"Chess Bitch" Review

I just read "Chess Bitch" by Jennifer Shahade. Here's my review:

Browsing the staid chess titles on my library’s website, “Chess Bitch” certainly jumped out. Unfortunately, the book itself isn’t as good as its title. In fact, after the first 30 or so pages, I was so annoyed with the scattershot pacing, awkward phrasing and irritating typos that I almost gave up on it. Suddenly, starting with chapter 4 about the Polgar sisters, author Shahade’s prose becomes more fluid, her storytelling more compelling.

From time to time there are still awkward sentences that Shahade, who was born and raised in the United States, seems unlikely to have written. (“Her fame in Ecuador brings with it pressure.” “A trainer’s role,s (sic) or ‘second,’ in a serious event was multiple.”) Also, not all of the women chess players she reports on are particularly interesting subjects.

Shahade intertwines anecdotes regarding herself, other top female chess players, and philosophic musings on the role of sex in chess competition and other endeavors. Sometimes this amalgam works well, and sometimes it’s unintentionally confounding, like reels being played out of sequence at a movie screening.

Aside from introducing us to many top women players, the book reveals out how foolish, simplistic, and one-dimensional many of the reasons are that have been posited for the lack of women at the very highest echelons of chess competition. Shahade helps us realize the complexities.

The book suggests that there are many outstanding women chess players, with more arriving on the scene each year, and that with this increasing participation by women, and when these women routinely receive the sort of training and support that top male chess players take for granted, women will eventually gain parity. However, it’s been nearly 15 years since this book was written, and at the time of this review, there is only a single woman among FIDE’s top 100 players, Hou Yifan of China.