This week’s return guest is 2 time US Women’s Champion and award-winning author, podcaster and commentator Jennifer Shahade. Jennifer has recently released the excellent and inspiring new tactics book, Play Like a Champion. Play Like a Champion is a collection of biographical sketches of top woman players, featuring memorable tactics for a wide range of chess experience levels. In our conversation, we discuss Jen’s writing and puzzle selection process, new chess vocabulary, Jen’s advice for starting chess clubs, and her decision to leave US Chess. We also discuss Jen’s next projects and her plans for 2024. As always, timestamps of topics discussed are below.
03:00- We discuss Jen’s recent event at the Marshall Chess Club.
04:30- Patreon mailbag question- Jen’s advice for starting a Women’s meetup/chess club.
07:30- Why does Jen think there might be a “confidence gap” between how women and men assess their own chess skills?
Mentioned: Elizabeth Spiegel, Shawn Martinez
14:30- What led to Jen’s confidence level shifting in chess as a teenager?
15;00- How did Jen decide on the wide range of difficulty within her puzzles?
Mentioned: The Botez Sisters, Silman’s Complete Endgame Course, IM Sara Khadem
25:00- New chess strategy terminology? What is a “zap”? What does it mean to “think sideways”
29:00- How is Jen’s next book progressing?
31:30- Jen discusses her collaboration with IM Jeremy Silman, who was her publisher for the book Chess Bitch.
Mentioned: GM Ben Finegold, Anna Hahn, Irina Krush, Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions
38:00- Will Jen be blogging more frequently?
Mentioned: Jen’s substack
40:00- Jen discusses her decision to leave US Chess in the wake of the Alejandro Ramirez allegations.
Mentioned: How Alejandro Ramirez Allegations Against a US Chess Grandmaster went Unaddressed for Years,French female players Open Letter, Carol Meyer stepping down as US Chess Executive Director
48:00- Jen on her 2024 events and plans:
Chesskid National Festival, Russell Makofsky’s Impact Coaching Network, FM Mike Klein, FM James Canty, GM Daniel Naroditsky, IM Daniel Rensch, ASAP Philly
53:00- How to enter to win a copy of Play Like a Champion signed by Jennifer Shahade
SIGNED BOOK IS US ONLY, outside the US, you can still enter to win a free Forward Chess Digital Copy of Jen’s book. (there are two prizes in total)
Entries will be closed on January 16 and winners will be announced via shortly thereafter
55:00- Thanks, as always to Jen for joining me. Be sure to check out her book and to subscribe to her blog.
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Episode 295- GM Gregory Kaidanov- One of the US’ top players and trainers on Maintaining Motivation, Imparting Lessons to Students, and his Long Journey from the USSR to the US.
Bonus Pod- How to Chess Podcast- GM Johan Hellsten on How to Analyze Your Own Chess Games
EP 294- GM Fabiano Caruana on Engines, The Evolution of Chess, the Candidates Tournament, and the World Championship Cycle.
EP 293- Olympiad Trip reports with Lula Roberts aka "LulaRobs" and Team USA captain, IM John Donaldson
EP 292- Adult Improver Karen Boyd on What She Learned from a Busy Summer of Tournament Chess, and Why she Always "Plays Up" Against Tougher Competition
Bonus Pod- How to Chess Podcast- How to Approach Studying the Endgame with GM Sahaj Grover
EP 291- GM Alex Fishbein on Maintaining a Passion for Chess into One's 50s, (Plus great Korchnoi and Tal stories.)
Bonus Pod - Dispatches from the Chennai Olympiad with GM Axel Bachmann and Mr. Dodgy of Chessable
EP 290- Dutch Trainer and Author IM Jeroen Bosch on How to Build an Opening Repertoire
Book Recap #28- Chess Tactics from Scratch by FM Martin Weteschnik- A Great Intermediate Level Tactics Guide
EP 289- Tony Ballard- A Convicted Felon on How Chess has Changed His Life
Bonus Pod- GM Andrii Baryshpolets on Why He is Running For FIDE President
Breaking News Bonus Pod- Chess24 Reporter Tarjei Svensen on Magnus' Decision not to Defend his Title
EP 288- GM Peter Heine Nielsen Takes us Behind the Scenes of the 2012 World Championship Match between Anand and Gelfand
EP 287- GM David Howell joins for a FIDE Candidates Wrap Up plus World Championship Match Scuttlebutt, and his 2022 OTB and Commentating Plans
Book Recap #27 - GM Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess
EP 286- Adult Improver Dr. Nicholas Vasquez on How and Why he Finally Got Serious about Chess Improvement
FIDE Candidates Round 12 Update- IM Christof Sielecki on Nepo's Dominance, Alireza's Struggles and the Tight Battle For 2nd Place
EP 285- IM Irina Bulmaga on her New Chess Training Regimen, the best Open Tournaments in Europe, and her Current Chess Goals
FIDE Candidates Round 6 Update- GM Jonathan Tisdall on the tournament so far
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