Tatiana Kosintseva

Tatiana Kosintseva at Iraklion, 2007
Full name	Tatiana Anatolyevna Kosintseva Татьяна Анатольевна Косинцева
Country	Russia
Born	11 April 1986 Arkhangelsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster
Peak rating	2581 (November 2010)

Tatiana Anatolyevna Kosintseva (Russian: Татьяна Анатольевна Косинцева; born 11 April 1986 in Arkhangelsk) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (GM). She achieved her title from FIDE in October 2009.

She is two-time European women's champion and three-time Russian women's champion. Kosintseva was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010 and 2012, and at the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Chance start and instant success

Along with elder sister Nadezhda, the six-year-old Tatiana became a chess player by virtue of a twist of fate. Wandering home from dance lessons with their mother, the pair happened upon a chess club and decided then and there to take up the game.

As a youngster, she recalls being inspired by a book of former World Champion Alexander Alekhine's games and was similarly impressed by the games of Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer.

Soon after, she became a fearsome competitor at the top level of junior chess, her collection of tournament prizes rivalling even her sister's haul. At the World Youth Chess Championship, she earned silver medals at the Under-10 (Cala Galdana, 1996) and Under-12 (Cannes, 1997) events. In the Under-10 category of the 1996 European Youth Chess Championship held at Rimavska Sobota she went one better, that time taking home the gold medal. Silver medals were added at the Euro events in Mureck (1998) and Kallithea (2000), at Under-12 and Under-18 levels, respectively.

National and European Champion

Kosintseva sisters, Nadezhda and Tatiana

In 2002, 2004 and 2007 Tatiana won the Russian Women's Chess Championship. In 2006, she finished a half point behind winner Ekaterina Korbut.

In 2004 she also won the Accentus Ladies Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival.

Sharing a mutual talent for chess, the sisters are also close companions outside the game; both attend a law course at Pomor University in their hometown and study together. Inevitably, they play side by side in team competitions, most notably at the Chess Olympiad as part of the Russian Women's national team.

Tatiana Kosintseva was also the winner of the 2007 Women's European Individual Chess Championship with a tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2774, and won again in 2009 with a TPR of 2551.

In 2012 she won the European Women's Rapid Chess Championship in Gazientep, Turkey.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Kosintseva, 2013

In 2010 Kosintseva won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik with a performance rating of 2735. Her score was 9/11 or +7 −0 =4; 1½ points ahead of her nearest rival Hou Yifan. She gained 160 Grand Prix points in Nalchik.