Jennifer Shahade

Jennifer Shahade

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.

 

Elizabeth Sheinkman @@jenshahade

Reading about the impact of WWII on chess players makes me feel sad about all the ways that war has impacted chess players, especially the current Ukrainian/Russian war. I think it’s a strong reminder that at the end of the day, chess players are all human.

I’ve been reading Chess Queens by @JenShahade , who gave it to me as a gift. Gonna start a thread of my reactions as I read:

This week I wrote about the women's world champion Nona Gaprindashvili, who sued Netflix for misrepresenting her career in The Queen's Gambit.

What really interested me though are her games. The level of aggression and creativity is insane!

https://zwischenzug.substack.com/p/no-nonsense-nona

Watch the full video with Choko and @JenShahade: https://youtu.be/7XMO57p6n3M

REPLY TO THIS THREAD TO WIN!

✨NINE✨pkgs total (one already awarded)

🔸$500 entry into the 2023 @WSOP Salute to Warriors tournament
🔸$500 flight stipend
🔸4 nights hotel at @HorseshoeVegas
🔸Welcome breakfast w/meet & greet at Mon Ami Gabi inside http://4.You… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1639311145621389314

Meet Isabelle Choko, holocaust survivor and 1956 French Women’s Chess Champion.

Omg I’ve taken many photos over the years with @JenShahade but this one I just found is the best one 😍

Poker has been good to me so it’s time to give back!

@jackiburkhart81 and I are going to be putting together free pkgs (buyin, hotel, airfare) for several veterans to play the Salute to Warriors tourney at the WSOP.

Our goal is to give out 5 packages.

More info coming soon.

Live on Twitch! Being joined in an hour by the lovely @LucianaMorales who is going to tell us all about her new @chessable course: Queens of the Chess Board!

https://www.twitch.tv/lularobs

Want to setup a short list for PASCOOP games to play? 🤔

Here is a list of the marquee events for PASCOOP2023 🥳

Which of these events do you plan to play? ⬇️

white to play. do you see the incredible winning move and the pretty main line? 🫣

Excited for this one: @GMCarlsson to teach the cross-cultural girls club the dreaded French Defense.

The time IM Greg Shahade asked his fans to downvote a comment on reddit and they misunderstood🤣

In light of the recent Wall Street Journal article, what message would you like to share with our community? @JenShahade

“oh so you want -your- tax dollars to pay for free school lunches?” literally yes. please take whatever is necessary to keep kids from going hungry. how the fuck is this controversial.

@JenShahade Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/OGS2Oi5MXAg

@JenShahade @vanessasun64 Thx for the shout-out, there is so much talent among #ChessQueens! Would love to see a chess-themed ballet one day 🩰♟️ Both require extreme discipline and can be rigid, but are aesthetically creative at their peak.

Oooo I find this one so funny bc I also got signed up for ballet as a kid (my older sister did ballet), thought it was too boring, and my parents let me take chess lessons instead 😂 https://twitter.com/JenShahade/status/1636342475747999746

I talk to @chesscom about my chess beginnings and favorite projects from the beautiful Blitz Society Bar in Paris. https://youtu.be/OGS2Oi5MXAg