Ailen Mena

Ailen Mena is our Chess Educator of the month and it’s no surprise why! Ailen is a Women Fide Master and truly a woman of the world, having lived in her native Venezuela, Curaçao and Argentina, where she is currently studying Architecture. With her work ethic and passion for more girls to become chess players, Ailen’s infectious spirit, confidence and resilience is the embodiment of what can happen when we empower our girls to enter male-dominated domains, such as chess, and leave an unalterable imprint. 

What is your earliest memory of playing chess? 

I started playing chess when I was 8 years old in my primary school. We all got a chess board from the local newspaper and had Chess as a subject from first to fifth grade. I remember playing mostly against my teacher during our lessons, since most kids were not that interested in it.

What does being empowered mean to you? 

For me being empowered means, having the confidence to do everything that you set your mind to, no matter how many people tell you that it is too hard or you are not capable of. I have learned in life that you can get ANYTHING you want in life, if you work hard for it.

Do you have any role models that inspire you? If so, then who? 

One of my role models is Alexandra Kosteniuk, a Russian Grandmaster. I admire her because she has been on the top of the world in chess for as long as I can remember. She has kids, she is a model, she streams, competes, trains, and does a lot of things at the same time and we could say she is pretty good in all of them! I admire her because of the different things she does at the same time, and I think that is something that you can only do if you really organize yourself well and have discipline!

What has been your greatest obstacle so far in your career/life? 

My greatest obstacle in my life has been moving from country to start a new life twice. My home country is Venezuela and, when I was twelve, my family decided to flee the country because the political situation was not going well. I already had a life there, a lot of friends and chess tournaments that I enjoyed going to with my dad. I moved to Curaçao in 2012 and I had to learn three new languages to speak at school, since I could only speak Spanish. It was really hard at the beginning, since I didn’t know Dutch and couldn’t really communicate with my classmates, but after a couple of months, I started to speak it more fluently and made a lot of good friends that I still have today. 

In 2019 after graduating High School, I decided to move to Argentina to pursue my dreams of becoming an Architect and of being able to participate in more Chess Tournaments than I was used to. My mom and sister stayed, so my sister could continue with her high school studies. So once again, I was faced with the challenge of starting over and leaving my friends and some family behind. It’s definitely not the easiest thing to do, but new beginnings to follow your dreams are filled with challenges. They are also filled with extra joy and happiness when you finally make your dreams come true!

What do you have to say to those who still insist that chess is a ‘man’s game’? 

I would say that we are in 2022 and that saying has already been left behind. A woman can achieve exactly the same things that a man can, if she works for it, and the fact that in chess there are always more men than women should not intimidate women from learning chess. Actually, quite the opposite! It should motivate more girls to get into it, so we can change the percentages and make the amount of women in chess grow more and more!

What advice do you have for young girls who are not sure if they have what it takes to become chess players? 

As with any sport, if you want to become good at it, you have to train. But something that I love about chess is that there are no boundaries. EVERYONE can play it; it doesn't matter where you are from, your religion, the language you speak or your gender. It is a beautiful game that has its arms wide open for you!

How do you believe girls and women enrich traditionally male-only spaces like chess when they enter them? 

I think it's great, because we are showing men that we are also capable of the same things they are and that we can even be better than them. Getting more women in chess will also make men respect us more and know that we have the exact same capabilities as them. 

What has teaching girls to play chess taught you?

I love interacting with girls and sharing stories with them! After teaching girls to play chess, I understand that I have a big responsibility in empowering them and that motivates me even more to teach with a lot of energy, knowing the big positive influence I can have on their lives.

Other than chess, what are others things that you love to engage in or do? 

I am currently studying architecture, so I love creating designs and painting. I also love watching series and movies to free my mind from the daily routine.

What do you hope or dream the future for girls/women in chess looks like? 

I dream of that the ratio of boys to girls in chess becomes more and more even. I wish that soon I can go to tournaments where I am not the only girl playing and where the number of female chess players is equal to the number of male chess players.

Sally Sampson

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