A chess players’ income is still small but they keep playing with courage, drive and the belief that it’s all worth it.
Raluca Sgircea, 32, is a World International Master chess player and coach. She was born in Romania and now lives between Bucharest and Javea, Spain. On her Instagram account there are lots of pictures with a chess board, she plays chess at home, at the gym and online; it’s obvious she is still obsessed with chess and she tries to inspire people to play chess too.
“My father is the one who was crazy about chess,” she tells me. “But he didn’t play for competition just in his neighbourhood. And then he got a daughter and he understood this is his chance to go to the tournament through me. So he started teaching me when I was three.” She says this with a big smile on her face.
It’s interesting that playing chess was not as popular as playing tennis or gymnastics among girls. When Sgircea started to go to competitions she knew almost all the girls who participated in tournaments. “When I was a kid we were few and we knew each other. There were less than 10 or eight girls. Now more girls play chess”. “Today social media and the internet have given access to learn chess easier and you can play chess online. It’s accessible to everybody.”
“You have to believe in yourself and think you are strong, good and can win. But also you have to understand that the loss is normal and do not suffer from it.”
If you get to the pro level or become a top player your income grows significantly but you have to play hard. “You always need to work hard in order to be a chess player. Talent can make this process easier for you but you always need to invest a lot of time in it. You need to see many games, develop your skills and logical thinking. In chess you have to be strong mentally. You have to believe in yourself and think you are strong, good and can win. But also you have to understand that the loss is normal and do not suffer from it. I see many kids suffering from the loss, it’s ok to lose. This is a part of the game, it’s not a tragedy.”
Sgircea’s greatest achievement in chess was at the age of 22 when she won the Woman International Master title. This award gave her the opportunity to play with the strongest chess players but she didn’t get any promo or ads contracts at that time and still doesn’t have any nowadays. “I’ve never heard about this or met any brand collaborations with chess players.” “I think chess players can be fashionable and influential, because they are smart, young, beautiful and motivational. I would be happy to collaborate with brands.”
It’s important to realise that women in chess are still paid less than women in tennis for instance where the prizes and promo contracts are overwhelming, so maybe that’s why many women are put off going into chess. “World champions earn good money. There are prizes in tournaments but not so much. It’s difficult to live on money from competitions because you need to compete a lot of time and the prize could be not enough for a living. Lots of players do coaching to earn money for their living.” She tells me this as if nothing will stop them from playing chess.
