I've recently been exchanging e-mails with a fellow blogger who had come across an article by Susan Polgar.

Now, I know for a fact that Susan is very aware of this blog (no small thanks to my incessant self-promoting attitude, lol). So I can only conclude that it was Susan's intent to make some bloggers aware that they were not being listed by blogshares.

I did know about blogshares ... I'm not on the list of chess blogs and I did plan to apply to be included. In fact I plan on being in the top 5 on that list ... I don't consider that overambitious judging by my site's rankings among chess blogs elsewhere.

For crying out loud, the chess blogs for World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and GM Natalia Pogonina aren't even listed there!

AAAAHHH! Love is in the air. I've been watching Alexandra Kosteniuk & Natalia Pogonina on twitter recently. It seems they get along pretty well and as luck would have it they each made similar gestures towards recognizing 'chess couples'.I don't know which person posted first so I'll give the order in which I discovered the articles.

First, I saw Alexandra post a link to her article on chess couples. In that article you can scroll down to the comment section and see a comment posted by Peter Zhdanov (Natalia Pogonina's husband) with a link to his article on her official site.

I highly recommend both ladies' blogs but I also encourage you to come right back here.

From Susan Polgar's Blog

WGM Natalia Pogonina joins the Chessdom commentators team
Jakovenko - Carlsen with comments by WGM Pogonina
by Chessdom.com

The Chessdom.com commentators team expands once again this Wednesday. This time, as a Chessdom first, a WGM will be joining for live commentary. This is WGM Natalia Pogonina (Russia, ELO 2501), a top female chess player known not only for her chess achievements (3-times European champion, World vice-champion among students, winner of Moscow Open-2009 etc.), but for her model looks and charming character as well.

WGM Natalia Pogonina will be commenting live the round 6 top encounter of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting between Magnus Carlsen and Dmitry Jakovenko.

More about Natalia Pogonina

Natalia is an active chess promoter and blogger, she has her own personal website. "Pogonina.com is a brand new and rapidly growing portal for people who love chess," commented Natalia Pogonina. "Chess players should be more active - promote chess and themselves on the Internet, participate in advertisements, play exciting exhibition matches. It's vital not to confine yourself to the game only. Apart from playing in tournaments and studying one should remember about the interests of chess fans ."

See the articles about Pogonina on Chessvine

WGM Natalia Pogonina & her husband/manager Peter Zhdanov co-wrote a great "chess & gender" article on Chessbase. I encourage you click over and read that article but I present what I consider to be the most important part right here:

Steps to take

Final question – what should we do to make chess more popular among girls?

Run an educational campaign aimed at parents to help them learn that chess is a great game that develops the person’s mind. Crush the stereotypes and provide enough information about the benefits of studying chess, and parents will be encouraging their daughters’ interest in chess!

Introducing chess in the school curriculum could also be a great step towards providing girls with opportunities of becoming good chess players.

Another key thing is sponsorship – women chess is very attractive and exciting, so it’s worth investing into. If prizes in women’s events increase to the same level as in men’s, then girls (and their parents) will have a good financial motivation to consider chess seriously.

Finally, the girls themselves should know that they are equal to men in terms of chess talents, play in men’s tournaments, study hard and believe in their powers. If most women start acting that way, then one day quantity will lead to quality, and the world chess elite will be enjoying more female players.

It’s essential to remember that the sky is the limit and all the obstacles are in our heads…

Don't forget to visit WGM Natalia Pogonina's Website.