Olympiad: Most Photogenic Players contest

6/16/2006 – Here's a tedious task for all you chess players out there: 65 exquisite portraits of female chess players at the Turin Chess Olympiad 2006 (before some people crucify us, the male competition is to follow). You have to rate as many as you can, not by their Elo performances, which we give, but by their photogenic qualities. Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

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Most Photogenic Players of the Olympiad, Torino 2006

Photos by Pufichek

The web site Kosteniuk.com has a very large collection of high-quality photos of the Torino Chess Olympiad 2006. The photographer has selected 65 for the first of two "Photogenic" competitions. This one is for female players – the next, we assure our critical readers, will be for males.


Sanja Dedijer (2068), Bosnia Herzegovina
Alexandra Kosteniuk (2540), Russia
Mariam Mansur (1838), UAE
Valquiria Rocha,
Angola

Sophie Milliet (2330, France
Anna Sharevich (2281), Belarus
Almira Skripchenko (2423), France
Regina Pokorna (2338), Slovakia

Arianne Caoilli (2169), Australia
Ingrid Aliaga (2019),
Peru
Lilit Mktrchian (2453), Armenia
Eva Repkova (2346), Slovakia

Katerina Lahno (2468), Ukraine
Shirin Navabi (2082),
Iran
Tatiana Kosintseva (2489), Russia
Nishanti Balentin, Netherlands Antilles

Anita Gara (2367), Hungary
Iweta Radziewicz (2439), Poland
Dana Reizniece (2287), Latvia
Nadezhda Kosintseva (2469), Russia

Antoaneta Stefanova (2502), Bulgaria
Anna Muzychuk (2418), Slovenia
Vega Sulennis Pina (2334), Cuba
Ishisuka Mirai,
Japan

Nadya Carolina Ortiz (2184), Colombia
Irine Kharisma (2213), Indonesia
Maria Belen Sarquis, Argentina
Sheerie Joy Lomibao (2163) , Philippines

Elisabeth Paehtz (2438), Germany
Amani Jalal
Yemen
Martha Fierro (2294), Ecuador
Zhao Xue (2423),
China

Hou Yifan (2298)
China
Elaine Yu-Tong Lin, Chinese Taipei
Zhu Chen (2483), Qatar (men's team)
Zehra Topel (2132)
Turkey

Above is a selection of the selection on the "Most Photogenic Players" web site. We urge you to go there and see them all, in larger size and higher resolution. You can also vote for all photos by clicking on a rating from 1 (low) to 5 (high). The final photos chosen will most likely be used in print materials to illustrate the Olympiads.

Top rating performance

We do not want to influence your choice, since this is, after all, about beauty and photogenics. But in case you are interested we have listed the performances of the top 100 female players at the 2006 Turin Olympiad. Zhao Xue, who is in the last picture of our selection above, leads in performance ratings with 2617 equivalent Elo, having scored 10/13 on board one for China. Truly remarkable the 2596 performance of WFM Hou Yifan, who has turned 12 last February.

No.   Name Rtg Team Rp
Pts.
Gms
 %
Bo.
1 WGM Zhao Xue 2423 China 2617
10.0
13
 76.9
1
2 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2489 Russia 2598
9.5
12
 79.2
2
3 WFM Hou Yifan 2298 China 2596
11.0
13
 84.6
4
4 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2502 Bulgaria 2563
9.0
12
 75.0
1
5 IM Hoang Thanh Trang 2487 Hungary 2539
9.5
13
 73.1
1
6 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2425 Ukraine 2537
7.5
10
 75.0
1
7 IM Yanovska-Gaponenko Inna 2430 Ukraine 2531
7.0
9
 77.8
3
8 IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2470 Lithuania 2530
9.5
12
 79.2
1
9 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2469 Russia 2521
7.5
10
 75.0
3
10 IM Krush Irina 2437 USA 2512
8.0
11
 72.7
2
11 IM Peptan Corina Isabela 2408 Romania 2499
7.5
11
 68.2
1
12 IM Lahno Katerina 2468 Ukraine 2498
8.0
10
 80.0
2
13 GM Koneru Humpy 2548 India 2495
8.0
12
 66.7
1
14 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2410 Georgia 2494
8.5
11
 77.3
3
15 WGM Muzychuk Anna 2418 Slovenia 2494
8.0
11
 72.7
1
16 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2540 Russia 2486
6.0
10
 60.0
1
17 IM Danielian Elina 2422 Armenia 2485
8.5
12
 70.8
2
18 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2453 Armenia 2481
7.5
12
 62.5
1
19 WIM Sanchez Sarai 2176 Venezuela 2479
9.0
11
 81.8
1
20 WIM Berlin Tatiana 2207 Belarus 2477
7.0
8
 87.5
4
21 WGM Ushenina Anna 2397 Ukraine 2465
7.0
10
 70.0
4
22 IM Skripchenko Almira 2423 France 2465
7.0
11
 63.6
1
23 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2438 Germany 2450
8.0
12
 66.7
1
24 IM Dzagnidze Nana 2454 Georgia 2444
7.0
10
 70.0
2
25 WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2371 USA 2440
8.5
12
 70.8
3
26 IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2421 Germany 2438
8.5
12
 70.8
2
27 WIM Sharevich Anna 2281 Belarus 2432
9.0
12
 75.0
3
28 IM Foisor Cristina Adela 2392 Romania 2428
8.0
12
 66.7
2
29 WGM Reizniece Dana 2287 Latvia 2427
6.0
10
 60.0
1
30 IM Jackova Jana 2389 Czech Republic 2425
7.0
10
 70.0
1
31 WGM Rogule Laura 2309 Latvia 2422
7.0
11
 63.6
2
32 GM Peng Zhao Qin 2395 Netherlands 2420
8.0
11
 72.7
1
33 WGM Voiska Margarita 2314 Bulgaria 2417
6.5
10
 65.0
2
34 IM Dembo Yelena 2464 Greece 2404
7.5
13
 57.7
1
35 IM Khurtsidze Nino 2426 Georgia 2402
5.5
11
 50.0
1
36 WGM Arribas Robaina Maritza 2235 Cuba 2401
7.5
10
 75.0
4
37 WGM Botsari Anna-Maria 2341 Greece 2398
5.5
9
 61.1
2
38 WGM Milliet Sophie 2330 France 2391
8.5
12
 70.8
3
39 IM Vajda Szidonia 2403 Hungary 2382
5.5
9
 61.1
3
40 WIM Sammalvuo Niina 2249 Finland 2378
8.0
11
 72.7
1
41 WIM Zsiltzova-Lisenko Lubov 2263 IBCA 2372
9.0
10
 90.0
1
42 WGM Pokorna Regina 2338 Slovakia 2369
7.0
10
 70.0
3
43 WIM Bashkite Viktoria 2205 Estonia 2368
8.5
11
 77.3
2
44 WGM Srebrnic Ana 2302 Slovenia 2366
6.5
11
 59.1
2
45 WGM Zatonskih Anna 2433 USA 2366
5.0
11
 45.5
1
46 WGM Lujan Carolina 2378 Argentina 2365
7.5
12
 62.5
1
47 WGM Mongontuul Bathuyag 2378 Mongolia 2363
6.5
10
 65.0
1
48 WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram 2349 Vietnam 2360
7.0
11
 63.6
2
49 WGM Repkova Eva 2346 Slovakia 2357
5.5
10
 55.0
1
50 IM Radziewicz Iweta 2439 Poland 2352
5.5
11
 50.0
1
51 WIM Majdan Joanna 2297 Poland 2351
6.0
9
 66.7
4
52 WGM Swathi Ghate 2262 India 2350
7.5
12
 62.5
3
53 IM Fierro Baguero Martha 2294 Ecuador 2349
8.0
13
 61.5
1
54 WIM Andriasian Siranush 2237 Armenia 2348
5.5
9
 61.1
4
55 WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An 2317 Vietnam 2341
4.5
10
 45.0
1
56 WFM Przezdziecka Marta 2265 Poland 2340
6.5
10
 65.0
3
57 WGM Harika Dronavalli 2358 India 2338
6.5
12
 54.2
2
58 IM Houska Jovanka 2378 England 2337
7.5
12
 62.5
1
59 IM Hagarova Zuzana 2377 Slovakia 2337
5.5
10
 55.0
2
60 IM Klinova Masha 2357 Israel 2336
6.5
12
 54.2
1
61 WGM Atalik-Polovnikova Ekaterina 2393 Turkey 2335
7.5
12
 62.5
1
62   Shen Yang 2411 China 2326
5.0
9
 55.6
3
63 WIM Zepeda Cortez Lorena 2122 El Salvador 2321
9.0
13
 69.2
1
64 WFM Topel Zehra 2132 Turkey 2321
8.0
12
 66.7
2
65 WGM Pina Vega Sulennis 2334 Cuba 2320
5.5
10
 55.0
1
66 WGM Benderac Ana 2293 Serbia Montenegro 2319
8.5
11
 77.3
4
67 WGM Borsuk Angela 2341 Israel 2319
6.5
11
 59.1
2
68 IM Madl Ildiko 2387 Hungary 2314
5.0
10
 50.0
2
69 WGM Zimina Olga 2404 Italy A 2311
9.0
13
 69.2
2
70 IM Ciuksyte Dagne 2423 Lithuania 2299
8.0
12
 66.7
2
71 WGM Calzetta Ruiz Monica 2317 Spain 2299
5.0
10
 50.0
1
72 WFM Kharisma Sukandar Irine 2213 Indonesia 2297
8.5
13
 65.4
1
73 WIM Krivec Jana 2323 Slovenia 2297
5.5
10
 55.0
3
74 WFM Stock Lara 2200 Croatia 2295
7.5
12
 62.5
2
75 WGM Ptacnikova Lenka 2183 Iceland 2292
7.5
11
 68.2
1
76 WIM Sikorova Olga 2276 Czech Republic 2291
6.0
10
 60.0
3
77 WGM Paridar Shadi 2210 Iran 2288
7.5
11
 68.2
2
78 WIM Berzina Ilze 2278 Latvia 2288
5.5
9
 61.1
4
79 WIM Johansson Viktoria 2222 Sweden 2282
4.5
10
 45.0
1
80 WIM Hernandez Estevez Yudania 2262 Spain 2279
7.5
11
 68.2
4
81 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2389 Poland 2273
4.5
9
 50.0
2
82 WGM Leconte Maria 2345 France 2268
4.0
9
 44.4
2
83   Perena Catherine 0 Philippines 2267
6.0
11
 54.5
2
84 WGM Geldieva Mahri 2274 Turkmenistan 2265
6.5
12
 54.2
1
85 WIM Aketayeva Dana 2328 Kazakhstan 2265
6.0
13
 46.2
1
86 IM Bosboom-Lanchava Tea 2380 Netherlands 2260
6.0
10
 60.0
2
87 WGM Juergens Vera 2330 Germany 2260
6.0
10
 60.0
4
88 WGM Velcheva Maria 2279 Bulgaria 2259
4.5
9
 50.0
4
89 WGM Chelushkina Irina 2320 Serbia & Montenegro 2256
7.5
13
 57.7
2
90 WGM Medic Mirjana 2239 Croatia 2255
4.5
12
 37.5
1
91 WIM Macek Vlasta 2243 Croatia 2252
7.0
11
 63.6
3
92 WIM Popova Natalija 2223 Belarus 2250
4.5
10
 45.0
2
93 WFM Le Thanh Tu 2239 Vietnam 2246
7.0
12
 58.3
3
94 WIM Titova-Boric Elena 2284 Bosnia Herzegovina 2245
6.0
11
 54.5
1
95 WIM Marrero Lopez Yaniet 2269 Cuba 2244
5.5
10
 55.0
2
96 WGM Bogza Adina Maria 2297 Romania 2242
4.5
9
 50.0
3
97 WFM Yanjindulam Dulamsuren 2162 Mongolia 2240
6.0
11
 54.5
2
98 WIM H. Mohammed Eman 2118 Iraq 2238
7.0
8
 87.5
1
99 WGM Igla Bella 2288 Israel 2238
6.5
11
 59.1
3
100 WFM Lomibao Sheerie Joy 2163 Philippines 2234
3.5
8
 43.8
1