Laura R. Smith (born 1988), formerly Laura R. Ross, is an American

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player.

Chess career

She holds the title of

Woman FIDE Master A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

. , her

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 ...

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

was 2142. She is no longer an active player, but she does enjoy playing for fun. Laura also teaches private chess lessons. In 1998 she finished eighth in the World Championship Girls Under 10. Ross was the first US female to head a "Top 100 Players" list of both male and female players, as published by 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 ...

. In April 2002 she became the highest rated 13-year-old, male or female, in the US. Laura is an alumna of

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

. After college Laura taught for the non-profi
Chess-in-the-Schools
She enjoyed teaching so much that she went on to earn her Master's in Childhood Education. She is now a 3rd Grade teacher in Brooklyn and she helps run the chess team at the school.

Professional affiliations

*FIDE World Chess Federation *United States Chess Federation *Chess-in-the-Schools

Professional achievements

*Women's FIDE Master *FIDE rated 2142 (September 2011). *Rated 11th top US Female player

Awards

*Women's US Championship (San Diego CA): won USCF Chess-Scholar Award; placed 2nd in competition *Pan-American Championship (Cordoba, Argentina): earned silver medal in Girls Under 14 category *Earned a spot on the US Youth Chess Team for 8 consecutive years. Placed in the Top Ten 3 times, ''WFM Laura Ross'' (accessed September 7, 2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Laura 1988 births Living people American female chess players American chess players Chess Woman FIDE Masters Binghamton University alumni 21st-century American women