USA win World Cup ahead of Germany

On July 7th and 8th, 2006,

The Women's Chess Cup took place in Dresden, Germany, on July 7th-8th 2006, which was the final weekend of the World Soccer Championship. In fact the Chess Cup mirrored the FIFA event.

There were eight groups, A to H, with four players from four different countries each. They were supposed to represent the same countries as in the FIFA event taking place in Germany. But a number of the football nations did not have a strong female player to send, and so some German players jumped in to represent them.

As in the World Soccer Championship the two top players in each group, which was staged as a round robin, proceeded to the knockout stage, with two games and a tiebreak deciding who proceeded.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Third place

Final

• All available games in PGN

Picture Gallery

One of the sponsors was the German chip manufacturer ZMD.

The venue of the event was the modern shopping center Karstadt in Dresden

Amongst the spectators the famous German GM Wolfgang Uhlman (3rd. from right)

IM Martha Fierro of Ecuador facing IM Monika Socko of Poland

In the round of the sixteen finalists

Suzana Chang playing for Brazil

IM Marie Sebag of France

WGM Carolina Lujan playing for Argentina

IM Monika Socko of Poland

Germany's top player, former junior world champion IM Elisabeth Pähtz

Former women's world champion GM Susan Polgar with organiser Dr. Dirk Jordan

IM Ketino Kachiani-G of Germany, playing for the Ivory Coast, faces her main rival IM Elisabeth Pähtz, who won this quarterfinal match 2-0

Susan Polgar on her way to defeating 2006 Olympiad Gold Medalist WGM Anna Ushenina 2-0 in the quarterfinals

The final, with IM Elisabeth Pähtz resigning her second game against Susan Polgar

Winner Susan Polgar receiving the trophy from Dr. Dirk Jordan

Bronze, Gold and Silver to IM Marie Sebag, Susan Polgar and IM Elisabeth Pähtz

Susan poses with WGM Carolina Lujan in the Argentinian soccer tunic

Susan Polgar's performance was very impressive. In the quarterfinal, she defeated WGM Ushenina of the Ukraine 2-0, in the semifinal she defeated WGM Lujan of Argentina 1.5-0.5 (both Lujan and Ushenina are very tough rapid players). In the final she defeated IM Elisabeth Pähtz, a player who was herself on a hot streak. In match play Susan score 7/8 points, winning 6 and drawing 2. She won all four games with the white pieces and two games with black. The final tally: 7 wins, 4 draws and 0 loss = 9/11. All games were broadcast live on playchess.com.