Out of the Limelight

In her interview to PE✪PLETALK, the “Tsarina of Russia” Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina dispelled the myth that the life of a chess Grandmaster is a sedentary life: “I often celebrate the New Year on the plane, or if I manage to arrive a couple of hours before midnight, we quickly cut the salad, and then eat and go to bed”, she said. “So, for me, that is just a day like all others”. She was Vice Women’s World Champion in 2020 and Women’s Chess World Cup queen in 2023, but still she is studying and learning how to cope with the limelight: “A few years ago, in 2020, when I played for the world title, my popularity was even higher than now, but I didn’t like it. I had a feeling of unease and closed myself off”, Goryachkina recalled. “Now I take it more calmly, more easily, but still I don’t strive for popularity”. And finally, she shared her experience on how to rise after a fall: “To be sure, when I fail, I don’t hit my head against the wall. I feel sorry for myself for a couple of weeks, then I forget and get to work again”. Photo: PE✪PLETALK.