2007 U.S. Women's Chess Championship - Battsetseg

WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg Here are the basics from the 2007 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship website: Born: Mongolia Date of Birth: January 30, 1972 Home: Ellicott City, Maryland Ratings: USCF 2234, FIDE 2241 Wife, mother, chessplayer. She was awarded a full chess scholarship by UMBC and has done community outreach work on behalf of the Chess Club at UTD. From an interview Jim Perry did with Battsetseg during the 2003 U.S. Chess Championships. JFP: What about this format where the championship is mixed gender. Is that something you like? Tsagaan: It's definitely hard for us to even make a draw against the men, but that's going to benefit us, because by playing stronger players even though we lose, we learn a lot and eventually our skill will improve. JFP: Do you think there is going to come a time when the girls are going to beat the boys? Win this event perhaps? Tsagaan: Jennifer [Shahade] had a really big surprise last year. She proved we can play against the men, so I'm hoping it's not going to be much difference between men and women. But maybe a woman has more responsibilities in her life. We are taking care of kids, sometimes leaving not much time for studying chess. I don't think there is much difference as far as capability of playing chess. JFP: In this country, the vast majority of players at all levels are men. Why do you think that there are so few women who play chess? Tsagaan: I don't know. Maybe it's a culture difference. It is a good thing that the number of women who are playing chess is increasing. That's a good thing. Battsetseg learned to play chess when she was 5 or 6 years old. At the 2005 combined U.S. Chess Championships, she earned a WGM norm and a year later at the 2006 combined Championships she earned another WGM norm. This year it’s going to be tough making a WGM norm, she’ll need 6.5/9!