The Pale White Queen of Chess

Perpetuating the myth that all women chess players are hot is the new Women's Chess Champion, 24-year-old Alexandra Kosteniuk from Russia. Who knew they played chess over there? She was a grandmaster at the age of 14 and last year she beat China's Hou Yifan in Nalchik, somewhere in Russia, to become the first Russian to hold the women's championship title since the fall of the Soviet Union. Because of some of her "fashion" modeling portfolio, Kosteniuk has been compared to Anna Kournikova, but she points out that she has in fact won individual events, a feat that has eluded Kournikova. Her rating is 2516, making her the 690th best player in the world, well behind former women's champ Judit Polgar at #36. Kosteniuk hosts a charming chess instruction video webcast at chesskillertips.com. [Insert "positions worth analyzing" joke here.]