Photo credit: Maria Emelianova/chess.com
Jennifer Shahade is a chess champion, poker pro, speaker and author. Her first book with us, Chess Queens (Hodder & Stoughton, 2022), captures her career as a professional chessplayer, where she traveled from Istanbul to Moscow to represent the United States in International competition. Intertwined with Jennifer’s own journey, are the fascinating lives of the women who broke down barriers to become champions in the male-dominated sphere of chess. Jennifer’s subsequent book Reset (Hodder & Stoughton, Spring 2024), will reveal the secrets of success from the world of chess, looking at how taking risks, maintaining confidence in the face of failure and challenging the system can lead to not just success, but a new perspective on what success looks like.
Jennifer is a two-time United States women’s chess champion, the first female to win the US Junior Open and holds the International title of Women Grandmaster. She works to bring more women, girls and gender minorities into chess through programmes like US Chess Women, the Madwoman’s Book Club, and a cross-cultural chess club with girls from all the world, from Kenya to Colombia. She’s also a board member of the World Chess Hall of Fame, a museum in Saint Louis devoted to chess.
Jennifer is also a poker champion, and an ambassador for PokerStars and Poker Power, where she furthers her work to make games more inclusive and empower women through decision-making.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has shown a passion for educating crowds on the culture and craft of chess and poker, and how the games can be used for anyone to make better decisions. In 2014 she gave a TEDx talk explaining that choosing when to make a big decision can be as important as what you choose. Since then, her speaking has taken her to Bank Of America, Mishcon de Reya, the Boston Consulting Group, Wharton Business School, Harvard University, Yale University and the MIT Sports Analytics Conference. Beyond corporate talks, Jennifer mentors and speaks to thousands of young people about chess via her charity work. She also hosts two award-winning podcasts, The Poker GRID and Ladies Knight.
