Person of day   -  11 APRIL 2023

TATIANA KOSINTSEVA

TATIANA KOSINTSEVA

Tatiana first came to chess class when she was six and her sister Nadya was seven. The first mentor of the Kosintsev sisters was Vladimir Popov, a renowned trainer from Arkhangelsk. Two years later, the sisters were playing at the level of regional champions. They trainedand competed at juniors’ tournament in unison. Tatiana was a regular winner of the World, European and Russian youth championships among girls. 

In addition, Tatiana and Nadezhda often performed at juniors’ tournaments with the sterner sex, often terrifying the strongest juniors at Russian championships. During her matches against women, Tatiana cemented her fighting reputation when she won the 2002 Russian championship and performed spectacularly for the national team at the Olympiad in Bled. 

Listing all of Tatiana’s sporting achievements would take several pages, so we will limit ourselves to a few of her greatest victories. The chess player from Arkhangelsk won two European championships- in 2007 and 2009- and three European team championships with Russia- in 2007, 2009 and 2011, as well as winning the European rapid championship in 2012. She won two Olympic gold medals- in 2010 and 2012, silver medals in 2002 and 2006 and a bronze medal in 2004. 

She won three Russian championships- in 2002, 2004 and 2007- and several more Russian team championships and the European Cup with ABC and Spartak-Vidnoye teams. She won tournaments in Biel in 2004 and the FIDE Grand Prix leg in Nalchik in 2010. 

Under the guidance of Yuri Dokhoian, the Kosintsev sisters became grandmasters of extra-class who fulfilled all the male criteria for the title.