Elena, 24, from Kyiv

• 3languages

Ballet trained, chess obsessed, and hard to beat at either.

Ten years of classical ballet in Kyiv, the kind of training where nobody counts the hours, ended for Elena with a knee injury. Rehab led her to online chess, and chess gave her back what she missed about the stage: preparation, patience, and someone to beat. Now 24, she plays every day, favors the Queen's Gambit, and doesn't lose often. She keeps up her fitness and her reading, and her standards are high, starting with her own. She won't pretend to be interested if she isn't, but she doesn't bail either. Stick around past the opening moves and you'll find someone loyal and surprisingly funny. She speaks English, Ukrainian, and French.

I always win. I'll still let you play.

Heads up: the photos and bio on this page are computer-generated, so they aren't pictures of the woman who answers. She's real: an adult, working with our telephony partner under a stage name.