Jennifer Shahade (born December 31, 1980) is an American
chess player, poker player, commentator and writer. She is a two-time United States Women's Champion and has the
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
title of
Woman Grandmaster. Shahade is the author of the books ''Chess Bitch'', ''Play Like a Girl'', and most recently, ''Chess Queens'', and co-author of ''
Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess''. She is the Women's Program Director at US Chess, MindSports Ambassador for
PokerStars
PokerStars is an online poker cardroom that was a part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment on May 5, 2020. It can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for the Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Andro ...
and a board member of the
World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a nonprofit, collecting institution situated in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It features chess exhibits, engages in educational outreach, and maintains a list of ...
in Saint Louis.
Early life
Shahade was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of
FIDE Master Mike Shahade and
Drexel University chemistry professor and author Sally Solomon. Her father is Christian
Lebanese and her mother is
Jewish. Her older brother,
Greg Shahade
Gregory Shahade (born December 22, 1978) is an International Master of chess. He founded the New York Masters and the U.S. Chess League. He is a former member of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation, to which his younger si ...
, is an International Master.
Career
In 1998, she became the first female winner of the U.S. Junior Open.
In 2002, she won the
U.S. Women's Chess Championship Following are the results of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship from 1937 to date. The tournament determines the woman chess champion of the United States.
List of U.S. Women's Chess Champions
*1937 Adele Rivero
*1938 Mona May Karff
*1940 Ade ...
in Seattle, Washington. At the next U.S. Women's Championship she earned her second
International Master norm, and in 2004, she won her 2nd U.S. Women's Chess Championship.
Shahade lives in
Philadelphia and has earned a degree in
comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...
at
New York University. Her writing has appeared in the ''
LA Times'', ''
The New York Times'', ''
Chess Life'', ''
New In Chess'', and ''Games Magazine''. Her first book, ''Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport'' (Siles Press, ) was published in October 2005.
Shahade is the former web editor-in-chief of the
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating s ...
website.
In 2007 Shahade co-founded a chess non-profit called 9 Queens.
Shahade is also a poker player. In 2014, she became the MindSports Ambassador for PokerStars. On December 9, 2014, Shahade won the first
TonyBet
TonyBet is an international online gaming company providing sports betting, live betting and live gaming services. The TonyBet website offers a live gaming service allowing the players to place bets on lottery, casino, poker and other games live ...
Open Face Chinese Poker Live World Championship High Roller Event taking home €100,000. She is also a former coach for the training website Run It Once.
Shahade is the host of the poker podcast the GRID, which she produces with her husband Daniel Meirom. In 2019, the GRID won the Global Poker Award for Podcast of the Year.
She also hosts the chess podcast ''Ladies Knight''.
Shahade is a board member of the
World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a nonprofit, collecting institution situated in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It features chess exhibits, engages in educational outreach, and maintains a list of ...
, and directs the US Chess Women Program at US Chess, which brings chess programming to thousands of girls all over the country.
Works and publications
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahade, Jennifer
1980 births
Living people
American chess writers
American female chess players
American non-fiction writers
American people of Lebanese descent
Chess woman grandmasters
American women non-fiction writers
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish chess players
American poker players
Female poker players
Sportspeople from Philadelphia
21st-century American Jews
Sportspeople of Lebanese descent
21st-century American women