It was never my ambition to win the World championship... its importance dawned on me years later: Antoaneta Stefanova Premium

Antoaneta Stefanova, World chess champion, discusses her career, politics, and the future of chess in an interview.

Antoaneta Stefanova became the 10th women’s World chess champion in 2004. She won the World rapid chess championship in 2012. She continues to be an active player at 45, having led Bulgaria to victory at the European women’s team championship last year. She is also a politician and was her party’s Prime Ministerial candidate three years ago. Excerpts from an interview Stefanova gave The Hindu in London, where she was a brand ambassador of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League:

You have been playing the Chess Olympiad since 1992. You played this year’s Olympiad too, at Budapest recently.

It is an honour playing for your country and I hope I am giving a good example to our young Bulgarian players. And I am also motivated by the fact that there is a strong young generation of female chess players in Bulgaria, and I love playing with them at the team events like the Olympiad. We have players like Nurgyul Salimova and Beloslava Krasteva. Budapest was my 15th Olympiad, where all my teammates, who played from boards two to five, were aged between 20 and 23. I think we did well by finishing 10th, better than our seeding.

Were you surprised by India’s twin triumph, winning both the open and women’ events?

No, I think it is only natural when a country is putting so much into chess. Chess is so popular in India and I have seen all these players from a very young age. I have seen them in tournaments. I know that they are getting good support. They have their trainers and they have their family. I think parental support is one of the main reasons for the success of India in chess. I think it is the only country that has the supporting family members travelling with the players. I remember D. Harika’s grandmother accompanying her for events all over the world.

There is also the fact that there are big groups of Indian players going to all the tournaments. So they feel they are in a nice, familiar environment. They don’t feel that they are alone when playing against everybody else. They feel like they are with their friends, with their family, their coaches.

When you were a young girl, you travelled to tournaments on your own?