Ellivuori Grandmaster Tournament

Johanna Paasikangas-Tella

1. Where do you come from, and what are you doing for your living?

I am finishing my studies at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and working full-time as a journalist.

2. When did you start to play chess? Why do you play chess? What do you like most in chess?

My father taught me the moves when I was five years old. Fighting and winning are the things that attracts me most in chess.

3. What have been your best achievements in chess? What are your goals as a chess player?

My best achievement is winning the Nordic zonal tournament in Denmark in 1991. Thanks to the victory I got a WIM-title, Finnish national master title and a right to take a part in European interzonal tournament. One interesting fact - being 17 years old I won 17 games in a row during that summer.

4. Who is your coach? How do you train nowadays? How you can combine your civil life and playing chess in serious level?

My husband Jussi Tella. It is quite difficult to combine chess and private life, both of them have suffered because of another. Chess has taken time from studies and from work and the opposite. As a whole I am very satisfied as I have been able to fullfill my dreams through chess.