Hello and welcome to my JustGiving page!

I've set myself a big challenge. I'm taking a 10 months sabbatical and I want to spend all of that time on improving my chess. My aim is to get into the English women's team in time for Chess Olympiad in September 2010. It will be very tough!! I'll have to train several hours every day and practice by regularly playing in international tournaments.

My serious challenge gives me a great opportunity to further increase my motivation by supporting a charity. My chosen charity is "Save The Children". This charity saves childrens' lives and campaigns for their rights in the UK and all over the world. I hope you would be encouraged to give your generous support to the charity as you observe me struggle through many ups and downs in the next year. Your donations are highly appreciated.

Detailed progress of my challenge is on my blog: http://www.maria-yurenok.blogspot.com/

Maria [25th August 2009]

P.S. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.