“The ‘s’ is silent,” explains Anais, who has just turned 20. “You pronounce it like ‘A-nay’.” Correcting people with the pronunciation of her name is second nature. “I am used to it,” she laughs.
However, this former pupil of Potchefstroom Gymnasium and now BCom Tourism Management student at the North-West University (NWU) does most of her talking on the chessboard. Look, this is a chess fundi if you have never seen one.
She was not even 16 when she represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in India, and from 11 to 17 September this year she will be part of the University Sports South Africa team participating in the World Universities Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
“I am looking forward to it a lot. In India I made so many friends with whom I still maintain contact. I am sure it will be the same in Belgium,” she says.
With terminology like the Grünfeld defence, the King’s Indian attack and enough jawbreakers to strike you dumb for a very long time, chess can be an inaccessible and even intimidating prospect for potential players.
Yet the interest in chess surged during the pandemic with the release of the popular Netflix series, The Queen's Gambit, which focuses on the rise of the fictitious chess wunderkind Beth Harmon in the world of chess. “Everyone contacted me and wanted to learn to play chess,” she says.
Not so easy, is it?
“I believe you must have a natural feeling for playing chess and I think I have that talent. You must have a talent for the game and you must be able to think strategically.”
The development of this talent is a bone of contention, however.
“According to my sister I played chess against her and lost. I do not like losing, so I started working extra hard, but that is her story. I started playing chess at primary school because it was cool. I met so many friends. Chess players are sincere people. Win or lose, you walk out together after a game and talk. I love the sport and love people who play the sport.”
Her chess heroes are the enigmatic and extremely eccentric American, Bobby Fischer, as well as the Hungarian pioneer, Judit Polgár, who is widely seen as the leading female chess player of all times.
“Bobby Fischer was a bit mad. He made moves that everybody questioned and caught players on the wrong foot. I also like playing like that.
“I do not think I have ever played the same game more than once. Every opponent plays a different game. Some are more aggressive, while others like to hold back. That is what makes it cool.”
She describes her own style as more conservative, although she implements an attacking style when she plays with black. Then she also has an affinity for her bishops, with which she has caused enormous damage.
Close your eyes quickly and imagine a chess player. What do you see? That image, that misperception, really bugs Anais.
“I am an extrovert, and I regularly get people who ask me in amazement: ‘Do you really play chess?’ Everyone assumes that you have to comply with certain criteria or fit into a certain box to be a chess player. My friends have the same experience. We do not just sit and read books.”
No, because chess requires perseverance and skill. It is a battle on 64 squares with 32 pieces that only the shrewdest general will win. And that is cool.
Anais Saayman
