Anna Zatonskih

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Anna Zatonskih bigraphy, stories - American/Ukrainian chess player

Anna Zatonskih : biography

June 17, 1978 –

Anna Zatonskih ( born Mariupol, June 17, 1978) is a chess player from the United States. She is a Woman Grandmaster, as well as an International Master. She is a chess professional, who coaches players and competes in tournaments. Zatonskih is the 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Chess Champion.

Zatonskih learned chess at age five from her parents, who are both strong players. Her father Vitaly is rated about 2300, while her mother is a Candidate Master. Anna beat her mother for the first time at age 14.

Anna won many Ukrainian Girls’ titles in several age categories. She was awarded the WGM title in 1999. She twice won the Ukrainian Women’s Chess Championship, in 2001 and 2002. She represented Ukraine in two Chess Olympiads: at Istanbul 2000, she scored 7/11 (+5 =4 -2) on board two; and at Bled 2002, she scored 3.5/7 (+2 =3 -2) on board three.

She represented the U.S. in the Chess Olympiads of 2004, 2006, and 2008. The Americans won the team silver in 2004, their highest finish ever. Zatonskih won the United States Women’s Championship in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011.USCF, In 2008, she beat the defending U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, Irina Krush, by a single second under time control, a moment that has been widely-viewed on the Internet because of Krush’s reaction of smacking her king across the room in anger.

She is married to Latvian-born Grandmaster Daniel Fridman.