Tania Sachdev is adept at pushing the pieces on the chess board as she is at talking about the game. She juggles her roles as a player and one wielding the microphone rather seamlessly.

The 38-year-old Tania, who is an Olympiad winner and a commentator, makes heads turn with her eloquence. She was all praise for Divya Deshmukh for capturing the FIDE Women’s World Cup title recently and said it was a joy to watch her in action.

“It was brilliant to watch her perform. I mean, the results were one thing, but also just the way she played in the whole tournament. The World Cup is such a long event. Every round is so incredibly difficult. It takes such a mental toll as well. Even at the Olympiad, she was one of the key players to get us the gold medal in Budapest,” Tania, an International Master (IM), told reporters on the sidelines of the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters tournament here on Tuesday.

She also praised veteran Koneru Humpy for her runner-up finish at the World Cup.

With regard to the legendary Judit Polgar’s call for doing away with titles (like Woman International Master and Woman Grandmaster), Tania said she didn’t quite agree with the idea and added “because for many players, that is an aspiration which does encourage young girls to take up the sport.”

She also favoured young girls playing in as many open tournaments as possible and training with boys and competing against men.

On her love for commentary, Tania said: “I love commentating. I don’t think I love playing as much as I used to. So it’s not a job for me. It’s a joy and privilege to be able to do what I do.”