Ladies Knight Chess

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Luciana Morales LK046

Jennifer welcomes Women’s International Master Luciana Morales to Ladies Knight. Luciana is a three-time Continental Champion, the first Peruvian woman to qualify for the Women’s World Champs and an Olympian captain and player.
Now hailing from Brownsville, Texas, Luciana works for chessable, where she was recently promoted to Classroom Manager. She  goes by “Mom’s Gambit” on social media, where she explores balancing her passion for chess for her new role as a mother.
Jennifer and Luciana talk about her origin story in chess, and what it was like to be the first girl to win the absolute section in the Lima city Youth Championships. She also compares her college experience in Texas vs. Peru and the new chessable course she is working on about the games of the first five Women’s World Champions.
Luciana is a passionate advocate for empowering youth and bringing more girls and women into the game. Bringing this vision to life has taken her all over the World from Mexico to Spain to the US Chess Girls Club in Memphis, TN.
Follow Luciana on twitter and Instagram, and look for her upcoming course on chessable in early 2023.

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Tatia Skhirtladze LK045

Jennifer welcomes Tatia Skhirtladze to Ladies Knight. Skhirtladze is the director and producer of “Glory to the Queen”, a documentary film exploring the outstanding success of Georgian women in chess, focused on four legends of the game: Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Nana Ioselaini and Nana Alexandria.
Jennifer and Tatia speak about highlights from her film, Tatia’s own first encounter with Chiburdanidze, and the impact of the Queen’s Gambit.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tatia now teaches video art at the University of Appiled Arts in Vienna. She will be in the USA in September, and we’ll update this article with any confirmed appearances, which now include a lecture at Harvard University.
You can purchase and watch the movie on numerous venues, including Apple, amazon and vimeo.
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends.
Ladies Knight is the proud recipient of two Chess Journalist of the Year Awards in 2022, including Best Podcast, and Best Episode, with Anastasiya Rakhmangulova.
Photo © Bernd KlingerL to R: Nana Ioseliani, Maia Chiburdanidze, Nona Gaprindashvili and Nana Alexandria

Ladies Knight Q&A with Jen Shahade LK044

In a special episode of Ladies Knight, Jennifer Shahade takes on listener questions, ranging from a member of her girls chess club who struggles with closing winning positions, to previous guest Laura Smith on how Jennifer would approach a return to professional chess. She also answers a question from podcaster Daniel Lona who asks about some of her favorite interactions inspired by CHESS QUEENS, and a number of questions that emerged from her social media channels. 
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends. 
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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.

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Jessica Era Martin LK042

Jennifer interviews author, chess coach as well as a longtime friend of Jen’s, Jessica Era Martin, to Ladies Knight. Jessica is the founder of Over the ChessBoard, a coaching organization dedicated to bringing chess everyone. A published poet and frequent contributor to chesskid, she’s also the author of several books, including two 2022 titles, Chess Strategy for Beginners (out now!) and Chess Openings for Beginners (June).
Jennifer and Jessica discuss the origin of her middle name ERA, the importance of inclusion in chess books, and favorite openings. They also touch on how to bring and keep more girls into the game, and the importance of creating a safe and welcoming environment for girls, women and the LGTBQ+ community.
Mentioned in the pod:
Jessica’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-E-Martin/e/B07YLWY3DQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Jennifer’s book CHESS QUEENS: https://www.uscfsales.com/chess-queens.html
US Chess Safe Play policies: https://new.uschess.org/us-chess-safe-play-guidelines
Jonathan Corbblah on the GRID: https://thepokergrid.com/2021/07/12/the-grid-057-ft-jonathan-corbblah-nine-five-suited
Find out more about Jessica, her lessons and her books on https://www.overthechessboard.com
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends. 

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade on the Road, ft. CHESS QUEENS LK041

In this special episode of Ladies Knight, host Jennifer Shahade invites you to join her on the road, starting with her Chess Queens book launch in London, where she visited a girls school called Sarah Bonnell, a women’s group called the “Trouble Club”, and our friends at the London Chess & Bridge Shop. She moves on to an historic simultaneous match conducted by the top female player of all time, Judit Polgar, where Jennifer was captain of the girls club. Then Jennifer takes us down to Memphis for the High School National Championships, where she hosted the US Chess girls club, along with a bevy of inspiring guests. She concludes the episode with a visit to the World Chess Hall of Fame, where she and her husband Daniel Meirom, showed two of their feminist chess art pieces in the current show, Mind, Art and Experience, which celebrates the tenth anniversary of the HOF’s move from Miami to Saint Louis.  
Links Featured in the Show:
Jennifer’s new book CHESS QUEENS on US Chess Sales
Signed copies of CHESS QUEENS on US Chess Sales (limited availability) 
Sunday Times Review of CHESS QUEENS 
Mind Art and Experience show at the WCHOF
Marcel Duchamp vs. Eve Babitz as re-imagined in Vanity Fair
Jen’s game at the London OTB Southbank Event
Article on Jennifer and Daniel’s piece, Not Particularly Beautiful
The Girls Club vs. Judit Polgar (also look for a piece in Chess Life Kids by girls club teen leader Laurel Aronian)
2021 visit by Judit to our Girls Club
PHOTO COURTESY LONDON CHESS & BRIDGE SHOPSARAH BONNELL SCHOOLPHOTO BY CAROLINE KING FOR USCHESSJEN AT THE TROUBLE CLUBSARAH BONNELL SCHOOLPHOTO BY CAROLINE KING FOR USCHESSJEN AT THE WORLD CHESS HOFPHOTO COURTESY LONDON CHESS & BRIDGE SHOP

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Anastasiya Rakhmangulova LK040

Jennifer welcomes Women’s International Master and former Ukrainian Champion Anastasiya Rakhmangulova to Ladies Knight. Jennifer first heard about Anastasia, who goes by “Nastia”, in the 2020 Isolated Queens tournament, an online event that Jen hosted with Alexandra Botez at the start of the pandemic. Almost two years later, Nastia began to update her Instagram followers on the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 24th. This began with a harrowing week long stay in a Kyiv bomb shelter and then her subsequent escape to the Czech Republic. Ever since, Anastasia has been connecting and fundraising urgently and incessantly to help friends, family and members of service in Ukraine.
Jen and Nastia also touch on lighter topics, such as her favorite chessplayers, books, and future chess goals.
Follow Nastia on her Instagram profile, and find out more about her efforts to help here.
Correction: The Ukrainian women’s team won the 2006 Olympiad, not the 2008 Olympiad (won by Georgia.)
Thanks to everyone who donated to the US Chess Fundraiser with the Kasparov Chess Foundation to help Ukrainian chessplayers. It closed out with over 33K in donations. 
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. 
Jennifer Shahade is the Director of US Chess Women and the author of Chess Queens, now available and in stock at US Chess Sales.
Photo by Lennart Ootes

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Martha Fierro LK039

Jennifer Shahade welcomes a chess champion, friend and leader to Ladies Knight: Martha Fierro of Ecuador. Martha is a woman with many titles: she’s a FIDE Vice President, an International Master, a Women’s Grandmaster, International Organizer and a two-time Olympic medalist. She’s also one of Jennifer’s earliest inspirations: Jennifer first met Martha at a small tournament in Washington DC. Jennifer was not yet a championship player, and was in one of the reserve sections: Martha, who was already a master player, still went out of her way to mentor Jennifer.
Martha is one of the most respected sportspeople in her country, and was once elected as sportsperson of the year for her many victories in Pan-American Championships, as well as her international successes. The founder and head trainer of the Martha Fierro International Chess Academy, her new initiative, the “Ajedrez En Tu Barrio” program, brings chess to children in underserved neighborhoods in Ecuador.
Follow Martha Fierro on twitter and learn more about her academy here.
Martha is also featured in Jennifer’s new book, Chess Queens, which you can now order at US Chess Sales.
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends.

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Ella Papanek LK038

US Chess expert and quant sports trader Ella Papanek joins Jennifer Shahade on Ladies Knight for a fascinating discussion. A recent graduate of Harvard University, Ella works at the Susquehana International Group (SIG), a global quantitative trading firm in the Philly area. Her interests span from chess to poker to sports, and of course- statistics, her major at Harvard.
Jen and Ella’s wide-ranging discussion touches on rating distribution and gender, evaluating chess positions from a human perspective, and the Philadelphia Sixers.
SIG is a sponsor of US Chess, and recently supported the 2022 Pan-American Championship. If you want to find out more about their work, check out their website at sig.com and find out more about internship opportunities in their campus life brochure.
Discussed in the episode:
Angela Saini’s book, Inferior
Jennifer Shahade’s upcoming book, Chess Queens, now available at US Chess Sales
Daryl Morey and Jessica Gelman’s MIT Sports Analytics Conference
MIT Sports Analytics panel “Beyond the Gambit: Chess’ Big Move”
NFL Big Data Bowl: https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/analytics/big-data-bowl/
Jen’s podcast episode with chess enthusiast Bill Chen, who also works at SIG
North American Corporate Chess League
Ladies Knight features music by the artist Juga. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends.

Ladies Knight with Jen Shahade ft. Rusudan Goletiani LK037

Jennifer welcomes International Master Rusudan Goletiani to Ladies Knight. Goletiani is a three-time World Youth Champion, a two-time Olympic medalist and a former US Women’s Champion- she took Jennifer’s title in 2005!   Rusudan recently gave a riveting presentation in the girls club at the K-12 Nationals in Orlando, Florida, about the struggles she encountered on the way to her successful life and career.  In 1992, Rusa fled her region of Georgia, Abkhazia, due to war. She explains the dramatic story to Jennifer in the podcast, revealing the most terrifying moments of her life during her escape, as well as the most relieving. 
Rusa and Jen also discuss the legendary Georgian champions that inspired her as a youngster, including Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Nana Ioseliani and Nana Alexandria. All four were featured in the documentary “Glory to the Queen.” They wrap up with a discussion on the importance of confidence and girls and chess. Beyond her chess accomplishments, Rusudan is a mom of three, a Columbia University business grad, and currently works in finance. 
Discussed in this episode: Glory to the Queen documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8682060/
Rusa quoted in Jen’s upcoming book, “Chess Queens”: https://jennifershahade.com/books 
K-12 Nationals girls club room: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXMWrGTuiiN/
US Chess Women: https://new.uschess.org/give/women-chess-initiative
Girls to Grandmasters: https://www.g2gm.org/
Find out about our US Chess Women programs, including our girls club and women’s classes at uschesswomen.org. We appreciate every donation and renewal. Love the podcast? Subscribe to us, review and share Ladies Knight on social media or with friends.
Spectrum Studios / Saint Louis Chess Club