Last year, she defeated Matthew O'Brien, a U.S. 国际象棋大师，在最后一轮中，成为国际象棋锦标赛中排名最高的女性. 美国国际象棋杂志发表了一篇关于她成就的文章.

莎鲁达四岁时在她的祖国乌克兰开始下棋.

“我玩了太多的纸牌游戏，我的父母对此感到厌倦，”她回忆说. “So, my mom suggested to my dad to teach me some chess." Her father taught her the game and she became quite good, 在乌克兰全国10岁以下女子锦标赛中获得铜牌.

In 2013, 这位国际象棋冠军通过学生交换项目来到美国，在遇到后来成为她丈夫的男人后，她决定留下来. 夏洛达(与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr zelensky)上同一所高中)今年3月回到欧洲，帮助父母逃离这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家，在波兰定居. She recently shared her tense journey on RCSJ今天.

The respect Sharuda, 他是休厄尔小学的教师助理，也是南泽西创新中心的象棋教练, has for the game runs deep. “I was going to say, why do you think I like it," she wryly joked when asked what she loves about chess. “It's a love/hate relationship. It can be very cruel."

她继续说道:“你可以在整场比赛中走好棋. “But one mistake, 一个小小的错误，比如说你感到焦虑，或者你厌倦了思考，或者你有一秒钟很懒, 正确的? 你不喜欢算计，于是你犯了错误，你踢得那么好, is out the window."

Sharuda, the mother of a seven-year-old son who also plays chess, 是否对游戏的心理和哲学方面感兴趣. She points out the parallels between chess and life.
 
“当然, I love the game. I just find it fascinating. 我喜欢它的原因是它教你分析，”她解释道. “The best way to learn is learned from the games that you lost. So, I feel like it relates to life a lot. We all make mistakes, 正确的? 优秀玩家与不优秀玩家的区别在于优秀玩家能够从错误中学习. If you cannot learn from your mistakes, if you're not trying to improve, it's probably not a good thing in chess, 在生活中, 也."
 
的参与者 RCSJ's 3+1 premier partnership program with Rowan UniversitySharuda也看到了这款游戏与大学生之间的联系. 

“其中一名棋手说，最难的事情是赢得一场胜利, so I feel like we tend to relax in some cases,她说. “When we feel like the victory is close, 我们想象自己已经拿着香槟庆祝了. But that's actually the time to be even more cautious. I feel like in school it's also important to finish strong. So, no matter how well you're doing you can't just relax. It's important to finish strong with whatever you're doing."
​ 
莎鲁达与学院有家庭关系，这使得她很容易决定在这里入学. “I almost feel the choice was made for me," she acknowledged. “我丈夫上的是威尼斯人注册郡的罗文学院(现在的RCSJ)，我姐夫上的是RCSJ, 也. I live in the neighborhood. RCSJ有着良好的声誉，所以没有理由不利用即将到来的机会."

Sharuda has excelled in her 3+1 courses. “It's a great program," she declared. “It's affordable, which is important. The dean has been extremely helpful. Mr. Kitchenman and my advisor, Mr. Re​y, they've been wonderful. All the teachers are amazing."

Her professors feel the same about her. 

卡姆总能找到方法让她的同龄人参与到更深层次的对话中来," said Dana Teague, Instructor for Education majors in the 3+1 program. “她总是愿意问各种各样的问题，并在需要时为同龄人提供支持."

“She has a very strong desire to teach, and I believe that she will make a strong, effective teacher because she has a great deal of empathy," said Instructor Jennie Cusick. “她也知道并理解如何与他人沟通."
 
Besides being a champion chess player, Sharuda wears many hats. 她是一位母亲, 女儿, secretary for the New Jersey State Chess Federation, chess instructor and student aide. 她参加了东海岸的许多比赛，并承认下国际象棋, 为她, is a time-consuming hobby. 然而, Sharuda, who hopes to achieve the title Chess Master, has made sure that her studies didn't falter, even during the U.S. Open Chess Championship.

“I was also taking a summer Biology class, 所以我白天做DNA，晚上玩,她说 with a chuckle. 

当被问及成为女子冠军后的感受时, Sharuda thought about her son. “I was so proud of my son who played 也. He and I won the mother and son prize," she proclaimed. “我的儿子也表现出色，赢得了一些东西，所以，尤其为他，我感到非常非常高兴."

至于她自己? “当然, 我为自己感到骄傲，因为如果你看看球员名单, there were a lot of strong players including some grandmasters."

For those interested in playing the game, Sharuda, 谁是目前排名前100位的美国女子国际象棋选手.S., shared some words of wisdom. 她说:“重要的是要享受你所做的事情，并努力从中获得乐趣。. “Like with my son, 我试着教他玩得开心，而不是为了结果而下棋. I think that's the most important thing. When you start something, you don't always win. You don't always succeed. 我认为重要的是要有耐心，并在输球后努力改进."

然后，她引用了温斯顿·丘吉尔的话来阐明自己的观点:“成功不是最终的. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."

“I can't say it any better," said Sharuda.

有关RCSJ的教育和人文项目的信息，请访问 RCSJ.edu/educationhumanities​​.​​​​​​​