Irina Krush on India, Chess and her long road to Grandmaster

Irina Krush was 14 when she first came to India. It proved an unforgettable experience for her, as she won the bronze medal at the World Junior Chess Championship (under-20 girls) in Kozhikode, the northern Kerala coastal city.

She was one of the stars of that tournament, in which she played, and lost to, a certain Koneru Humpy, who was even younger. That was in 1998. One still recalls meeting this curious, articulate girl from the United States. Sometimes, she would turn to the interviewer and ask questions. “Why are there so few women on the road in this city?” she wanted to know.

The only American woman to become a Grandmaster — across the world, only 44 women have done it — Krush is still as curious. She is still as articulate, too — a quality that has stood her in good stead as a commentator. She continues to play as well; she came up with a fine show at the Grand Swiss last September.

Excerpts from an interview Krush gave The Hindu during the recent Global Chess League in Mumbai, where she proved popular with fans:

You played the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League in 2023 as Magnus Carlsen’s teammate. How did you find the experience of being a commentator this time?

Playing for Alpine SG Pipers was a very special experience. When I found out I was going to be playing in the same team as Carlsen, it was like a dream come true. And I really enjoyed commentating on the league this time around. It was a 10 out of 10 experience for me. The GCL is one of the year’s best events in chess. What made it special in Mumbai was that we could feel the fan energy. So many people came to watch, to get autographs. The league is making chess exciting and accessible for the fans. The other day, when I was on my break, instead of sitting in the lounge, I went out to sit under the open sky, watch the match on the big screen with the rest of the people there. Then one of those fans asked me if I wanted to play. And my first reaction was like, Oh no, it’s my break, right? But then I thought actually playing chess was the most fun.

And how good was your opponent?

He was very good. I would say I barely won.

And you have been doing well of late in tournaments, too, against opponents much younger.

Yes, I certainly enjoyed playing the Grand Swiss, which was my first actually. Earlier, I hadn’t played because I was in my teaching mode; I had been spending a lot of time coaching young kids. At the Grand Swiss in Samarkand, I finished seventh. It felt nice, given that I was ranked towards the bottom of this tournament [seeded 44th in a field of 56]. I gained like 20 rating points.

You were of course rated much higher earlier and became a Grandmaster in 2013, after a long wait for your final norm.

I wrote an article about that whole experience, for US Chess Online.

And that was chosen as the best article on Chess Life Online for that year, wasn’t it?

Yeah. And there was a picture of me after I had just done it. And that picture captured everything. I can look at it and I can remember that feeling. I remember the feeling of that long-awaited victory, you know, of having suffered for nine rounds against, like, all these GMs, and then finally getting that GM norm. I had made my first norm when I was 17. And I became a Grandmaster 12 years later. It was definitely something I wanted to do. And I kind of kept playing chess until I did it. And I didn’t switch over to anything else until that was done.

What are your memories from that World junior championship in Kerala?

It was my first medal in international chess in the classical format. And doing it at 14, in an Under-20 tournament, meant a lot. I remember having watermelon juice at breakfast, and playing Humpy, who was 11. You know, I played Hou Yifan too when she was 11. After the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, I went back to Kerala. It is funny that I went back to that same place where I started my journey in India.

Indian chess has become much stronger since your first visit.

I remember in the beginning, Humpy was coming up. And there was Harikrishna, and then [Parimarjan] Negi… At some point, the wave just exploded. Now there are so many talented kids like R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Divya Deshmukh. I thought Divya was superb at the Grand Swiss in which she chose to play against the men, and not the women’s tournament. And she represented the women very well. It was a brave thing to do, playing in the open section. It was a big challenge. And I think it is very cool that she stepped up to do it. She beat a number of these GMs, and drew with Gukesh. I noticed that her preparation was good. Whoever was helping also did a good job because her openings looked very solid and her male opponents were not able to really take advantage of her in the opening. And I was following Gukesh’s World title match against Ding Liren. I think it will be great if the next World Championship match is between India and the USA.

So you feel Fabiano Caruana is a strong favourite at the Candidates?

Yes. Imagine the kind of interest a World title match between an Indian and an American could create. That will be great for chess.

Caruana led Alpine SG Pipers to the GCL title here. You beat him at Corus in 2008.

At that point he was rated around 2590 and I was maybe 2470. He had miscalculated something and lost a pawn, and then I won in the endgame. Then he tried to tell me how my technique could have been better. But it was good enough. I also remember his coach smiling at me when I won that game. Maybe he wasn’t that upset that I won. Fabi was really good even then, but I am not sure if I knew that I was playing against the future World No. 2.

You had a tough time with Covid…

I never actually recovered my breathing to the level that I was before. I would say there is probably some sort of structural damage that was done on some level, but, fortunately, I am extremely functional. Some people are not. I got it through the acute phase of Covid. I could barely speak without running out of breath. I couldn’t even teach my lessons online. It was like a truck ran over my chest and you just couldn’t open up the lungs. But Covid taught me a lot about health. My health is now my hobby, my passion, my interest. It is like an ongoing project for me. And I don’t think I would have done that without Covid. So, I suffered some damage, but I think in the long run, you know, it will work out in my favour.

Published – January 16, 2026 11:51 pm IST