Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Yosha Iglesias LK043

Jennifer is joined by Yosha Iglesias, a multi-talented chess professional: a FIDE Master, composer, coach and YouTuber. She also works for chess24, and is among the top ten female players in France, (ranked #9 in June 2022).

Jennifer and Yosha speak about how the Eureka moment of solving a chess problem can be similar to a Eureka moment in life—and how this manifested for Yosha in finding her gender identity.

They also discuss Yosha’s own chess compositions, including this surprisingly difficult mate in one:

On her blog, Iglesias writes about why it’s important for chess organizations to have trans inclusive policies. (See US Chess’s policy here.) A deep thinker about gender, theory and the game, Yosha points out that, “If men and women have equal abilities for the game of chess, the so-called female category is justified by the numerous additional difficulties and discriminations that the players underdog because of their gender. And believe me, trans players are no more spared than other players.”

Find out more about Yosha on her website, and follow her on twitter and Youtube.

Jennifer Shahade is the Director of US Chess Women and the author of CHESS QUEENS, now available everywhere, including US Chess Sales.