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These photos were taken in Amsterdam on September 5 and 6, 2003 when Alexandra played the first ever chess simul against 6 opponents, who transmitted their moves with their cell phones in i-mode, a service of the company Mobile Exc ellence, who calls it "w-chess". Alexandra did 5.5 out of 6, bravo Alexandra!
| The Theater de Balie, where the event took place | Another view of the Theater de Balie. To the left of it is the Max Euwe square, named after the well-known Dutch Chess World Champion Max Euwe | |
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| Alexandra loves Holland, especially the beautiful canals and typical Dutch houses | Bridges, canals and bicycles are to be found all over Amsterdam | |
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| It's a nice end of summer evening and Alexandra is enjoying the walk around Amsterdam | ||
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| The simul is ready to go, Alexandra is playing with her new phone, capable of playing chess in i-mode, a service offered by most mobile operators in Europe | ||
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| Alexandra and the Managing Director of Mobile Excellence, who created w-chess, Mr. Hans van Briemen | Alexandra and Mr. Martin Smink, also of Mobile Excellence | The playing room at the Theater de Balie was magnificent, with Alexandra facing 6 opponents, the moves coming by cellular phones! |
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| Alexandra is playing against an invisible opponent with a cell phone | Alexandra loves to play chess,be it against a live opponent, or a person on the phone! | |
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| Alexandra loves flowers, of course | ||
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| Alexandra and Hans van Briemen's son | The boys who helped receive the moves and enter the moves in the phones | Mr. Hans van Briemen, the cool "inventor" of w-chess |
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| Alexandra and Mr. Hans van Briemen | Mr. Bert Houweling of Mobile Excellence explains to the public how the simul will be conducted: The 6 players will start in different locations in Holland and make their way to the Theater to finish the game | |
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| One of the games was played in the Max Euwe Square close to the Theater de Balie (notice IM Afek is observing the game) | One of the players is the father-in-law of Yasser Seirawan, Mr. Nagel, who came along to play against Alexandra, with Yasser and his wife Yvette supporting him from above | Alexandra playing against Mr. Nagel |
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| Alexandra pondering over her next move | Mr Hof is fully concentrated | |
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| Bert explains the workings of i-mode and w-chess | IM Hans Boehm was the brilliant commentator of the simul and provided excellent insight and fun to the audience | Mr. Van der Neut is thinking how he can improve his position, it's not easy... |
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| A fully concentrated Bert Houweling, the game will finish as a draw, well done to Bert and the audience who took part quite actively in the game! | The last player to finish his game was Ron Nep, 2305 on the FIDE rating list | Alexandra is playing the last two games against Ron Nep and Bert Houweling |
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| Mr. Hans Boehm is interviewing Mr. Houweling and Mr. van Briemen | ||
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| The last game (against Nep) is decided with the clock, and Nep will succomb to Alexandra's extra material and speed | ||
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| Alexandra was happy to finish with a 5 1/2 out of 6 score and is signing autographs in her book "How I became Grandmaster at Age 14" for her fans | ||
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It is a violation of copyright law to use any of these pictures without purchasing them from www.kosteniuk.com or receiving express permission for one-time publishing from www.kosteniuk.com.
You can purchase any autographed photo ($6 photo 10x15 cm, $36 photo 20x30 cm) from this or practically any album, by visiting our shop!. You can mention what you'd like Alexandra to sign on the photo (reasonable requests please) by sending an email (delete "nojunk") to to us . Please allow time for individual printing/signing/shipping. You can also buy a high-resolution (more than 1 MB) picture by email for $9. Please don't forget to mention exact Album name and Photo Name. Note: 50% of all profits of autographed photos go to Alexandra's Chess Fund, in which she helps to promote chess in the world, principally to children. Thanks for your support!