Georgian Grandmaster Rusudan Goletiani looks back on her chess career
Rusudan Goletiani. (Photo from R. Goletiani’s archive)
TBILISI, January 5, 2020 - Georgian female chess players dominated the world chess scene for nearly 30 years (1962-1991). Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze became world champions five times each, Nana Aleksandria and Nana Ioseliani were world vice-champions, Nino Gurieli and Ketevan Arakhamia had great results as well. In the 1990s and last three decades, the Georgian national team and Georgian chess players have achieved incredible results at Chess Olympiads as well as World and European championships. Unfortunately, many young and very talented chess players were not able to reach their full potential given the very difficult economic situation of Georgia of the 1990s. Many young Georgian chess players have won the world youth championships under the age of 14, 16, and 18.
One of them was Rusudan Goletiani, who I met in the late 1980s in our hometown Sokhumi (Black sea side town of Georgia) where we both lived then. In 1990, when she was 10 years old, Rusudan became the USSR champion under the age of 12 (till 1991 Georgia was one of the republics of USSR, from 1991 Georgia regained its independence which was lost in 1921). In 1990 she tied for 2nd-4th place in the World Youth Championships under 12 in the USA. In 1993 Rusudan became a champion of the “SNG” (The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of old USSR). In 1994 she became the world youth champion under 14 in Bratislava, in 1996 the world youth champion under 16 in Brazil and 1997 the world youth champion under 18 in Yerevan. In 1999 she took second place in the European Championship under 20 in Armenia. Rusudan was living and representing Georgia during all those years. Many people were predicting a bright future for her but after 2000 she disappeared from the chess scene for a while. A couple of years later, Rusudan reappeared in the professional chess scene by winning the US Women’s Championship, the championship of the American Continent as well as World Chess Olympiad medal 2008. But let’s talk about it in detail.
(Photo from R. Goletiani’s archive)
The author of this article contacted Rusudan Goletiani, FIDE International Master and Woman Grandmaster, who has been living in New York for more than 20 years and asked her about her life, chess career, and all the obstacles she had to overcome to achieve success.
“I remember the day my dad taught me how to play chess in Sokhumi like it was yesterday. My first chess coach was a chess player from my home town Nodar Gelenava. He taught me a lot and gave me a good foundation. Shortly after I started to train with a famous chess master and coach from Sokhumi Michael Yailyan. Under his training, I was able to play my first ever world youth championship in 1990 in the USA and tie for 2nd -4th place. Shortly after that, I tragically lost my mother….”
In August of 1991 Rusudan Goletiani’s mom, Ada died in a terrible car crash, coming back from a chess tournament in Poti (Black sea side town of Georgia) where Rusudan was playing in an international chess tournament. The car in which Rusudan’s parents were coming back home (Rusudan stayed in Poti), got into an accident near the Khobi region. Rusudan’s mother died, her father was injured but was able to resume normal life after several months. Tengiz Goletiani who lives in Tbilisi since 1993, remembered telling his elementary school child: “It is up to you my daughter whether or not you want to continue to play chess, but remember, your mom loved you very much and your chess success made her extremely happy.” 11-year-old Rusudan decided to carry on with chess and continued to compete in tournaments. Her dad Tengiz, sister Sofia, and her coach Michael Yailyan helped her to regain strength and continue playing chess. One year later in August of 1992, new challenges were coming.
“In the summer of 1992, I moved to Sochi (Russia) where I continued to play chess and train with chess master Liubarski. In 1992 I became the Russia champion under the age of 14, and in 1993 champion of “SNG” (CIS) also under 14. In 1993 I returned to Georgia,” she said.
- While living in Russia, did you have offers to get Russian citizenship and play for the Russian federation?
I did have such offers but decided to move from Sochi to Tbilisi with my dad. At first, I trained by myself since we had no money to hire a coach. However, in a little while, famous coach Bagrat Gvenzadze started to train me for free. With his help, I became the world youth champion under 14. Shortly after, a famous trainer, Aleko Bokuchava also offered his coaching for free. With his help, I achieved new success and became the world youth champion under 18. I am forever grateful to both of them and will never forget their kindness. I was training daily and wanted to participate in more tournaments but the 90s in Georgia were very difficult. Georgian economy was in trouble, there were no financial resources for chess. Despite many people supporting me, my family was barely able to cover the living costs. I was unable to travel to tournaments because we had no money to cover the expenses. That’s when I decided it was time to create a better life and moved to the United States when I was 20 years old.
(Photo from R. Goletiani’s archive)
- Were you invited to move to America by chess players? There were rumors that you were marrying an American chess player…
I heard those rumors as well and they made me laugh because, in reality, things were different. When I first moved to the US, I lived with my best friend’s mom for a while. The first couple of years were not easy, I was learning English, babysitting, and teaching chess. I was making enough for living expenses and was able to send some money back to Georgia to support my family. One day I got a call from a world-famous chess player Susan Polgar, she knew me from previous chess tournaments (U16, U18) and told me she was putting a chess team of young and talented players together and wanted to invite me. I happily agreed and started to play competitive chess again. I trained with a famous chess player grandmaster Boris Gulko for a while. In 2003 I became the American continental champion in Venezuela and in 2005 I became the US Women’s champion. In 2008 I represented the US at the Dresden Chess Olympiad where the US team got a bronze medal and I earned a silver medal on my board.
As for marriage, I got married three years after moving to the US. My husband is also from Georgia, his name is Manuchar Surguladze. He moved to the US in 2001. We met in New York. Even though he is not a chess player, he likes the game and always supported me. We have three children, 13-year-old Sophie, 10-year-old Luka, and 7-year-old Andrew. All my kids play chess; Sophie also likes to swim and Luka loves ice hockey.
Rumors about being able to make a lot of money as a chess player in the US are also fairy tales. I won a chess scholarship once which allowed me to train and travel for free for a couple of years. Outside of that, however, I had to work hard teaching chess to make a living. Overall, I was happy with my chess career.
- You founded a chess club in New York and taught chess to kids, is that true?
Yes, I founded a chess academy with another chess coach. I was teaching kids and also training myself for tournaments, which I enjoyed immensely. After a while, I decided to go back to college to earn a degree. Upon graduating, I went through a training program in London to work in a finance company. Even though I switched my career to finance, chess continues to be a big part of my life.
- You visit your home country Georgia quite often. Are you planning to move back at some point?
Even though I love Georgia, the time to return has not yet come. I often talk to my dad and sister, who live in Tbilisi. I read about Georgian news on the internet and am always aware of what is happening in the country. Even though I can only visit Georgia once a year, my home country is always in my heart.
One of them was Rusudan Goletiani, who I met in the late 1980s in our hometown Sokhumi (Black sea side town of Georgia) where we both lived then. In 1990, when she was 10 years old, Rusudan became the USSR champion under the age of 12 (till 1991 Georgia was one of the republics of USSR, from 1991 Georgia regained its independence which was lost in 1921). In 1990 she tied for 2nd-4th place in the World Youth Championships under 12 in the USA. In 1993 Rusudan became a champion of the “SNG” (The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of old USSR). In 1994 she became the world youth champion under 14 in Bratislava, in 1996 the world youth champion under 16 in Brazil and 1997 the world youth champion under 18 in Yerevan. In 1999 she took second place in the European Championship under 20 in Armenia. Rusudan was living and representing Georgia during all those years. Many people were predicting a bright future for her but after 2000 she disappeared from the chess scene for a while. A couple of years later, Rusudan reappeared in the professional chess scene by winning the US Women’s Championship, the championship of the American Continent as well as World Chess Olympiad medal 2008. But let’s talk about it in detail.
The author of this article contacted Rusudan Goletiani, FIDE International Master and Woman Grandmaster, who has been living in New York for more than 20 years and asked her about her life, chess career, and all the obstacles she had to overcome to achieve success.
“I remember the day my dad taught me how to play chess in Sokhumi like it was yesterday. My first chess coach was a chess player from my home town Nodar Gelenava. He taught me a lot and gave me a good foundation. Shortly after I started to train with a famous chess master and coach from Sokhumi Michael Yailyan. Under his training, I was able to play my first ever world youth championship in 1990 in the USA and tie for 2nd -4th place. Shortly after that, I tragically lost my mother….”
In August of 1991 Rusudan Goletiani’s mom, Ada died in a terrible car crash, coming back from a chess tournament in Poti (Black sea side town of Georgia) where Rusudan was playing in an international chess tournament. The car in which Rusudan’s parents were coming back home (Rusudan stayed in Poti), got into an accident near the Khobi region. Rusudan’s mother died, her father was injured but was able to resume normal life after several months. Tengiz Goletiani who lives in Tbilisi since 1993, remembered telling his elementary school child: “It is up to you my daughter whether or not you want to continue to play chess, but remember, your mom loved you very much and your chess success made her extremely happy.” 11-year-old Rusudan decided to carry on with chess and continued to compete in tournaments. Her dad Tengiz, sister Sofia, and her coach Michael Yailyan helped her to regain strength and continue playing chess. One year later in August of 1992, new challenges were coming.
“In the summer of 1992, I moved to Sochi (Russia) where I continued to play chess and train with chess master Liubarski. In 1992 I became the Russia champion under the age of 14, and in 1993 champion of “SNG” (CIS) also under 14. In 1993 I returned to Georgia,” she said.
- While living in Russia, did you have offers to get Russian citizenship and play for the Russian federation?
I did have such offers but decided to move from Sochi to Tbilisi with my dad. At first, I trained by myself since we had no money to hire a coach. However, in a little while, famous coach Bagrat Gvenzadze started to train me for free. With his help, I became the world youth champion under 14. Shortly after, a famous trainer, Aleko Bokuchava also offered his coaching for free. With his help, I achieved new success and became the world youth champion under 18. I am forever grateful to both of them and will never forget their kindness. I was training daily and wanted to participate in more tournaments but the 90s in Georgia were very difficult. Georgian economy was in trouble, there were no financial resources for chess. Despite many people supporting me, my family was barely able to cover the living costs. I was unable to travel to tournaments because we had no money to cover the expenses. That’s when I decided it was time to create a better life and moved to the United States when I was 20 years old.
- Were you invited to move to America by chess players? There were rumors that you were marrying an American chess player…
I heard those rumors as well and they made me laugh because, in reality, things were different. When I first moved to the US, I lived with my best friend’s mom for a while. The first couple of years were not easy, I was learning English, babysitting, and teaching chess. I was making enough for living expenses and was able to send some money back to Georgia to support my family. One day I got a call from a world-famous chess player Susan Polgar, she knew me from previous chess tournaments (U16, U18) and told me she was putting a chess team of young and talented players together and wanted to invite me. I happily agreed and started to play competitive chess again. I trained with a famous chess player grandmaster Boris Gulko for a while. In 2003 I became the American continental champion in Venezuela and in 2005 I became the US Women’s champion. In 2008 I represented the US at the Dresden Chess Olympiad where the US team got a bronze medal and I earned a silver medal on my board.
As for marriage, I got married three years after moving to the US. My husband is also from Georgia, his name is Manuchar Surguladze. He moved to the US in 2001. We met in New York. Even though he is not a chess player, he likes the game and always supported me. We have three children, 13-year-old Sophie, 10-year-old Luka, and 7-year-old Andrew. All my kids play chess; Sophie also likes to swim and Luka loves ice hockey.
Rumors about being able to make a lot of money as a chess player in the US are also fairy tales. I won a chess scholarship once which allowed me to train and travel for free for a couple of years. Outside of that, however, I had to work hard teaching chess to make a living. Overall, I was happy with my chess career.
- You founded a chess club in New York and taught chess to kids, is that true?
Yes, I founded a chess academy with another chess coach. I was teaching kids and also training myself for tournaments, which I enjoyed immensely. After a while, I decided to go back to college to earn a degree. Upon graduating, I went through a training program in London to work in a finance company. Even though I switched my career to finance, chess continues to be a big part of my life.
- You visit your home country Georgia quite often. Are you planning to move back at some point?
Even though I love Georgia, the time to return has not yet come. I often talk to my dad and sister, who live in Tbilisi. I read about Georgian news on the internet and am always aware of what is happening in the country. Even though I can only visit Georgia once a year, my home country is always in my heart.
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