Interview with Josefine Heinemann

The Chess Olympiad in Budapest still echoes with stories. Within a space of two weeks every team, every player, every arbiter, every delegate, and every volunteer has his own memorable moment. There are two years until the next Chess Olympiad 2026 in Tashkent, so it is enough time to talk to many of the players about their experience in Budapest.

Today we had the pleasure to speak to German board 3, WGM Josefine Heinemann. She spoke about the Olympiad, her team, Budapest, youth and women chess in Germany, future tournaments and more.

Visit: Official website / Josefine Heinemann on Twitter / Photo: Paul Meier-Dunker

The Chess Olympiad just finished. You managed to score 5,5/9, losing just two game along the way. Are you happy with your performance?

Performance-wise my result was okay, but as I lost some important points in key matches I am quite unhappy with my result. The losses against Mongolia and Armenia were both unnecessary and because of those our team drew and lost the two matches. 

All news about the Olympiad / Final standings women section

The German team was one of the first to arrive in Budapest. Was this part of your preparation for the event?

We usually try to arrive earlier to team events to have a small training camp to get into shape. We have almost no professionals on the team so it is very nice to arrive a bit early, forget about work and focus solely on the tournament. We don’t train a ton during those days, usually just a few hours in the afternoon, and use the remaining day to get some good rest.

This was your second Olympiad. How would you compare the organization in Budapest to your previous experience?

Before the tournament there were a lot of organisational problems, e.g. we were forced to stay in two different hotels with our teams. But during the tournament from my point of view everything went fine. The playing hall was nice, drinks and some snacks were provided and we didn’t face further issues. In India the overall organisation was better for sure, but as long as the playing conditions are good, I am usually happy, and that was the case.

Elisabeth was the star of the team. A few words about her?

Elisabeth is a very strong player and showed it again in this tournament. She started with an insane amount of wins, that helped us score quite a few match victories. Unfortunately in the end she didn’t win as much(opponents of course also got stronger), but still she showed clearly the best result of the team and it was nice to see that she was in good shape. And by winning the silver medal on her board she gave us something to celebrate!

See: Board medals from Women Chess Olympiad 2024

You were a youth chess champion of Germany for Girls U18. Do you think enough is done for youth chess in the country? If you can improve one thing, what would it be?

I think the support for chess in our country improved a lot over the past 10 years, but it could still be improved. I think if I could change only one thing it would be the perception of chess – in Germany it is wildly regarded as just a hobby, not a career option. I think that’s a pity because if you tell very talented children from a very young age that becoming a professional player is “stupid” and it is much better to get a normal job, most of them will not even try it. Like that we spoil a lot of talent. Of course in the end everybody needs to decide for themselves if being a chess professional is something to strive for, but I would like it if as a society we would show a little less prejudice.

And how about the state of Women Chess in Germany?

I guess here my answer is very similar to the last  one. The situation improved a lot in the past 10 years, but it could still improve further. In 2023 Germany held (for the first time ever!) one leg of the Women’s Grand Prix Series and therefore got a wildcard. It was possible due to the sponsor of our women’s team Roman Krulich. This definitly helped visibility of German women in chess, but one event obviously is not enough. I think many of our players are trying their part on social media to improve our visibility as a team and as individuals, but it is important that German media(especially chess websites) and the federation do the same. Sometimes it feels like we don’t exist and only events with the guys get covered. Of course, I hope in the near future we can add some successes, so that we force people to follow us more :-).

What are your upcoming events?

I am planning to play an open tournament in Annemasse in October and a round-robin tournament in Budapest in November. Afterwards I would like to play World Rapid and Blitz championships, but I will decide about that once regulations are published.

Any last words?

I know a lot of people followed us during the Olympiad and were routing for us and I would like to thank all of them. I know our result was disappointing, but we will try our best to come back stronger! Also I want to thank Roman Krulich once more, for sponsoring our team and also Chessbase for providing Engines during the tournament, as those are essential to our preperation.