April Cronin, Chess Player

The Queen’s Gambit show on Netflix in 2020 captivated audience worldwide. But only well-informed chess community knows that Ireland has its own female chess champion. April received her first chess set when she was eight years old. In 1972, she bought a book about the famous Fischer-Spassky chess match and took it with her on a family holiday to the West of Ireland. One rainy afternoon, a French gentleman, also on holiday there, asked April to join him for a game of chess. Afterwards, he suggested to her parents that she join a chess club. A room full of smoke and middle-aged men all playing chess made April feel as though she had died and gone to heaven. She went on to represent Ireland in the World Chess Olympiads, ranking as Ireland’s top female player throughout the 1980’s. Before retirement she has worked as a Primary School Principal. She still coaches her school’s chess team, and the next generation of Chess Champions.

I'm not always as calm as I look. Being (or appearing to be) laid-back is hard work. But I learned to fake it over the chessboard: when I had just made a bad move or knew my position was difficult, I kept a calm "chess face" - nearly as good as a poker face.