Chess is a game that helps develop thinking and character, but it takes a lot of time. This is a special intellectual art that can please and tickle the nerves. Svetlana Matveeva knows this very well. And he continues to love the ancient board game.
Chess youth
In early July, on the 4th of 1969, Svetlana Vladislavovna Matveeva was born in Frunze (now the city of Bishkek).
Her father graduated from the Aviation Institute in Samara, then began working at a military plant, and after a while - in the Council of Trade Unions. Svetlana's mother successfully and for a long time worked as a general practitioner.
It is very difficult not to start playing chess when your father and older brother are playing this old intellectual game at home. Little Sveta did not escape such consequences. At first, she watched her dad and her second-rate brother make their intended moves. Then a six-year-old girl asked them to introduce her to the rules of the board game.
Thus began a long chess journey. The first chess book that Svetlana read was “A Journey to the Chess Kingdom”. Already at the age of 13, Sveta won the main victory in the USSR Championship U18. At the age of 15, she also won the championship of the Soviet Union, but already among women, and at 16 she entered the interzonal tournament of the world championship. After such early victories, the famous grandmaster Leonid Yurtayev began to help the young chess player.
But Matveeva herself became a grandmaster very early: at the age of 20.
Chess captivated a gifted girl. Nevertheless, the plans were to study at the Kyrgyz University. And she entered the Faculty of Foreign Languages, but then transferred to the History Department.
When the USSR collapsed, unrest began to occur in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, Svetlana's family was forced to move to Rostov-on-Don. These circumstances did not allow her to finish her education at the university.
Serious achievements
Having moved to a new city, the young chess player began to gain serious victories here too: she won games against many grandmasters, including Peter Svidler. Thus, she fulfilled the male grandmaster norm. The chess player herself recalls that time in the following intonation: "It was, one might say, my finest hour."
Years passed, the history of chess continued, but there was still no worthy performance at the world level for the women's national chess team in our country. The main leadership of Russian chess in the 90s set a goal to change the usual situation and send the women's team, which included Svetlana Matveeva, to the World Olympics. Such an act was justified - “silver” and “bronze” were won.
A little time passed - Matveeva changed the city again: she moved to live in Moscow.
The chess career of Svetlana Vladislavovna Matveeva has developed to a high level. This can be confirmed by her titles and awards. She became the owner of the Russian Cup, won victories in the Major Leagues of the country's championships and several super tournaments among women. She won prizes in the Superfinals. She participated in the knockout world championships many times. In 2006, Matveeva reached the semifinals of the world chess championship, but lost to Xu Yuhua, who then won the final.
About personal
Svetlana's personal life did not work out in the usual sense: she never had a husband and her family. After all, not every man is able to live with a strong woman. But she does not create a great tragedy out of it. In such a life there are always advantages.
Thoughts and Beliefs
Svetlana is sure that chess contributes not only to intellectual development, but also to internal development. The game is a kind of mirror that accurately reflects your strengths and weaknesses, as well as strengths and weaknesses.
She considers sincerity to be the most important trait of a human character. And in difficult life situations, if you have the strength, it is always better to forgive a person in order to maintain your health.
