Between Two Empires

On the day before Christmas, the challenger to the Women’s World Chess Championship title, Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina, seated amidst FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich and Russian Chess Federation Executive Director Mark Vladimirovich Glukhovsky at Moscow’s TASS multimedia press centre, showing off a turquoise dress with a brooch above her left breast provided to her by Yekaterinburg’s online multibrand wholesale shopping centre named “SIMA-LAND” — which will sponsor her all along — made a few statements prior to leaving to China. “I did all my best to prepare myself for the challenge, and I felt the chess fever coming toward me on my last days in Moscow”, Goryachkina said. “Who will help me? I’m sorry, but I will keep it a secret for now. I am very grateful to the Russian Chess Federation, and I will do my best to deserve all they have done for me. Usually I do acclimatise well in China, so I shall celebrate New Year here in Moscow. Then I will fly to China”. Nothing leaks out from the other side — but it is likely that 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) too is experiencing the same “unbearable lightness of being”. No doubt the recent power changes in the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) have put a heavy burden of responsibility on 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s and Goryachkina’s shoulders, and only time will tell whether they will be able to make history. Or at least news. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/TASS via Getty Images.