Chess Queens

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to promote greater gender equality in chess. One of the most influential chess profiles in this regard is Jennifer Shahade. A few months ago, I heard an interview with her on Daniel Lona's podcast, where Shahade talked about her latest book and some compelling stories about the most prominent female chess players throughout history. After hearing this interview, I felt that I was painfully uninformed about female chess players. Curious to find out more, I read her book Chess Queens.

If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details.
Become a Patron!

What can you expect from this book?

Jen Shahade is an American chess player, writer, and commentator. She is a WGM and two-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion. In addition to her work in chess, Shahade has also been involved in advocacy for women in chess and other fields, and has served as an ambassador for the game.

Chess Queens is a book about the history and cultural significance of female chess players. The book explores the contributions of women to the game of chess, and profiles some of the most notable female chess players throughout history. It is an updated version of Shahade's previous book Chess Bitch (2005).

In Chess Queens, Shahade provides a comprehensive and engaging look at the history and cultural significance of female chess players. From the earliest recorded female players to modern-day grandmasters, Shahade profiles some of the most notable women in chess and explores their contributions to the game. Through a blend of historical analysis and personal anecdotes, Shahade delves into the challenges and triumphs faced by women in the chess world, offering insight into the ongoing struggle for gender equality.

In Chess Queens, Shahade duscusses the role of feminism in the chess world. Shahade is only one of many people who have pointed to the inequalities and biases that women have faced in the game. These can include a lack of support and opportunities for women to participate in chess at the highest levels, as well as a lack of recognition for their achievements.

Chess Queens is an important book. As a chess trainer in my local club, creating a female friendly environment is a continually ongoing struggle. Like many clubs, we have a similar volume of girls and boys among our youngest newcomers, but for some reason, the girls do not stay to the same extent. One of many reasons is the lack of female role models. Showcasing female players, their games and accomplishments can help to amend this by providing inspiration and create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for female chess players.

With her book, Shahade address the lack of representation of women in the chess media and popular culture and thereby contributes to challenge stereotypes and biases that may discourage women from participating in the game.

Chess Queens has received a lot of praise since its publication earlier this year. Several people in the Twittersphere has mentioned it as the best chess book of 2022. It also has a solid 4.5-star rating on Amazon. In a recent review on Chessbase, we can read the following summary:

In my opinion, Chess Queens can be an excellent advertisement for chess itself, as it is portrayed as exciting, complex, and at the same time attractive for women and men alike. I encourage chess players (of all levels and ages) and people interested in inspirational life stories to read the book, as it provides an enormously valuable insight into the chess world, the minds of players, and the benefits of being a professional chess player.

I definitely agree with the opinion in this quote, and give the book my whole-hearted recommendation. If that is not enough for you, and you want to find out more about the book, I recommend the interviews with Shahade on The Chess Experience (Ep. 14) and The Perpetual Chess Podcast (Ep. 269).

Who should read this book?

Chess Queens is a welcome addition to the literature on chess history. By showcasing the many great female players, the book contributes to breaking the bias towards male playes in chess literature. The book aims to provide a comprehensive and engaging look at the role of women in chess, and is suitable for chess players and non-players alike. I would consider it mandatory reading for anyone interested in chess history.

About this book

Author:	Jennifer Shahade
Title:	Chess Queens
Type of book:	Biography
Level:	Any

Comments

Popular reviews

Under the surface

I did something different. I bought a chess book without doing any research. I decided to reward myself with a new book after having written ten reviews. So I asked my friends on Twitter for suggestions, and someone suggested that I take a look at the book Under the surface by Jan Markos. Since the book is quite new, I couldn't find much information about it, so I decided to blindly trust the recommendation. Luckily, I was not let down. What can you expect from this book? I am not the only one who has done something different. Jan Markos did the same when he wrote Under the surface . He takes a quite philosophical approach to chess, which should probably be expected from a former student of philosophy. This comes across quite clearly in his choice of chapter titles. The names "Magnetic Skin", "Anatoly Karpov's Billiard Balls" and "On the Breaking Ice" are not the most transparent chapter titles in the world. But once you get under the surfa...

Learn chess tactics

Where should you turn for tactics training? This is a frequently occuring question, not only from beginners, but also from intermediate players. Which books are suitable for your specific level, and which ones should you get? In this review, I take on a book that I suggest you do get - at least if you're at or near the beginning of your chess development. This was actually my first tactics book back in the day, and I recently reread it in order to give a proper review. I remember that I liked it the first time around and that my tactical skills improved. Although rereading it didn't contribute all that much to my learning, I still have a good impression of it. Please read on for more details. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? Learn Chess Tactics is written by the one and only John Nunn, and (as the name implies) it is a tactics book. I would go as f...

Understanding middlegames

Have you ever found yourself unable to find a move in the middlegame? Of course you have. We all have. About ten years ago, this was a recurring problem for me, which led to a lot of frustration. My conclusion was that I needed to learn how understand middlegames. So what better way than to read a book with the title Understanding Chess Middlegames ? Sound like the perfect remedy, right? Ok, let's find out. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? I first read this book when I was just starting to study chess seriously. I bought it after reading a recommendation in an online forum. I would say this was ten years ago, but the book came out 2011, so it couldn't have been before that. Anyhow, my playing strength was probably around 1200 (I was unrated at the time) and I was having trouble choosing moves in non-tactical positions. Basically, I was playing without ...

Think like a Super-GM

In my previous review I mentioned how I would like to see an improved version of The Improving Chess Thinker , and that a book had recently come out that seemed to be perfectly in line with my ideas. A few months later, I have bought the book, worked through the exercises and read the prose. And finally, I am ready to give my complete review of the new book Think like a Super-GM . And I can tell you, I was not disappointed by this book. Read on to find out why you should probably get the book too. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? As the title indicates, Think like a Super-GM is a book about thinking in chess. At its core, it is a puzzle book. But it is more than that. In the chapters surrounding the puzzles, the book digs into the challenges of thinking in chess and how the thinking process differs between players of different levels. The first chapter ...

Estimating playing strength

Have you ever felt like your chess rating doesn't represent your actual playing strength? Sometimes we want to be able to estimate playing strength based on individual games rather than rating (which changes more slowly). During the past few months, I've been taking a number of online courses and learning python for data analysis. In one of the courses, the final project allowed me to choose my own dataset. So surprise surprise! I chose something chess related. (Not really surprised, are you?) When we play games online, getting a computer evaluation is just a few clicks away. And a commonly used statistic is the average centipawn loss, or simply the average deviation from the computer's best move. Many of us tend to think that centipawn loss (CPL) is a good estimate of playing strength. And, of course, it gives some indication, but it's far from a perfect predictor. Fellow chess/statistics blogger Patrick Coulombe has investigated the correlation between rating and CPL ...

Patzer's review

Search This Blog