Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade Featuring Linda Diaz LK018

Jennifer Shahade welcomes singer, songwriter and former scholastic chess champion, Linda Diaz on Ladies Knight. We play a clip from “Magic” in the middle of the episode, a song you may have heard on twitch.tv/botezlive, where Linda’s music videos have played on breaks during our Saturday US Chess Women fundraisers.  

Like twitch, Linda has been blowing up lately, and was quoted in NPR saying that “Black joy is radical.” Linda explains how this quote can pertain to both chess and music, “It’s definitely a radical act to be fighting all these things and to be living your best life.” 

They also discuss Linda’s scholastic chess career and how coaches like Sophia Rohde and John MacArthur helped her through a period of stagnation and built her empathy off the board and aggression over it.  She also talks about some of her happiest chess memories, from Disneyland for the K-12 to the SPGI. 

She also advises how we can make chess more inclusive and anti-racist. Linda finishes with some musical advice to chess streamers and recommends some artists she’s lately enjoyed.

Look for a memorable game by Linda in the “My Best Move” series in the July issue of Chess Life Magazine. Linda’s linktree will take you to her spotify, YouTube, instagram and website.