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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Female Chess Champ Quits To Become Nun

Compiled From Wire Services

Claudia Amura, who won a silver medal at the 1992 Chess Olympics and is considered Latin America’s best female player, is quitting the game to become a nun.

Amura, 26, announced her retirement in an interview with the newspaper Clarin at the Congregacion Mercedaria convent in Cordoba, 440 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

“Chess gave me everything. It helped mature my religious beliefs,” she said in the interview published Thursday.

Amura became Argentine champion at 15. At the peak of her career, she was 12th in the world. She was South American champion in 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1995.