I'm an athlete; my dad had made sure I played all the same sports as boys growing up, so I was always super competitive.

Growing up, we were a poor yet tightknit family. My mother worked multiple jobs and always made sure that her kids never had to want for anything.

Oh there's so many, but the one that I would love to see, that I would love to go up against, is Beth Phoenix. I would love for her to return. It would be something for me, kind of like a a childhood thing, growing up seeing her being such a dominant woman. I would love for her to show up and be in the ring with her.

I've been bullied because of the way I've looked growing up.

Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina, and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport. Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes.

When I was growing up, golf was the geeky sport. No one really wanted to be associated with it.

Every child should try everything: sport, music, art, mathematics; they can do it all. Copying and competition are now seen as twin evils, but they are both useful tools.

I would never have dreamed to have had such a nice career as this. I like football, and this is like a nice football journey.