Through War and Struggle to World Amateur Champion!

When we reached out to write our student Anastasiia Osadchuk’s story, her message sent a cold shiver down our spine:

“Hey :) I am at the subway right now due to a huge potential attack.

There could be lots of them these days. We can schedule the interview, but if something happens, we’ll reschedule.”

Imagine Anastasiia living in this dangerous situation for more than two years since the war began in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2022.

How was she surviving? How was she keeping a positive mood?

And despite the chaos, how did she become the 2024 World Amateur Champion in the Women’s U1700 category?

The cost of rebuilding life during the war

Anastasiia has been a chess teacher. When the war started, she lost her job. Her income source dried up.

To rebuild her life, she started to give lots of private online chess lessons, often putting in long hours.

But it came at a cost: Anastasiia was burning out fast. After a year of hard work rebuilding her life, she had a moment of clarity.

“I realized I didn’t want to work all the time.”

How war pushed her to chase big dreams

“Because when there’s a war, of course, you hope you’ll be safe and everything.
But on the other hand, there’s always the risk that people will die sooner than you expect. So you need to do more of what you want.”

With this realization, Anastasiia started to find more time to improve her game and chase her dreams after the war began!

With life literally pointing a missile at her head every day, Anastasiia had to reduce her workload while maintaining her income. How can you do that?

Making time to chase her dreams

Anastasiia took a series of steps. She:

1. Combined some of her 1-on-1 students, and started to give group lessons.
    
2. Created videos so she didn’t repeat the same things to new students.
    
3. Built a team and launched a chess school for adults so her team members could also give lessons.

With her finances in order and schedule under control, Anastasiia found the time to go after her dreams!

Finding a direction with ChessMood’s improvement plan

She discovered our platform through one of her students and used it to prepare for the World Amateur Chess Championship in November 2024.

“I read GM Avetik's article about the study plan for above 2000. I just loved it! It was totally about me, about my problems! The structure was just amazing.
Around June, I subscribed for the monthly Essential plan. Then I fell in love! And eventually, I upgraded to a Lifetime plan.

I love how the ChessMood team puts all their knowledge and experience into the product. The coaches are also empathetic, kind, and supportive—you can feel it even through the videos.”

Now, Anastasiia had a clear target, the time to chase her dreams and the tools to prepare. But during a war, life doesn’t follow a clear schedule.

Surviving missile attacks while finding time to study

“August 2024 was terrible here in Kyiv. They attacked almost every day!

We have a school shelter nearby. But I don’t go there. When the war began, Russia hit a lot of schools and kindergartens.

Inside a damaged school in Kyiv, Ukraine | Source: PBS

So, I go to my apartment’s corridor and stay between two walls. Somehow, it feels safer there—no windows or mirrors because they could shatter and cause harm.

I got a little depressed because you can’t sleep properly with all these bombings.”

Anastasiia found time to prepare a month before the tournament, when there was some peace.

She studied all day—watching our chess videos while traveling, waiting in queues, and even during a manicure!

Transforming her game with ChessMood

“I was quite bad at endings and openings. I understood it's essential to improve them.
With ChessMood, there was a big change in my opening preparation.

Earlier with White, I used to play Sicilian 2.Nf3. I didn't know anything there, so I got worse positions. The Anti-Sicilian with 2.Nc3 worked very well for me!”

Based on the study plan for her level, Anastasiia followed the method to improve in different areas of her game.

How to study openings as explained in our study plan for above 2000

When the time finally came to leave for the tournament, another big problem arose.

How do you go from Kyiv to the venue on Rhodes Island in Greece?
Due to a closed airspace, you can’t fly out of the country.

Almost failing to reach the tournament venue

In moments like these, you realize the privilege of peace, a powerful passport, and an operational airport.

Anastasiia had to take a bus from Kyiv (Ukraine) to Budapest (Hungary).

During a routine immigration check at the Ukraine–Hungary border, she had to wait 7 hours on a cold street at night. Any more delays and Anastasiia would have missed her flight from Budapest to Rhodes.

But the 30-hour journey came at a heavy price—one that would cost her at the tournament: She fell sick and was coughing all the time.

Reaching Rhodes did lift her mood, though.

“It was 25 degrees Celsius there. It was amazing—the sea, the sun and everything! I loved the organization of this tournament.”

Who wouldn’t love playing a tournament here?😄 | Photo: Farawayworlds

Pre-tournament drama

During the technical meeting, one incident left Anastasiia fuming, given the hostile situation between her country and its neighbor.

“The person speaking English asked after just two sentences: ‘Who’s here from Russia? Do you need a translation?’

Two people raised their hands. And the entire meeting—lasting about 60 or 90 minutes—was translated into Russian! The translator had such a strong Moscow accent—it was even more irritating for me.”

But maybe it was a blessing in disguise that fired up Anastasiia at the tournament!

A quick 6/6 start

At the 2024 World Amateur Chess Championship, you could see a clear difference in her openings.

Here’s her crushing 2nd round win.

Even though Anastasiia was unrated, she started with a strong 6/6 that included victories over the top 3 seeds of the tournament!
She looked unstoppable.

But the exhaustion and sickness from the 30-hour journey started to take a toll on her body.

She lost the 7th round.

Is the championship title gone?

In round 8, she reached a disastrous position with Black.

“I thought I probably won’t win the title anymore.
After the 8th round, one of the tournament organizers asked, ‘You had such a bad position. I was thinking you might resign anytime.’ ”

Perhaps he didn’t know Anastasiia had grown used to dodging missiles.

The fight for survival

“Because of the war, you need to fight in every position! If Ukrainians don't fight, we would lose our country.”

So, Anastasiia kept finding a way to survive. Goddess Caissa saw it and smiled at her🙂In time pressure, her opponent made a mistake.

And Anastasiia won that hopelessly lost 8th-round game!

She also won the last round, ending with a score of 8/9 and the championship title!

Anastasiia became the World Amateur Chess Champion 2024 in the U1700 Women category! | Photo: Ippotis Chess Club Rhodes

“I was really happy. And so were the people around me! Everyone kept congratulating me. Someone asked for an autograph and to take pictures with them. It was quite a new experience!

At the closing ceremony, it was really nice to hear the national anthem of Ukraine.”

The power of hope in war

Given the situation in her country, it’s hard to ignore the reality that almost any day could be her last.

“I try not to think about it much, but I guess we all live with this feeling.
I hope that everything will be fine. This hope is sometimes not very realistic. But it’s optimistic. It helps me stay positive.”

Keeping a positive face even in harsh times | Photo: Anastasiia

“Because if you're negative, exhausted and depressed, you can’t help yourself; you can’t help anyone. So what's the point of it anyway?”

***

You can send your well wishes and messages to Anastasiia under this forum thread.