In May 2021, WIM Jesse February won the Women's African Individual Championship, just the second South African player to win the tournament ever. Taking first place in this tournament means that Jesse will be awarded the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title if she reaches 2100 rating. In just a few days, Jesse will compete for the World Cup in Sochi, Russia. She also streams with WCM Rebecca Selkirk on their Twitch channel, HashtagChess, which has grown very quickly over the last year. I am very grateful that Jesse joined me this week on 64: A Chess Podcast to talk about her chess career.

Episode highlights:

• Her success at the African Championship -- previous attempts at winning the tournament and the moment she realized that first place was in reach

• Being selected as a wildcard for the World Cup in Sochi, Russia, and World Cup preparation

• Representing South Africa in strong tournaments (Women's World Championship, the Olympiad, etc.)

• Growing chess as a streamer in South Africa and beyond

• The process of becoming a partner with Chess.com and Twitch & crushing online tournaments

• The chess scene in South Africa -- lack of tournaments, lots of travel, and future opportunities to grow the game

• Wine farms!!!

• Working towards the WGM title -- Jesse talks about her plans to play in lots of tournaments and describes some of her improvement goals as she continues her climb to 2100.

• Jesse "sells" the French Defense (my least favorite opening)

64: A Chess Podcast is sponsored by Aimchess. Use code "DAVID30" to get 30% off of your first month with Aimchess.

Thanks to WIM Jesse February for coming onto the show. You can follow her on Twitter: @Jesse_Feb

For a great chess stream, subscribe to @HashtagChess on Twitch and YouTube

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @64Podcast

Follow David Vizgan (the host) on Twitter: @davidvizgan