Friday, November 8, 2024

Sweets to the Sweet

Three-time Russian Women’s Chess Champion Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina took first place, undefeated, at the 2nd stage of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024–25 in Shimkent, Kazakhstan, half a point ahead of 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí). “In general, I didn’t expect such a performance, but I played very well in all but one of my games, my first one against Lagno, where, somehow, I managed to hold my own”, Goryachkina said to TASS. “Then I began to win. The tournament went well, and in my last-round game I took care that no accident would happen to me”.
In a more informal conversation with Charlize van Zyl (see video below), when asked about her future ambitions, Goryachkina peremptorily answered: “Now I play for pleasure only”. Usually reserved, now she felt chatty enough to tell her interviewer that she and dear ones would celebrate victory by eating a cake just for the sake of being happy.

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