Alondra Bagatella, the genius girl from Mexico who conquers chess championships

Alondra Bagatella, a genius girl from the Mexican city of Gualajara with an IQ of 139, has won international chess championships, so she now dreams of more minors in Mexico know this sport.

In an interview with EFE, Alondra takes refuge in her stuffed animals while she says that while perfecting her chess technique, she learns about astrophysics, plastic arts and robots.

He doubts whether he prefers science or the sport that he has practiced since he was five years old, since both satisfy his mind, but he is clear that his favorite chess piece is the pawn.

“The pawn is the one that has the most moves and in each square it has a different move, the pawn can get here (to the end of the board) and become a queen (queen),” Explain.

Alondra is studying basic education, has four chess instructors, a sports psychologist and since 2023 she has been a candidate for master’s degree by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the first of four levels of expertise.

This recognition was possible after her achievements in the North American Youth Chess Championship, where she was the best Mexican and third in North America, only behind two girls of Chinese-American origin, her father, César Bagatella, tells EFE.

Since 2022, he has participated in 52 official local and international tournaments and has competed with older people.

It has won first places in the women’s category and in all (mixed) in tournaments such as the National School Sports Games of Basic Education or the Mexican Open National and International Chess Championship, among others.

Her most recent achievement was at the ChessKid National Festival, in the United States, where she placed runner-up in the absolute K-3 U800 category and first place for women, almost on par with the Jalisco 2024 State Selective Chess Tournament, of which came out as champion of the Women’s Under 12 category.

The little girl assured that the most difficult competition has been the XXXIII Pan-American Youth Chess Festival 2023, due to the level of her opponents and where she was crowned the best Latin American and obtained eighth place below her Chinese, American or Indian opponents. .

“It is better to win (in the United States) than in Mexico, because there are almost no ones from the United States, they are all Chinese or Indians, there are not so many from the United States”he states confidently.

High capacities

Alondra has an IQ of 139, about 50 points higher than the average in Mexico and 33 above the Japanese.

Although astrophysics is one of the activities that interests her the most, especially what is related to the solar system, Alondra states that she does not want to go to space, but rather dedicate her entire life to chess and win a world championship.

“I don’t want to go to NASA, I want to play chess (when I grow up),” it states. Her father asserts that her chess has helped her develop her logical-mathematical thinking and does not rule out her choosing a career related to these areas.

“Chess has helped her grow all her logical thinking, she is very mathematical, she is very well placed, she likes robotics, mathematics, the arts and she continues to grow in all areas, at Lego the plan of secondary level studies, although she is an eight-year-old girl,” expresses.

Although Alondra has stated that she wants to study architecture, it is chess where her father watches her most enthusiastically.

“She wants to become a chess grandmaster. In FIDE, for women, there are four titles that she is a candidate for master, FIDE master, international master and grandmaster, last year she already obtained the first title”, details.

Both Alondra and her father know that in chess few women stand out due to the conditions in which they develop their careers and the way in which society perceives those who dedicate themselves to this sport.

Still, Alondra says that “Let them (the girls) do what they want. Not because there are more children in chess, (they) can’t do it.”