A Queen’s Gambit (2022)

From rural northeastern Brazil’s drylands, Cibele Florêncio was just 24 when she was crowned vice-champion at Brazil’s national chess tournament in 2021. A single mother and maid, at times working up to 12 hour days cleaning houses, Cibele would spend any and all spare time practicing chess on her phone. Since being presented to the game through a public school program called “Chess in Schools” in her hometown Macaíba when she was 9 years old, she began to understand the game, master her moves and frequent tournaments. Now, she is competing at the highest level in what is still considered an elitist sport in one of the most unequal countries in the world. When she traveled to compete at the World Chess Championship in Poland in 2021, other competitors would look at her and “wonder what the hell I am doing there”, she remembers, “but I use it to my advantage, because they let their guard down.”

“It’s like what happens in the game”, Cibele says, “don’t underestimate the pawn”. “You get it to the other side and it can become a queen.” Assignment for The Wall Street Journal: “A Real-Life Queen’s Gambit - The Brazilian Maid Who Became a Chess Champ”.