An Armor of Ice

Three-time Russian Women’s Chess Champion Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina gave an in-depth interview to the press attaché of the Russian Chess Federation, speaking on many topics, such as personal interests, good times, memories and expectations — which was quite unusual for her. The integral interview is available in English and Russian, and of course it’s worth reading in full. Just to excerpt a few lines here, it may be interesting to know how she felt about losing her Women’s World Chess Championship match to 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) in a dramatic tie-breaker: “It took me quite a while to come around after the match with 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn). I think that even if there was no pandemic, it would still be necessary to take a break, come to your senses and take stock of what is going on. I was just trying to recollect myself”. But the pandemic was there, and cancelled all her dates. She had an invitation to the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival, but no way to get there; then she was due to take part in the Women’s World Chess Cup at Minsk in September, but it was eventually cancelled: “In general, I never stopped preparing for tournaments, but it so happened that they either would not take place, or I would not make it there”, she said. And what’s about The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix’s hit drama? “To be honest, I am not a fan of chess-related movies. There is no lack of chess in my life, and the last thing I want to see is more chess. So I try to choose TV series or movies as a way to distract myself”, she answered. And finally, who’s her chess hero? Needless to say, she said, “I’ve never had any idols”. And so on — you can read more here. Photo © David Llada.