Anna Zatonskih

Anna Zatonskih is a four-time U.S. Women's Champion. Four years ago, Zatonskih won the U.S. Women's Championship with a dominating score of 8.5/9, but she ran into stiff competition in 2010 against her longtime nemesis IM Irina Krush.

Zatonskih recaptured the title in 2011 with a gutsy and grueling performance. Including the tiebreak and playoff matches, she played 19 games of chess over a two-week period to win the 2011 U.S. Women's title. Each of the past two years, however, Krush has edged Anna by the narrowest of margins.

Krush and Zatonskih have been the clear favorite each of the past six years, and odds-on money is that it will come down to one of the two to win the title of 2014 U.S. Women's Champion.

Anna said her chess highlights include the 2004 silver medal and the 2008 bronze she helped the U.S. team win at the World Chess Olympiad.

Outside of the chess, Anna has a variety of interests from bicycling to ping pong to scuba diving. She even played an underwater match while in scuba gear on a giant board. The game couldn't go longer than 50 minutes, but she played to a draw. 

Coached by her husband, German Grandmaster Daniel Friedman, Anna comes into the tournament in the hopes of securing her fifth title.