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Jovanka Houska
J Houska 
Photograph © 2007 Jovanka Houska.  

Number of games in database: 1,078
Years covered: 1993 to 2024
Last FIDE rating: 2342 (2281 rapid, 2315 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2433
Overall record: +379 -295 =314 (54.3%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 90 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (65) 
    B50 B31 B83 B40 B43
 Queen's Pawn Game (64) 
    D02 A46 E10 A40 D00
 King's Indian (54) 
    E62 E60 E63 E67 E64
 Queen's Gambit Declined (33) 
    D38 D30 D37 D35 D39
 Slav (33) 
    D12 D11 D15 D10
 Queen's Indian (33) 
    E15 E17 E16 E19
With the Black pieces:
 Caro-Kann (194) 
    B12 B18 B10 B13 B15
 Slav (73) 
    D15 D11 D12 D10 D13
 Queen's Gambit Declined (50) 
    D37 D30 D35 D31 D36
 Semi-Slav (36) 
    D43 D45 D47 D44 D46
 Scandinavian (30) 
    B01
 English (28) 
    A11 A13 A14 A12 A15
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   J Houska vs A D Harley, 2001 1-0
   S McGrane vs J Houska, 2006 0-1
   J Houska vs B C Yildiz Kadioglu, 2005 1-0
   R Bates vs J Houska, 2019 0-1
   J Houska vs G Koskoska, 2005 1-0
   V Cmilyte vs J Houska, 2008 0-1
   J Houska vs Speelman, 2005 1-0
   J Houska vs T Hebbes, 2014 1-0
   J Houska vs I Rajlich, 2007 1-0
   M Sebag vs J Houska, 1999 1/2-1/2

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   European Team Championship (Women) (2015)
   European Championship (Women) (2005)
   Hastings 2007/08 (2008)
   European Championship (Women) (2004)
   British Championship (2016)
   Budapest Olympiad (Women) (2024)
   European Championship (Women) (2008)
   Gibraltar Masters (2007)
   Batumi Olympiad (Women) (2018)
   European Championship (Women) (2007)
   Turin Olympiad (Women) (2006)
   European Union Championship (2008)
   Gibraltar Masters (2013)
   European Championship (Women) (2011)
   Baku Olympiad (Women) (2016)

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Budapest Olympiad (Women)
   J Paasikangas vs J Houska (Sep-22-24) 0-1
   J Houska vs N Yakubbaeva (Sep-21-24) 1/2-1/2
   J Houska vs E Paehtz (Sep-20-24) 1/2-1/2
   C Baginskaite vs J Houska (Sep-19-24) 0-1
   J Houska vs I Berzina (Sep-18-24) 1-0

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Jovanka Houska
Search Google for Jovanka Houska
FIDE player card for Jovanka Houska

JOVANKA HOUSKA
(born Jun-10-1980, 44 years old) United Kingdom

[what is this?]

Jovanka Houska is an English IM and WGM. She is currently the highest-rated woman in England. British women's champion in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Her brother is IM Miroslav Houska. She is the author of several books on the Caro-Kann Defense and Scandinavian Defense, and the co-author (with James Essinger) of the novel "The Mating Game."

Wikipedia article: Jovanka Houska

Last updated: 2019-04-23 15:03:50

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 44; games 1-25 of 1,078  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. R Hardy vs J Houska  0-137199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
2. J Houska vs L Cooper  0-126199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenC44 King's Pawn Game
3. M Lyell vs J Houska  1-044199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
4. J Houska vs C N J Rose  0-156199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB83 Sicilian
5. J Houska vs B Cafferty  0-170199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB03 Alekhine's Defense
6. Abdelmalek Tazaroute vs J Houska  0-132199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenD13 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation
7. J Houska vs I Dahl  0-130199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB12 Caro-Kann Defense
8. J Houska vs N Lendvai-Wells  ½-½65199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB58 Sicilian
9. M Pflug vs J Houska  1-063199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
10. B Roy Chowdhury vs J Houska  0-131199317th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
11. A Freeman vs J Houska  1-084199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenA11 English, Caro-Kann Defensive System
12. J Houska vs W Gerald West  1-025199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenC44 King's Pawn Game
13. A Sheehan vs J Houska  1-024199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
14. J Houska vs D McMahon  0-140199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenC44 King's Pawn Game
15. K I Norman vs J Houska  ½-½32199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenD46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
16. J Houska vs Krister Larsson  0-159199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB83 Sicilian
17. O Pedersen vs J Houska  1-031199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB01 Scandinavian
18. J Houska vs G Parker  1-044199418th Lloyds Bank Masters OpenC44 King's Pawn Game
19. I Lauterbach vs J Houska  1-0311994Menchik Memorial OpenB01 Scandinavian
20. J Houska vs J Ho ½-½1121994Menchik Memorial OpenB73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
21. A Hunt vs J Houska  1-0551994Menchik Memorial OpenB01 Scandinavian
22. J Houska vs J Hajkova-Maskova  0-1681994Menchik Memorial OpenB33 Sicilian
23. P Fink-Nunn vs J Houska  1-0471994Menchik Memorial OpenB01 Scandinavian
24. J Houska vs S Orsagova  ½-½281994Menchik Memorial OpenC42 Petrov Defense
25. J Houska vs P Fenn  0-1601994Menchik Memorial OpenB00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening
 page 1 of 44; games 1-25 of 1,078  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Houska wins | Houska loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-26-07  tud: Much better in reality ! - not very photogenic looks like
Aug-09-07  Karpova: http://www.howardstaunton.com/hsmt2... Round 1, first picture
Oct-30-07  Udit Narayan: Have to say she looks stunning in this picture....and she beat Lahno in the European team event, so all the more credit to her:

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2007/...

Oct-30-07  DCP23: <Udit Narayan>: <and she beat Lahno in the European team event>

She did nothing of the kind. The game Houska vs Lahno was a draw.

Oct-30-07  Udit Narayan: <DCP23> You're right...I guess I read that chessbase article too quickly.
Nov-24-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Her recent "Play the Caro-Kann" is quite good(according to some reviews).
Apr-18-08  DanielBryant: <ketchuplover> I've learned a lot from the book, although it should be noted that she does favor offbeat lines and introduce a number of novelties. I followed her Fantasy Variation analysis in a correspondence game in which I was black and found myself lost when my opponent deviated after ten moves. However, with the more mainstream CK lines, she does devote more attention and considers most plausible variations.

The two chapters dealing with the CK Advance Variation consider 3...c5 rather than 3...Bf5 exclusively. At first, I was skeptical of this line, but Houska preps the reader for this line well.

Nov-17-08  whiteshark: Jovanka Houska @ Dresden 2008: http://chessbase.de/2008/dresdenoly...
Dec-25-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: For you ICC Members, she was interviewed by John Watson on his show last night! It's available on replay of course.
Jan-12-09  brankat: An excellent result for Jovanka in Hastings, 6/9, +5 -2 =2. Ahead of a few GMs.
Mar-26-10  Caissanist: If you go to the Google translator and ask it translate "Paehtz" from German to English, it will come back with "Houska": http://www.google.com/language_tool...
Jul-30-10  waustad: Good start to the British Championship so far, equal second behind Adams.
Jul-30-10  twinlark: What a bunch of perverts this page has posting all these photos of this lady!

Does anyone have any more recent ones?

Mar-02-11  JonDSouzaEva: She's England's #2 woman (behind Harriet Hunt), but not Britain's - Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant is probably better than both at the moment.
Dec-12-11  waustad: During the London broadcast one of the announcers mentioned that she needed a draw in the next round to get a GM norm. She lost in the last round but drew in the second last, so I don't know if she got it or not.
Dec-05-12  waustad: She is now playing against Jonathan Hawkins in the 5th round of the Open section on London. Looking at the FIDE norms page: http://ratings.fide.com/title_norms... it appears that Hawkins has at leas one GM norm but I don't see any for Houska. The are both at 3.5/4 so far so a norm could be in reach.
Aug-17-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Is Jiri Houska related? tyia
Sep-01-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Jiri Houska is Jovanka's brother.
Jan-05-17  waustad: She is co-author of a chess themed romance novel called "The Mating Game." I started it hoping for something like "Queens Gambit" by Walter Tevis or the more recent "Lisa: a Chess Novel." I'll probably finish it sometime, but I don't think I'm the target audience.
Jan-05-17  waustad: By the way, the heroine plays the Caro-Kann.
Jul-02-17  Octavia: Tomorrow is your last chance to watch her in action with gentleman Jasser Seirawan analysing blitz games in Leuwen.

She's doing a great job!

May-24-21  Messiah: Surprisingly undercommented.
Jun-10-21  Nosnibor: Happy 40th birthday Jovanka! I do not understand why you are not on the birthday list for today.
Jun-10-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Nosnibor>, there are other such oversights; bank on it.
Oct-21-21  Albertan: An interview with Jovanka is at:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/inter...

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