For Kamelia Sharuda, a recent graduate of Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ), it’s always been important to finish strong. The 2021 U.S. Open Women’s Chess Champion is very familiar with the similarities between chess and life – and being both student and teacher.
Last year, she defeated Matthew O’Brien, a U.S. chess master, in the final round, to become the highest-placing woman in the chess championship. American Chess Magazine published an article about her accomplishments.
Sharuda began playing the game of chess in her homeland of Ukraine, at the age of four.
“I was playing too many card games and my parents got tired of it,” she said. “So my mom suggested to my dad to teach me some chess.”
Her father taught her the game and she became quite good, winning a bronze medal in a Ukrainian National Girls under 10 tournament.
In 2013, the champion chess player came to the United States via a student exchange program and decided to stay after meeting the man who would later become her husband. Sharuda returned to Europe in March to help her parents escape the war-torn country and settle in Poland. She recently shared her tense journey on RCSJ Today.
The respect Sharuda, a teacher’s aide at Sewell Elementary School and chess instructor at the South Jersey Innovation Center, has for the game runs deep.
“I was going to say, why do you think I like it,” she said when asked what she loves about chess. “It’s a love/hate relationship. It can be very cruel.”
“You can spend the whole game playing good moves,” she continued. “But one mistake, one small little mistake… Let’s say you get anxious or you’re tired of thinking or you were lazy for a second, right? You didn’t feel like calculating and there comes your mistake and all that good play you did, is out the window.”
Sharuda, the mother of a seven-year-old son who also plays chess, is intrigued by the psychological and philosophical aspects of the game. She points out the parallels between chess and life.
“Of course, I love the game. I just find it fascinating. What I like about it is that it teaches you to analyze,” she said. “The best way to learn is to learn from the games that you lost. So, I feel like it relates to life a lot.
“We all make mistakes, right? What separates good players from not good players is good players are able to learn from their mistakes. If you cannot learn from your mistakes, if you’re not trying to improve, it’s probably not a good thing in chess, and in life, as well.”
A participant in RCSJ’s 3+1 premier partnership program with Rowan University, Sharuda also sees a connection between the game and being a college student.
“One of the chess players said the hardest thing is to win a winning game, so I feel like we tend to relax in some cases,” she said. “When we feel like the victory is close, we imagine we’re already celebrating [with] champagne in our hands. But that’s actually the time to be even more cautious. I feel like in school it’s also important to finish strong. So, no matter how well you’re doing you can’t just relax. It’s important to finish strong with whatever you’re doing.”
Sharuda has family ties to the college, which made it an easy decision to enroll here.
“I almost feel the choice was made for me,” she said. “My husband went to Rowan College of Gloucester County (now RCSJ) and my brother-in-law goes to RCSJ as well. I live in the neighborhood. RCSJ has a good reputation so there’s no reason to not take advantage of something that is right around the corner.”
Sharuda has excelled in her 3+1 courses, majoring in education with a 4.0 GPA.
“It’s a great program,” she said. “It’s affordable, which is important. The dean has been extremely helpful. Mr. Kitchenman and my advisor, Mr. Ray, they’ve been wonderful. All the teachers are amazing.”
Her professors feel the same about her.
“Kam has always found ways to get her peers involved in conversations at a deeper level,” said Dana Teague, instructor for education majors in the 3+1 program. “She is always willing to ask all kinds of questions and to provide support to her peers when needed.”
“She has a very strong desire to teach, and I believe that she will make a strong, effective teacher because she has a great deal of empathy,” said instructor Jennie Cusick. “She also knows and understands how to communicate well with others.”
For those interested in playing the game, Sharuda, who is currently in the top 100 rankings for women chess players in the U.S., shared some words of wisdom.
“It’s important to enjoy what you do and try to have fun,” she said. “Like with my son, I try to teach him to just have a fun experience and not just play chess for the results. I think that’s the most important thing. When you start something, you don’t always win. You don’t always succeed. I think it’s important to be patient and try to improve from that result when you lose.”
