Gina Lynne LoSasso (born March 13, 1956), formerly known as Gina Linn and also known by her

married name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

s Langan and formerly Finegold, is an American chess player who played for the United States and Belgium on the international chess circuit and holds the titles of

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

of Woman International Master (WIM, 1990), the USCF title of National Master (NM, 1990), and the

ICCF title International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IF ...

of Lady International Master (LIM, 1993).

Biography

In the second half of the 1980s, playing as Gina Linn, Gina Lynne LoSasso was one of the leading American female chess players having participated in two US Women's Championships. In 1989, she moved to Belgium to play and won the Belgian Women's Chess Championship in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. She then placed first in the Women’s World Championship Zonal for Northwestern Europe in Oosterwijk in 1990, and participated in Women's World Chess Championship Interzonal Tournament in

Azov Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak, is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population: History Early settlements in the vicinity The mo ...

where she placed 16th. Gina Lynne LoSasso played for the United States and Belgium in the Women's Chess Olympiads in Abu Dhabi and Novi Sad respectively. In 1990, she was awarded the FIDE

Woman International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WIM) title for her performance playing first board at the 29th Chess Olympiad (women) in Novi Sad (+7, =3, -3). In the 1990s, she returned to the US and completed a bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree in clinical psychology at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

in less than five years. She received her PhD in clinical psychology in 1999.

Personal life

Gina Lynne LoSasso was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She learned to play chess in her 20s and became one of the leading female chessplayers of the 1980s and early 1990s before returning to college in 1994. She married GM

Ben Finegold Benjamin Philip Finegold (born September 6, 1969) is an American chess grandmaster and YouTuber/Twitch streamer. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest International Master in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) ti ...

in January 1989 in

Hastings, England Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at ...

. They had a son, Spencer Finegold (born June 1991), and later divorced. She later married

Christopher Langan Christopher Michael Langan (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher and autodidact who has been reported to score very highly on IQ tests. Langan's IQ was estimated on ABC's ''20/20'' to be between 195 and 210, and in 1999 he was ...

References

External links

* (1986) * (1990) * * * * * 1956 births Living people Belgian female chess players American female chess players Chess Woman International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors 21st-century American women {{US-chess-bio-stub