Blindfold Chess Podcast
Blindfold Chess Podcast
S3 E7 Tatev Abrahamyan v N. Christiansen (2006)
This week, we are looking at a 5-time US Women’s Olympiad participant, a 2-time Women’s World Chess Championship participant, a 21-time US Women’s Championship participant, and a lover of all things penguins - Women’s Grandmaster Tatev Abrahamyan.
Born in Armenia, Tatev learned to play chess at the age of 8 when her father took her to the Chess Olympiad of 1996 which took place in her home country. While there, she met Grandmaster Judit Polgar - who at the age of 18 was competing in the Open division of the Olympiad and was the only woman in the Top 10 in the world.
Tatev had commented - “I was in complete awe. My first thought was, ‘I want to be just like her’” .The following year, she established her first FIDE rating of 2113.
In 2001, her family moved from Armenia to the United States. It did not take long for her to start making waves in the United States. Her first tournament was the 37th Annual American Open. She finished with a score of 4.5 out of 8 but it was good enough for a provisional rating of 2266 which was above the threshold for United States National Master… from 1 tournament.
Two years later, she played in the US Junior Championship finishing in the middle of the pack of 10 players, but she was also the only female player in the tournament.
In her second round of going to the Olympiad, Team USA placed 5th.
That same year, she also picked up her Womens Grandmaster Title - which requires a FIDE rating above 2300 of at least 30 games and 2 norms.
If that wasn’t enough, she also had her focus split between chess and studying as she earned a dual degree from California State University Long Beach for Psychology and Political Science.
2012, she was back to the US Women’s Championship in 6th and back to the Olympiad - this time Team USA finished in 10th place.
Toward the end of the year, Abrahamyan played in her first Women’s World Chess Championship - a 64 player knockout tournament to see who would become the Women’s World Champion. She was seeded 51st and faced Alexandra Kostenuik the 14th seed where she lost and was eliminated ½ to 1 ½ .
2013 - she finished 3rd in the US Women’s Championship.
2014 - she ended in a 3-way tie for first at the US Women’s Championship where Irina Krush ended up the winner after rapid playoff games. Again by finishing in the top 3, Tatev had punched her ticket to the 2015 World Women’s Championship.
She also played in the Olympiad - this time Team USA finished in 8th.
The next year, she finished 7th at the US Women’s Championship and entered the Women’s World Championship as the 53rd seed. Her round 1 opponent was Dronavalli Harika, the 12th seed. Tatev ended up 0-2 and was eliminated.
2016, she finished 2nd at the US Women’s Championship.
To round out her participation at the US Women’s Championship: In 2017 she came in 8th. 2018 - 6th, 2019 - 3rd. 2020 - 5th. 2021 - 4th. 2022 - 5th. 2023 - 4th. 2024 - 9th.
For today’s game, we are traveling to the United States Championship back in 2006. Tatev Abrahamyan versus Natasha Christansen.
Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. O-O O-O 9. Nb3 Qd8 10. f4 d6 11. h3 Bd7 12. Qe2 Na5 13. Nxa5 Qxa5 14. Bb3 Bc6 15. Bf2 Rac8 16. Rad1 a6 17. Bh4 Rfe8 18. e5 Nd7 19. e6 fxe6 20. Bxe6+ Kh8 21. f5 Rc7 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. Rf5 Qxf5 24. Bxf5 gxf5 25. Qh5+ 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1399216
