Champion Instead of Exams: 18-Year-Old Chess Player Becomes World's Best
«They said it was impossible»
Valeria Kleymenova is currently the world«s strongest female chess player among athletes under 18. She won her main title in June in Italy, where the world championship was held. To get to the tournament, Valeria had to take her Unified State Exams early: the exam dates overlapped with the game days of the Russian Team Championship, which she had to complete before conquering the world championship in Europe.
«I had about a month to prepare. Everyone said it was practically impossible, but I sat all day with textbooks and tests,» Valeria said. «At that time, I didn»t even touch chess. I managed to pass, and after that, I had, I think, a week to prepare for the Women«s Russian Team Championship. I had to push myself, but everything worked out, and our team took second place. There was a lot of hard work for a whole month: chess, school, then chess again — you have to constantly switch gears and re-enter the game after exams.»
Perseverance and discipline paid off: the chess player«s achievements include silver at the Russian Championship, gold at the World Championship, and a gold medal for academic success. All this literally in one month. The girl is now choosing a university and specialty: after Valeria Kleymenova became famous nationwide for her victory, invitations started pouring in. However, she herself has not yet decided what she wants to be. One thing she knows for sure: chess will never go away.
First title at age 8
Valeria Kleymenova lives in Ulyanovsk, but represents Novosibirsk at the chessboard. This is a common sports practice: many professional athletes are registered in two regions and compete with a double count. Essentially, this scheme helps maintain athletes« salaries at an acceptable level, while the region gets prestige for their victories.
«I started playing at age seven; my parents just sent me to a club for general development. About a year later, the first successes came: I took second place at the district championship and qualified for my first Russian Championship. Then I just kept playing, and I managed to reach this level. Initially, they wanted to send me to biathlon, but I didn»t make the age cut,« the girl said.
Admission to the biathlon section started at age nine — this circumstance proved fateful and allowed the athlete«s impressive potential to unfold. In 2018, Valeria had already become the Russian champion.
No one in the girl«s family was into chess. She says she only played with her uncle as a child — until her skill level grew so much that the adult man could no longer compete with the girl.
«In the future, I»d like to become a chess coach. My whole life is connected to it; all my friends are from the chess community. But still, I want to get a profession that is not related to chess. So that when I grow up, I have a choice of what to do,« added Valeria Kleymenova.
Path to the podium
Chess training takes the athlete five to six hours a day. Three times a week, she has sessions with her coach, studying openings, finding new ideas, and unusual solutions. She also devotes a lot of attention to her own games: chess players learn from their mistakes. Physical activity is also on the schedule: gym, running, swimming.
Valeria worked toward her championship title for almost eight years. She had previously participated in the world championship: in 2018 in Spain, she confidently led through most of the tournament as an undisputed leader.
«Toward the end, I ran out of strength and finished only sixth,» the athlete admitted. «The next time I managed to go to the world championship was only in 2025, because earlier financial problems and other circumstances prevented it. There I also led the entire tournament, but ended up in third place. I fell just a little short.»
The tournament in Italy lasted 11 days. Despite the proximity of the sea and beach, there was no time to rest: each game in the title fight lasted five to six hours. After the first round, Valeria Kleymenova became the leader of the competition. The burden of being the favorite is an important emotional moment for an athlete; you cannot afford mistakes or loss of concentration.
«I tried, of course, not to pay attention to the fact that I was leading the entire tournament, not to think about it at all, just to play each game as a separate one. Of course, I»m very happy and proud of myself that this time I finally managed to maintain the lead until the end of the tournament and even win the world championship early,« the chess player said.
Deciding game with a friend
The competition at the world championship was fierce. Valeria says the toughest match was against a player from India, where the opponent started with a serious advantage: Valeria first had to focus on defense, then regain the initiative. That game ended in a draw.
The last game of the tournament was also very difficult: at the board, Valeria met her friend, against whom she had already played in the finals of all-Russian competitions.
«It was a pretty tense game for both her and me. Each of us needed a win, but I managed to win, and I became world champion early. In February, we also played the final game together, which decided who would be in the prizes, so we»re used to it; we tried not to even discuss that we would be opponents. We still communicate well,« the girl said.
The realization of her champion status came gradually. Since the winner was determined by the overall score of games played, after the meeting with her compatriot, everything was decided for Valeria Kleymenova — the remaining games no longer affected the result.
«After the game, I was in shock; I didn»t yet realize that I had become a world champion,« Valeria admitted. »Everyone started congratulating me. I understand that this finally happened, I can breathe out, that tomorrow there is another round and it doesn«t matter how I play. Of course, emotions overwhelmed me. Everyone called, congratulated, and rejoiced, probably more than I did, because everyone had been rooting for me all this time.»
Woman Grandmaster
Her current title and regalia are not the peak in the chess world. Valeria Kleymenova intends to secure her place at the board and on the podium not only in the junior category but also among adult athletes.
«The next goal is probably to become a Woman Grandmaster. For winning the world championship, I became a Woman International Master and also earned a norm for Woman International Grandmaster. I need two more norms. I need to play in strong international women»s competitions to achieve that. So, that«s probably the next goal,» the champion summarized.
Another world champion, and also with a small collection of records, lives in Novosibirsk. Lidia Stadnik practices apnea, or freediving, although she does not dive to incredible depths without scuba gear. About what freediving is in professional sports and how a Siberian woman conquered the world, we told in one of our materials.
