On the way to the Candidates: Nana Dzagnidze

Nana was eight years old when we were drawn to play each other in round two. She was ill, her nose was swollen red and her eyes were watering badly. It was a bad cold, probably caused by the catastrophic conditions at site. Verdun was my second European Championship participation, and unlike the first, the participants were not provided with accommodation. They just got a communal sports hall for overnight stays. Nowadays, that can best be compared to a refugee camp, but in the 90s it was not uncommon.

The German delegation decided to look for alternative accommodation, on the first day, and quickly found something. The Georgians were probably not so lucky or did not have the financial means to do the same.

Anyway, I soon noticed that my game against Nana was slipping away from me, and in my desperation I offered my young opponent a draw, contrary to the usual rule, because it was my turn. But Nana was already super smart – at the age of eight! – and demanded that I should execute my move first.

GM Nana Dzagnidze

Nana was a New Year's child: she was born on January 1st 1987. Her father, a big chess fan, named her after the famous Georgian chess player Nana Alexsandria. Little Nana learnt chess at the age of five, and her first international success was becoming the European Champion of girls under ten, in Talin in 1997. After that she became the U12, U16, U18 and U20 world champion, and won the European Championship on several occasions. "I think my biggest successes in chess," says Nana, "were when my I and my Georgian Team won the Chess Olympiad in Dresden in 2008, when I became World Blitz Champion in Riyadh in 2017, and became European Women's Individual Champion in 2017. I have also twice won the FIDE Womens Grand Prix, in Jermuk in 2010, and then in Lausanne this year."

Over the years: Nana Dzagnidze at 21, 22, 29 and today.

Nana gained the full grandmaster title in 2008, after she scored 7/10 points at the Chess Olympiad. In 2017 she became the women's individual champion in Riga. At the Gibraltar Chess Festival, she won the prize for the best female player in 2009 and 2011. In 2017 she received the honorary FIDE award of Caissa as the best female player of the year.

In July 2010 Nana won the fourth leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix series in Jermuk, scoring +7 =4 and finishing 1½ points ahead of second-place player. This is the standing in the current Grand Prix:

Nana has outstanding chances to qualify for the next Candidate Tournament, as her only main rivals are Anna Muzychuk, Katja Lagno and Alina Kashlinskaya. Harika and Sasha Kosteniuk have finished their series, so they are not able to collect any further points, while Aleksandra Goryachkina is already seeded to the Candidates, as she was the runner-up of the previous Women's World chess Championship. Eventually Nana finishing ahead of any of the rivals mentioned above would give her the spot in the next candidates tournament.

As you probably know, in our replay board above there are a large number of functions you can use to really understand the game and the analysis. The biggest advantage is that you can start an engine (fan icon) that will help you to analyse. You can get multiple lines of analysis by clicking the + button to the right of the engine analysis window. The "!" key, incidentally, shows you the threat in any position, which is incredibly useful in the case of unclear moves.

There is one more thing you can do. It is a lot of fun, but also a serious challenge: Click on the rook icon below the notation window. This will allow you the play the above position against Fritz, at your level of playing strength (e.g. "Club Player"), right here on the news page. Note that your analysis, in which you can delete, move or promote lines, is stored in the notation as new variations. In the end you will find the game with your analysis in the cloud. So nothing is ever lost,

"And what would you have done if she had played Na6?" Elli and Nana doing analysis for the FIDE coverage of the 2019 Women's Candidates

Nana with her husband lasha and their sons Georg (5) and Nikoloz (7)

Mchadi with lobio and cheese

Interestingly when a while ago the most popular German chess magazine “Schach” asked a number of strong players the provocative question: “What would you do if there were no more chess in your life?” Nana was not worried at all. She said she would find some other occupation – perhaps, baker (why not?), and enjoy spending more time with her two little boys and family. Maybe lifetime happiness and no pressure is a great recipe for success.

But what is she baking in this picture? It's Mchadi, a very popular cornbread, traditionally eaten with lobio (beans) and cheese. It is not complicated to make: 400 grams of stone-ground cornmeal (preferably white), 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of cold water (may need more depending on the cornmeal). That's it. Add water to the cornmeal, little by little, so that the cornmeal becomes firm but not wet.

Heat the oil in a pan (medium heat) and add the dough. Smooth each piece with the back of a wet spoon. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes. Turn the dough over and cook uncovered for a further 5-6 minutes. You can also roast them in front of a fire. The Mchadi are golden brown when ready.