You take a deep breath. Here you are after untold hours of work studying chess. Here you are, at the World Junior Chess Championship, where you'll soon face Mira Czentovic.
It's impossible not to know Mira Czentovic. She's one of the most talked about figures in competitive chess, with her meteoric rise and aloof demeanor. At only 16, she's already a force to be reckoned with. You've seen her games, listened to her interviews, studied her style. She's a prodigy, no doubt about that. But there's something else, too. Something in her disengaged, apathetic demeanor, in her disinterested and curt responses to basic interview questions, that's...strange.
How can someone so talented be so indifferent? So uninterested in the game that had brought her such success? You've heard the rumors, the off-hand comments from her coaches, from her opponents. Mira doesn't really study the game. Mira likes to play her own way.
You walk out into the main playing hall. The space is large and airy, with high ceilings and rows of tables set up for the games. At the far end of the room, you see her. Mira Czentovic, sitting alone at her assigned table, staring blankly into space. She's wearing a plain gray sweatshirt and jeans, her red hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She looks like she just rolled out of bed.
As you approach, her gray eyes flick up to meet yours. "você," she says. Her voice is completely flat.
