Inspired by “The Queen’s Gambit,” speed skater Brittany Bowe wants to learn to play chess.
She’ll have plenty of time to take up a new sport while ensconced in the month-long “bubble” surrounding two World Cups and the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Bowe asked Matt Kooreman, a US Speedskating coach and chess aficionado, to bring a chessboard on the trip.
“It’s a huge mental game and I love that aspect of it,” Bowe said. “He said, ‘You better be careful, though, or you’re going to become obsessed with it.