20 Questions: Jennifer Shahade
Jennifer Shahade is a Women’s Grandmaster, two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champ, author, podcaster, commentator, and poker professional. Last year she released her newest book, "Chess Queens: The True Story of a Chess Champion and the Greatest Female Players of All Time." She is currently working on multiple new books, including one titled, "Thinking Sideways," about what chess can teach us about life. Signed copies of "Chess Queens" can be found here.
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1. Favorite Color: Red
2. Favorite Movie: Magnolia (1999) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Favorite TV Show: The Wire
4. Favorite Musician: Bjork
5. Favorite Food: Sushi
6. Favorite Chess Player: Judit Polgar
7. Favorite Opening: Sicilian
8. Favorite Time Control: Classical
9. Knights or Bishops: Bishops
10. Hobbies other than Chess: Poker, Exercising, Writing
11. You’ve won multiple championship titles, played on the olympiad team, and commented/covered countless events. Proudest moment in your chess career?
My first U.S. Championship win. It was the first year they had women and put women and men in the same section. So I got an IM norm while also winning the championship and performed much better than I was expecting.
12. Was there anything that didn’t make it into your most recent book, "Chess Queens?"
There are so many stories about women in chess and I wasn’t able to include everything. There are so many female chess players who excel in making chess problems or playing correspondence chess. Also, the current Indian chess revolution which was touched upon in the book, but could have been multiple chapters. Especially looking at how they are creating such a wonderful generation of chess talent and the gender dynamics as well. It’s such a rich topic right now and luckily I am writing another book so those stories can fit in there!
13. You have previously discussed FIDE’s gender-specific titles and mentioned how they are controversial. Do you believe it is harmful to have them?
It’s tricky to answer. I think it can be both, depending on the audience. From my experience as an American player, I feel there are some who perceive it negatively because they are constantly making fun of it. Chess.com is really good at shutting these repetitive comments down in Twitch chat.
Also, this question often leads to negatively charged comments and steers the conversation in a negative way, but I don’t think that’s always the case. Many women are rightfully proud to gain the WGM title. There are a lot of hurdles that women face in chess that men don’t. So getting these titles is an incredible accomplishment, especially depending on where you live, how you learned chess, and the opportunities given to you. There are countries that don’t even have a WGM yet, and the first one is a springboard for her to motivate other people. FIDE could even merge WGM and IM titles because they are only 50 Elo rating apart.
14. What steps need to be taken by FIDE and other governing bodies to grow women’s chess at all ages?
There are a lot of different things. First is making sure women have a safe space to play! By following Olympic guidelines and providing SafeSport reporting for victims of harassment, federations can help create a safe environment for all players. U.S. Chess has done this, and I think more federations should also. Another thing we do at our U.S. Chess events is a Girls Club room where girls can meet up and build friendships.
Furthermore, larger prize funds for women would create more incentive to play. To be fair, I do see a lot of federations pursuing better playing experiences for girls and women. Our next step is to reevaluate what is and isn't working so we can take more steps to further the cause.
15. As the executive director for the U.S. Chess’s Women’s program, what are you doing to meet your goals of making chess more accessible?
Gender minorities are definitely welcome at all of the U.S. Women's events. At U.S. Chess, changing your gender is simple and easy to do and something we have had in place since 2018. We also partner with organizations that are doing great work for the minorities we want to reach.
Another thing we do is host a Cross-Cultural Girls Club here on Chess.com. I work with GM Pontus Carlsson, founder of Business Meets Chess and Kids, and Judith Kiragu, founder of the Lighthouse Chess Club, to host girls mainly from Kenya and the United States to do cross-cultural learning, play chess, and create friendships. A few weeks ago, we had Maurice Ashley come in and do a Q+A and inspire the girls.
16. You’ve discussed your own career and how you’ve faced and handled sexism at tournaments and events. What advice would you like to give to female players of any age who have experienced that or may be worried about playing in a tournament?
Firstly, we need to respect someone's choice to play or not. My best advice would be to find your crew! Unfortunately, harassers and abusers like to isolate people, so if you have a good community, that will help you. I hope that anyone reading this article will also look out for others and be that person who offers that community and support.
Also, starting online might be easier. Speaking as an honorary ChessPunk, I think that's a pretty cool community. It seems very progressive. If you get to know someone on Twitter and Discord, you can get a good sense if you will get along with them in person. You can build those friendships before going to real-life tournaments and events.
17. At a chess camp, when you were 12, a psychologist was brought in to explain why women in chess were doomed because their IQ’s supposedly differ. Just last year, Ilya Smirin said live while commentating that “maybe chess isn’t for women.” To the men out there who agree with these false and harmful statements, what would you like to say?
Realize that your words have weight, and think before you speak because your words can be impactful. Also, spend less time thinking about gender differences and more time studying Judit Polgar, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Pia Cramling's games, to name a few. We upload videos of our Cross-Cultural Girls Club classes on YouTube so that people can play along even if they don’t identify as female. Men need to learn from women and boys from girls. I think there isn’t a lot of interest in that and I would like to change it.
18. People may not know that along with your written and podcasting work, you have created some performance art exploring gender dynamics in chess. One of which is Hula Chess. Can you tell me more about it?
Hula Chess came out of the idea that in chess, there are all these beautiful things happening in your mind, but nobody can see them. Through the movement of the hula hoop, we can show all this craziness going on in our brains. It also speaks on the idea of multitasking and the idea of circles in hula hooping and straight lines in chess. I think it's a beautiful combination.
19. What impact has chess had on you?
It’s made me think globally. When you look at chess, it’s an international game, and when you ask all these questions, I have to analyze it with as big a lens as possible. What's more, it helps you ensure you include all perspectives and are not leaving anyone out.
20. Anything coming up in 2023 you want to promote?
I’ll be doing a lot of traveling again this year for the European Poker Tour and PokerStars Players Championships. In the chess world, I will be hosting the Girls Club’s rooms at national events. I'll be at the MIT Sports Analytics Conference as well. And if my schedule allows it I will participate in a poker tourney supporting Athlete Ally, which promotes LGBTQ rights in sports.
Some responses have been abbreviated for brevity and clarity.
