7 Months Pregnant, Playing The Reigning Champ. No Problem

Chess is a sport for everyone—and even being seven months pregnant doesn't need to be a barrier when playing at the highest level.

WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan proved exactly this over the weekend with an inspirational performance as the U.S. Chess Championships got under way in Saint Louis.

In Round 1 on Sunday, the 37-year-old Iranian-American toppled reigning U.S. Women’s Champion and top seed Carissa Yip. Carrying a child did not seem to affect her game one iota—Pourkashiyan just powered through.

"It feels great and I’m happy that I could win the first game, but it was a very complicated game," she said afterwards.

Pourkashiyan is married to superstar streamer GM Hikaru Nakamura, who this year isn't competing in the Open event. Instead, he's in Canada playing in a tournament as he tries to rack up enough rating points to get into the FIDE Candidates event.

Nakamura posted this shortly after his wife's win:

The game's highest-rated couple announced in May they were expecting a child and Pourkashiyan made clear she wasn't about to take any form of maternity leave.

But while unusual, competing while heavily pregnant is not unheard of in top-level chess.

Indian GM Harika Dronavalli was at an incredible 36 weeks when she competed at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Dronavalli went on to help the Indian team win its first-ever women's team medal.

We wish Pourkashiyan all the success she can get at the U.S. Women's Championships.

Chess is simply amazing. Gens una sumus.