St. Louis is widely known as a baseball town, but competitive chess players see it as their sport鈥檚 capital of America. The infrastructure built around professional chess in St. Louis attracts players from around the world, including 19-year-old Thalia Cervantes Landeiro.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Landeiro was always surrounded by the game of chess. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big part of our culture,鈥� she said on Wednesday鈥檚 St. Louis on the Air. She noted the importance in Cuban culture of Jose Ra煤l Capablanca, a chess legend and world champion who influenced generations of players.
In Cuba, Landeiro said: 鈥淚 always saw people playing chess on the streets. I was very intrigued by it.鈥�
Though chess was being played on street corners and parks, Landeiro was not bitten by the chess bug until second grade, when she practically fell into the game.
鈥淎s a very little girl I tried ballet, and it didn鈥檛 work well for me. I think I twisted my ankle. Then I tried painting, and it also didn鈥檛 work out. I played my first-ever chess game at school, and I actually defeated my friends somehow just after learning the rules.鈥�
Landeiro was hooked. She went home and told her mother about her win. 鈥淪he was like 鈥榃ow, you won something? OK, let鈥檚 keep going.鈥� So I joined a chess institute in Havana soon after, and I fell in love with the game.鈥�
From there, Landeiro went on to become one of the top girls chess players in Cuba for her age range and older. At 11 she was invited to the Susan Polgar Foundation Girls Invitational in St. Louis in 2014.
鈥淢y mother got the invitation via email, and she started setting up all the plans for us to move here, play that tournament and see where it takes us.鈥�
Today, Landeiro is a student at St. Louis University and a member of the St. Louis Chess Club. Along with being on the chess team at school, she streams her online chess gameplay on her Twitch channel. This week she competes in the 2022 U.S. Girls鈥� Junior Championship, which is one of three competitions at the 2022 U.S. National Championships. This will be her last appearance at the junior level in her career.
So, what鈥檚 next for Landeiro? She鈥檚 keeping an open mind.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like to have a solid plan because there are always things coming along the way, but I鈥檓 going to try and have fun as much as I can," she said. "I plan to participate in the U.S. Women鈥檚 Championship if I can, and the Continental Women鈥檚 Championship, and other international events where I can get some titles or some invitations for even bigger tournaments. It鈥檚 probably the chess mind, right? Like, always trying to look one step ahead.鈥�
You can cheer on Thalia Cervantes Landeiro and all the athletes this month, July 6-16, when the championships will stream online on St. Louis Chess Club鈥檚 Youtube and Twitch channels.
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When: July 6-16
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鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, , and . is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
