"The opponent's level doesn't matter"

Three years ago, Anna Shukhman's name appeared in elite chess: the winning march began with two gold medals at the World Composition Championship and a bronze at the Russian Women's Cup. The Orenburg native created a sensation in 2023, qualifying for the women's superfinal from second place in the Major League.

At the end of the summer of 2025, a few weeks after the Women's World Cup, Anna brought gold from Colombia, where she competed for the Russian national U-16 team at the Olympics along with fellow grandmasters Savva Vetokhin, Artyom Uskov and Ivan Zemlyansky. On her mother's birthday on October 12, 2025, Anna Shukhman made history: she managed not only to win the Russian Women's Championship, but also to become the youngest holder of this title, breaking the record of the legendary Alexandra Goryachkina. Anna told Izvestia and Sport-Express in an interview about how the dramatic events of the women's Superfinal unfolded, what emotions the tournament leader experiences at crucial moments, as well as about sports goals and kind words addressed to the coaches.

It turned out to be an exhausting tournament, with many difficult games

— Anya, you are a real fighter and a hero. Congratulations on this important title in your career. How do you feel now? After all, you managed not only to take the trophy, but also to make history: to become the youngest champion of Russia.

— Thank you! I'm very happy, but I'm very tired. It turned out to be an exhausting tournament, with many difficult games.

— What were your first thoughts after it became officially known?: Are you a champion? You've been waiting for hours for the outcome of one of the games, and now it's done!

— Relief.

"Worried?"

- of course.

— Did your support group come to the Superfinal with you? Who was rooting for you at the Central Chess Player's House, and who was rooting for you online?

— I have a lot of fans online, especially in my native Orenburg. My mother and coach Olga Mikhailovna Sukhareva were with me at the Central School of Economics.

— What did the coaches say when you won the main trophy? Will you tell me a secret — who is on your training staff?

— The coaches praised it, the last game turned out to be quite strong. In addition to Olga Mikhailovna, my training is supervised by the coach of the Russian women's national team, grandmaster Evgeny Yuryevich Nayer. I am constantly working with other mentors at training camps and online classes at the Russian Chess School.

— Did you start preparing for the tie-break in advance in case there was one? I would have to play against the very experienced and technical Daria Charochkina, who was the vice-champion of the country last year.

— I didn't prepare in advance. I watched the games for a bit while she continued to fight.

— How do you set yourself up for the party? Does the level of your opponents play a role, or do you feel comfortable against both experienced chess players and those who are inferior to you in class?

— The level doesn't matter, you have to give your best in every game.

— What were the key moments in this tournament for you and why?

— The key game was the last game [with Leia Garifullina], when it was necessary to win in order to fight for the first place.

— What will you do with the prize car? As far as I know, you can learn to drive up to the age of 18, but a driver's license is issued after the age of majority.

— There definitely won't be enough time to learn how to drive until I graduate from high school. It is unclear what to do with the car. So far, there is only a framed certificate.

Shukhman and mate: how a talented junior broke Goryachkina's record

Anna won the Superfinal of the Russian Chess Championship, and Arseny Nesterov won the open tournament for the first time.

There is no limit to perfection. I will try to play better.

— What tournaments are on your calendar until the end of this year? Where can we see the youngest Russian classical chess champion?

— I will play at the Women's World Team Championship in Spain in November, and at the Rapid and Blitz World Championships in Qatar in December.

— I would like to ask about the past tournaments. The Girls' World Cup, the Under-16 Olympics, the Women's World Cup, the Big Swiss: where did you like the most in terms of organization, parties, and games?

— There are pros and cons everywhere. In general, the organizers tried to make a good tournament everywhere.

— Apparently, in life you are a fighter who also knows how to learn from every game played. Did you manage to try out any preparations specifically for the Russian championship at these tournaments?

— More often blanks appear during the tournament. For the classic tournament series, a lot of work has been done to study modern openings in depth, and it has yielded good results.

— How do you like the new control option — 45+10 at the Under-16 Olympics? Should it be introduced in other competitions?

— If you play two games every day, like at the Olympics, then a short control is much better than a long one. As a result, classic tournaments can be played in five days, which will result in great savings on accommodation.

— And your favorite control?

— Blitz mode is three minutes per game plus two seconds for each move.

— Does this have anything to do with the difference in your ratings for classical, fast and lightning chess? Or did it just happen that way?

— No, the rapid and blitz rankings are lower because I play fewer tournaments in them. Especially since I missed last year's rapid and Blitz World Championships in the USA.

— How did your family celebrate the title of women's grandmaster that you received a few months ago? Will you celebrate your victory in the Superfinal?

— We celebrated the victory at the junior World Championships, and the title is just an appendix to it. We will celebrate the victory in the Superfinal together with mom's birthday in the family circle.

— Is the next step the men's grandmaster title, or is your sporting goal independent of the title?

— The goal does not depend much on the title, you still need to grow up to be a male grandmaster.

— And the main sporting goal is...

— There is no limit to perfection. I will try to play better.