WGM Dina Belenkaya

WGM Dina Belenkaya is an active tournament player, chess commentator, and streamer. As a player, she has won the St. Petersburg Chess Championship four times, and has played in several European Championships and World Cups (including in 2021!). As a commentator, she has provided commentary for the Online Olympiad, Corporate Chess Championship, and even official commentary for the FIDE broadcast of the 2021 Women's World Cup. She also streams chess on Twitch with her sister Asya, and their channel (@TheBelenkaya) has seen massive growth over the last year. I was delighted to have WGM Belenkaya on my show this week.

Some highlights from this week's episode:

• Collaborating on content with "chess influencers" in Sochi

• Transitioning from playing in the Women's World Cup to providing official commentary for FIDE

• The difference between knockout vs. Swiss tournaments as a player vs. as a fan

• How does Dina make commentary exciting for classical chess tournaments? Plus, how to be a "good" chess commentator

• Getting started streaming on Twitch during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Learning chess from her mom and battling against a "patriarchal" chess culture in Russia

• Ideas for combating gender disparities in the chess world, particularly in terms of participation and prize money

• Dina's short-term and long-term career goals

• FIDE's great progress in promoting careers for women across the chess world, from arbiters to executive positions

• Sharing a similar opening repertoire with me, and geeking out over the Caro-Kann :-)

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Thanks to WGM Dina Belenkaya for joining the show -- follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her Twitch channel!

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