Swedish grandmaster reflects on her life in chess, how she learnt to play and came to be a professional. She also considers the whole question of women in chess.
She talked about Anna growing up with her bringing bringing Anna around with her to chess games and how it must've been hard for her. Now at least, it seems like Anna wouldn't have had it any other way, seeing as how successful she at this point. Hell, I only know about Pia because of Anna, but extremely grateful that I have now.
Anna doesn't seem to have suffered from her mum playing chess. Pia you have brought up a beautiful young woman. I think you have won at chess and as a mum.
If anything, Anna's more successful and maybe happier (at LEAST on camera) then she might have otherwise been. And I'm sure she's extremely grateful to Pia for that. Honestly, Pia has become a lot more widely known since Anna started streaming and putting out videos which I'm thankful for because I might not have even known about her otherwise.
@@fifis677 I agree. She is doing a really good job of getting chess out of the closet and making it more widely know to those who might never have enjoyed chess. I like her trips into the parks, where she shows the variety of people who can and do enjoy this game. It is so refreshing after the stuffy cold war games between USA and Russia.
It is easy to learn from Pia as she is very supportive of Women's Chess, and as player very competitive. The love and support she gives to her daughter is much more important than many realize. It is a sign to the world that a great way to support women's chess is to have daughters who listen to your wise counsel as a mother!! Further, it promotes a more intimate family. Anna simply adores Pia. Bless you Pia Cramling! She is anxious to become her Mama! How many young women in this world can do that!? The world needs you both dearly.
I am proud of both you and Anna as a Swedish person. I am 38 years old, has never played chess. But recently I struggled with pretty severe insomnia and one morning I stumbled upon Anna´s channel I just fell in love with the dynamic of your whole family, but mostly between you and Anna. That same night/morning I watched a rerun of a match you commented and was sold. I don´t know if I am ever going to start playing my self, but I truly, truly think that if there are anyone who can take chess to the next level in the Swedish society it is you and Anna. If you and her acted as live comments during a tournament, kind of like in the UFC follow more than one game at a time (couple of minutes in each at a time and switch back and forth) I could see tens of thousands watching live. It would be so awesome. I didn´t want to comment about looks, but can not help it, it is obvious where Anna got hers from. Juan has two beautiful ladies in his life. Lucky man.
I love how Pia plays and her humility too. How amazing to be a chess family. So inspiring to me, and she must be incredibly proud of her daughter. Also, what a stunning place to play chess!
Liked the video before even watching, was excited to see this pop up. Pia is so nice to watch commentate. Pure love of the game, an absolute monster on the board, aand so humble and likeable. What an absolute gem.
Dear Pia. Thank you for posting this. And thank you for sharing your insights, impressions, memories and thoughts. I have enjoyed and appreciated this video. As an "interview", I especially appreciate the editing. The interviewer is never heard, but your responses make the questions from the interviewer clear. Once again, and always, thank you.
Lovely interview. I started following this tournament because of Eric, but it's such a cool mix of players in a unique setup and I've just been drawn into the whole thing. Hopefully we get to hear from more of the players in a format like this.
Great interview with an amazing person! She's talking about making a living, not to mention the attitude that she must have come across over the years (see Kasparov comments in the 80s...!), BIG kudos :-)
For me, the part about encouraging women to play chess was both wholesome and insightful. Had no idea, the number of female players were so low, and i hope that theese numbers will go up! And im sure, with amazing people like Pia Cramling and her daughter that this will happen, and im glad to see them getting the publicity they deserve!
I gave Pia a chess pendant in NYC many years ago. I also gave on to Judit was just a youngster. I know Judit still has hers in a jewelry box. I always wonder if Pia kept hers. I love following Anna and her parents. Watch the video where Anna shows the COW opening to them it was priceless. Too, funny when Pia "laid down the law" to her husband when she told he could only try it in blitz not classical. I recommend watching any of Anne's videos it will alway put a smile on your face.
Problem with women who "accept" women only titles and women only tournaments as their queendom is that they most of them decide to stop improving once they reached the women Top 20, because they accept this as "their" role in the sport of chess. And it's so wrong, like inspiring movies like that with Beth Harmon show, like inspiring women like Judit Polgar show. Polgar decided not to accept women only titles and not to accept women only tournaments. She decided to continue improving and so she reached the overall Top 20. It felt so right to have a woman there at the top, beating the crap out of males on the chessboard.
@BlackStarASMR There is nothing stopping women from competing with the men in an open tournament. Doesn't mean that women-only competitions should not be held anymore.
6:45 "It's also more happiness when things go in the way of the team than when we are sex festival"? My word, things must have been different back then.
See how Pia carefully explain that men and women has differences. Even chess is none contact sports. While the other sports its okey to compete as long theres trans in your gender its okey.
No, she just said the women-only events are for women to feel more comfortable getting into the game (being the only women at a chess club can be a distraction - considering 90% of players are men) and making friends. Once the social confidence is built, then they can learn to enjoy the game and play men. However, the ratings for women-only events are lower. So the most serious of women would move on to compete in mixed gender events. They are not limited to women-only.
@@zerere_ I wanted to hear about her path, not about being women and about women in general in chess. This is so tiring, it's always the same agenda everywhere.
@@josemessias829 the agenda of it being the truth? When you meet the same thing over and over again maybe it has a reason for being that way huh smart fuck. It is tiresome but part of her journey and all of the 15% of players. What can she tell you in 8 mins. Look up her biography if you're so interested
I find it weird that the interview focuses so much on being a female chess player. What the heck does gender have to do with her achievements or passion for chess?
Come on, women, get rid of your women only titles, your women only tournaments and join us men in a more gender mixed sport of chess, like Judit Polgar did! We won't bite ... except for on the chessboard. ;-) It's 2023. Let's play together! Only your skill matters!
5:50 making two teams equal in ratings means nothing then when it comes to men vs women. You should have two teams of the strongest men vs the strongest women in order to have a true men vs women competition. Don't call it men vs women if you equalize rating.
@@ES-rs5fo That doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't that mean everyone is on an even biological playing field? As opposed to a physical competition where men would dominate every time?
@@stevem437 the difference is the overall amount of players. Women in chess make less than 15%, so there are less women GM for that reason. So it makes it easier to find a genius like Magnus when the pool of players is bigger.
While I see your point, the argument could also be made that the brain is a muscle, just like any other part of the body that one can improve and grow (perhaps not in a "physical" sense, but improvement nonetheless). Another thing I would even consider is, for instance, the sport of BOXING (or all of martial arts), many well known fighters including the famous, Mike Tyson, have said that fighting is 90-99% a mental game and barely any real skills. I don't think we should underestimate the influence that chess has made in societies with and through expert individuals.
You know what's funny? If there would be a "men only" events in chess, then women would scream "DISCRIMINATION!", but at the same time they play "women only" events. I don't think that's fair or good. A man has to play much, much better than a professional woman player to earn the same money as her. If you are a male GM with ELO 2600 you barely make money with chess. But when you are a female GM with ELO 2600 you can make tons of money and live from chess very easily, probably become the women's world champion. I wonder what will happen if some male super GM with ELO 2650+ will come out as trans and will have a sex change from male to female. Then this trans woman will probably be the strongest female player in the entire world instantly. Before the sex change "(s)he" could barely make any money with chess, but after the sex change the trans woman could make tons of money, just because of sex change. This shows how stupid and unfair it is to differentiate between men and women in chess. I simply hope that more women will get to super GM level with ELO 2700+ soon and maybe at some point in the future a woman will beat everyone else, especially all men, and become the first world champion in chess. Since chess does not require physical strength, I can't see that women have a disadvantage in chess and I can't see why there is "only women" events/titles. Unfair, wrong, discriminatory. Women should learn to play stronger and put more effort in their chess at the professional level. Then we will see 2700+ ELO female players again (after Polgar).
A WGM is a lower rating than a GM. So it's disadvantageous of a woman to ONLY compete in woman-only events. Judit Polgar refused to play in them. I think the women-only events are just to build social confidence in women so that they don't start out being the only one at a sausage party. lol
