively, thereafter becoming the champion at Alushta in 2005, and outperforming top seed Tatjana Vasilevich along the way. She almost repeated the success at Odessa
in 2006, finishing second, but ahead of the higher rated Natalia Zhukova
and Inna Gaponenko. At these combined (men and women) events, she has defeated male grandmasters of the calibre of Anton Korobov and Oleg Romanishin
and in Ukraine was endowed with the title Honored Master of Sports.
Women's Olympiad
she was a part of the victorious Ukrainian team and remained undefeated throughout the contest. Ushenina and her compatriots Natalia Zhukova
(also undefeated), Kateryna Lahno and Inna Gaponenko each scored between 70-80%, in what was a commanding performance, earning them team gold medals and much adulation in chess circles. In 2008, at the Dresden
Olympiad, Ukraine's ladies took home the team silver medals, after failing to oust the powerful Georgian team from the top spot.
For Ushenina, her earliest major medal-winning performance occurred in Balatonlelle
, at the European Team Championship for Girls (under 18) in 2002, where she took team gold and individual silver on board 1. On another occasion at the 2007 Women's World Team Chess Championship
in Yekaterinburg
, she helped Ukraine to a bronze medal finish and added an individual bronze to her tally. She has also played twice at the European Team Championship
, in 2005 and 2007. The team finished outside of the medal places each time, but for her personal performance, Ushenina took individual gold at the latter event, held in Heraklion
, with 5/7.
A very active league chess player, she regularly plays in the national leagues of France, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia.
in 2001 and Odessa
in 2003, earned her the WGM title, awarded in 2003. Her Olympiad performance and subsequent results in Pardubice
and Abu Dhabi
(both 2006) then qualified her for the IM title, awarded in January 2007.
In the 'A2' section of the prestigious Aeroflot Open in Moscow 2007, she scored 5 points from the first 7 rounds, defeating three male grandmasters for a part performance rating of 2672. At the Women's European Individual Chess Championship, held 2008 in Plovdiv
, she took the bronze medal, losing out 1-2 to Viktorija Čmilytė
in a tie-break for silver. Playing at the Wijk aan Zee
Corus 'C' (mixed) event of 2008, she found the standard very tough and finished towards the bottom of the Group, equal with Peng Zhaoqin
on 4½/13. At the 2008 Moscow Open Women's event, run alongside the Aeroflot tournament, she took second place (after Anna Muzychuk
, but ahead of Natalia Zhukova
and Kateryna Lahno). In 2010 she won the Rector Cup in Kharkov with a performance rating of 2649.
As of October 2008, Anna Ushenina had an Elo rating of 2496, placing her first, ahead of Kateryna Lahno and Natalia Zhukova
in the national listings, and number 15 in the world among women.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
player with the titles
FIDE titles
The World Chess Federation, FIDE , awards several performance-based titles to chess players. Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms . Once awarded, FIDE titles are held for life...
of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).
Biography
Born in Kharkiv, she still lives there with her family. It was her mother who introduced her to chess at the age of seven, along with painting and music, being determined that the young Ushenina would develop intellectual and creative talents. Her earliest chess results were remarkable; consistently winning events in her age group and beyond, culminating in becoming the Ukrainian Girls' (under 20) champion at just 15 years. Many of her chess skills have been self-taught, although there was some coaching at a specialist facility in KramatorskKramatorsk
Kramatorsk is a city in the eastern Ukraine within Donetsk Oblast. Its population is about 200,000 people, including surrounding settlements under Kramatorsk City Council government....
. In her spare time, she enjoys reading detective novels and listening to classical and pop music.
National success
At the national Ukrainian Women's Championship, her progress and achievements have been noteworthy. In 2003 (Nikolaev) and 2004 (AlushtaAlushta
Alushta is a resort town in Crimea, Ukraine, founded in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian. It is situated on the Black Sea on the road from Gurzuf to Sudak, as well as on the Crimean Trolleybus line....
), she finished in fourth and sixth places respectively, thereafter becoming the champion at Alushta in 2005, and outperforming top seed Tatjana Vasilevich along the way. She almost repeated the success at Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in 2006, finishing second, but ahead of the higher rated Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova is a Ukrainian Grandmaster of chess. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, both at the European and World levels. She has also triumphed in several international women's tournaments...
and Inna Gaponenko. At these combined (men and women) events, she has defeated male grandmasters of the calibre of Anton Korobov and Oleg Romanishin
Oleg Romanishin
Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and former European junior champion.Many honours and awards were bestowed on him as a young man. After winning the European Junior Championship in 1973, he became an International Master the same year...
and in Ukraine was endowed with the title Honored Master of Sports.
Exceptional team performances
Her many successes in team chess reached an early pinnacle in 2006. At the TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
Women's Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
she was a part of the victorious Ukrainian team and remained undefeated throughout the contest. Ushenina and her compatriots Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova is a Ukrainian Grandmaster of chess. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, both at the European and World levels. She has also triumphed in several international women's tournaments...
(also undefeated), Kateryna Lahno and Inna Gaponenko each scored between 70-80%, in what was a commanding performance, earning them team gold medals and much adulation in chess circles. In 2008, at the Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
Olympiad, Ukraine's ladies took home the team silver medals, after failing to oust the powerful Georgian team from the top spot.
For Ushenina, her earliest major medal-winning performance occurred in Balatonlelle
Balatonlelle
Balatonlelle is a popular tourist town located on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, about 35 km west of Siófok. Attractions include a beach over 3 km long, an aqua-park, go-cart course, and annual wine festival. It is easily reached from Budapest by direct train . It is a family...
, at the European Team Championship for Girls (under 18) in 2002, where she took team gold and individual silver on board 1. On another occasion at the 2007 Women's World Team Chess Championship
World Team Chess Championship
The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent.-Men's team medals:-Women's team medals:-References:*...
in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
, she helped Ukraine to a bronze medal finish and added an individual bronze to her tally. She has also played twice at the European Team Championship
European Team Championship
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9...
, in 2005 and 2007. The team finished outside of the medal places each time, but for her personal performance, Ushenina took individual gold at the latter event, held in Heraklion
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
, with 5/7.
A very active league chess player, she regularly plays in the national leagues of France, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia.
Tournaments and titles
Tournament successes at KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
in 2001 and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in 2003, earned her the WGM title, awarded in 2003. Her Olympiad performance and subsequent results in Pardubice
Pardubice
Pardubice is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the river Elbe, 65 miles east of Prague. Pardubice has an antique centre square and old town, with many restaurants that stay open until late in the evening. There is an old Tower and a recently renovated Castle...
and Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
(both 2006) then qualified her for the IM title, awarded in January 2007.
In the 'A2' section of the prestigious Aeroflot Open in Moscow 2007, she scored 5 points from the first 7 rounds, defeating three male grandmasters for a part performance rating of 2672. At the Women's European Individual Chess Championship, held 2008 in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
, she took the bronze medal, losing out 1-2 to Viktorija Čmilytė
Viktorija Cmilyte
Viktorija Čmilytė is a Lithuanian chess player with the titles of Woman Grandmaster and Grandmaster . She won the gold medal at the Women's European Individual Chess Championship in 2011...
in a tie-break for silver. Playing at the Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.Due...
Corus 'C' (mixed) event of 2008, she found the standard very tough and finished towards the bottom of the Group, equal with Peng Zhaoqin
Peng Zhaoqin
Peng Zhaoqin is a female Chinese chess player, who has resided in the Netherlands since 1996...
on 4½/13. At the 2008 Moscow Open Women's event, run alongside the Aeroflot tournament, she took second place (after Anna Muzychuk
Anna Muzychuk
Anna Olegivna Muzychuk is a chess player with a FIDE rating of 2528 . She earned the title of Woman Grandmaster in 2004 and the title of International Master in 2007. In 2004 she became a member of the Slovenian chess federation, where she is the strongest female chess player...
, but ahead of Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova is a Ukrainian Grandmaster of chess. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, both at the European and World levels. She has also triumphed in several international women's tournaments...
and Kateryna Lahno). In 2010 she won the Rector Cup in Kharkov with a performance rating of 2649.
As of October 2008, Anna Ushenina had an Elo rating of 2496, placing her first, ahead of Kateryna Lahno and Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova
Natalia Zhukova is a Ukrainian Grandmaster of chess. She won several age-group titles as a teenager, both at the European and World levels. She has also triumphed in several international women's tournaments...
in the national listings, and number 15 in the world among women.