Another excerpt from my upcoming autobiography (March 11, 2025) If anything, the hostile treatment I was getting from the authorities was the best motivator I could have hoped for, because my chess improved by leaps and bounds during that period. By January of 1983, I had become among the top ten female players in […]
Up Against the Big Guns
π πππππΎπ πππΎπ½πππΎπ½ πΎππΌπΎπππ πΏπππ ππ πππΌπππππ πΊππππ»πππππΊπππ (πΎπππΎπΌππΎπ½ ππ π»πΎ ππΎπ πΎπΊππΎπ½ πΏππ πΆπππΎπ’π π§ππππππ π¬ππππ π€π’π€π§) …the classical chess tournaments that had defined my career up until that point started to feel unsatisfying, repetitive even. So I began to seek out different formats and new challenges. Maybe this was Bobby’s influence (πΈπ¦ πΈπ°π³π¬π¦π₯ π΅π°π¨π¦π΅π©π¦π³ π΅π° […]
Locked Behind the Iron Curtain
Another unedited excerpt from my upcoming autobiography (expected to be out on March 11, 2025): For the next few years, I became a prisoner of sorts, locked behind the Iron Curtain, not sure if I would ever be allowed to leave again to compete. At first, it seemed inconceivable to me that my own government […]
The Final Hurdle To History!
Another unedited excerpt of my upcoming autobiography: The final hurdle to making history! We ended the year (1990) back in Spain, for a tournament in Pamplona, the city best known for its famous “running of the bulls.” Locally, it’s just as famous for its New Year’s Eve carnival, which just happened to be in full […]