A Conversation with the Champ



IM Nazi Paikidze It is my pleasure to interview the 2016 US Women's Chess Champion - IM and WGM Nazi Paikidze . During this interview we get to know Nazi personally and then discuss her 2016 US Championship victory and tournament preparation in general. Enjoy!





Getting to Know Her





Question: When you are not studying or playing chess, what do you like to do - e.g. do you have any hobbies or interests outside of chess?

Answer: When I am not busy with chess, I like to workout at the gym, I try to lead a healthy life style and daily fitness is a big part of it. I also enjoy cooking, reading, and spending time with my family.



Queston: If you were not playing chess (professionally), what would you want to do?

Answer: My second career choice would be fashion designer.





Question: Very interesting! Do you see a connection with chess? Perhaps within the aesthetic aspects of chess and fashion?

Answer: Fashion is my other passion. I don't see any connection between chess and fashion, for me they are two completely different things.







Early Development in Chess





Question: When did you first start playing chess and how did you learn?

Answer: My father taught me how to play chess when I was only 5 years old. I really enjoyed the game and wanted to learn more. Luckily, chess was a part of curriculum at my elementary school in Tbilisi, Georgia. That's how the journey began...



Question: Where there any obstacles you faced when becoming a master and how did you overcome them?

Answer: Actually, becoming a master was relatively easy for me. Thanks to my parents, who were very supportive of my career. I always had great coaches to train with, and I was able to travel around the world playing strong international tournaments.



Question: Growing up, did you have any favorite players that you admired or whose games you enjoyed studying?

A: I have a lot of favorite players, but growing up my two absolute favorites were: Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. They influenced my opening choices: Najdorf and Caro-Kann.

Question: Fischer was one of mine as well - what was it about their style or their games that you like?

A: I loved Fischer's aggressive style and Karpov's positional play. I think the two had very different styles and I tried to learn from both.

Question: When I was researching for the interview, I found an article that mentioned that she had worked with a trainer for several years, but the information was incorrect. I then asked her about her coaches in general.

Answer: I had several coaches over the years, the last one I worked with was a Russian GM - Vladimir Belov. He helped me reach my peak FIDE rating - 2455. However, I have not had a coach since I moved to the states (2012).



Question: Did they each teach you something different about chess? Help us understand the value of having coaches and how each coach can bring about different aspects of your play.

Answer: It's always good to see things from different perspectives; that is why I enjoyed learning from different coaches. Some of them helped me learn openings, some helped me improve my understanding of middle games, and with some I trained endgames.





The 2016 US Championship





Nazi won the 2016 US Women's Championship with a score of 8.5/11, winning the championship in the final round with a victory over 7-time US Women's Champion GM Irina Krush. Congratulations!



Question: You came in second in the 2015 championship. Where there any particular changes you made in your preparation or training between 2015 and 2016?

Answer: The big change was my in self-confidence. In 2015, when I was playing the championship for the first time, I was very nervous, and did not believe I could finish on top. After the result, I became confident that I am able to fight for the first. That's what I did in 2016 and it paid off.



Question: Do you have a favorite game from the tournament?



Answer: My favorite game is the last game vs Irina Krush. I have made a video of it with my analysis on chess.com





Below is the decisive game from the US Women's Championship. I have chosen to present it without annotations and I encourage you to check out her video on chess.com.













Tournament Preparation in General





Question: What advice would you give to amateur players to prepare for their tournaments?

Answer: My recipe for a tournament preparation is:



Do a lot of tactics/puzzles (as many as 100 a day),

Repeat openings, and

Play practice games (blitz or rapid). (Bryan: I formatted Nazi's response into a bulleted list for clarity)



Question: In your tournament preparation, you mention practice games - do you play with other training partners or against the computer (or both)?

Answer: I play blitz online mostly, but I also ask some friends of mine to play training games with me. I am lucky to have many strong chess player friends.

Question: In your practice games, do you focus on specific openings you are preparing?

Answer: Not necessarily, I just try to practice playing so I am in shape for the tournament.



Question: Besides chess preparation, do you do any mental or physical training before your tournaments?

Answer: I train physically every day. I believe it is extremely important to be in a good physical shape to have all the energy last for the whole tournament. I also like to read Sports Psychology books for mental training.



Question: Do you feel pressure or nervousness before an important round or in general during tournaments and how do you deal with it?

Answer: Absolutely. Nervousness and anxieties are part of the tournament. When I feel nervous, I know it is a good sign. It means I care. To deal with it, I try to prepare better for my upcoming games.

Question: Between the rounds of the tournament, do you analyze chess or rest (or a little of both)?

Answer: I try to rest and prepare for the next game. I don't analyze my games until the tournament is over.



Future Goals or Projects





Question: Do you have any chess (or non-chess) goals or projects you would like to share with our readers?

A: Right now I am enjoying teaching chess. Soon I will start my preparation for the upcoming Olympiad where I will be representing USA Women's Team. It is going to be my first time playing Olympiad, and I am very excited and I will try my best to bring points to the team.



Question: Do you have a website or social media where readers can contact or follow you?

