In honor of the release of Brooklyn Castle this week, the October puzzle of the month comes from a game between IS 318k teacher Elizabeth Spiegel and former IS 318k student Rochelle Ballantyne. In the position below Elizabeth is playing black.
Can you find a way for black to win a piece?
Bring the solution to this puzzle to our October Family Chess Night and win a prize!
If you haven’t seen the trailer for Brooklyn Castle yet, watch it here.
“The first time you stick it to a boy that’s when you really get inspired to get going.”
-St Louis chess coach Carrie Lax
This US Chess Scoop video interviews female chess players and coaches talking about how they learned to play chess, why they love the game, and how we can get more women involved. I love this piece not only because there is a nice plug for our book Play Like A Girl, but also because it features a diverse group of women talking honestly about their experiences in the chess world.
Can you solve the puzzle for April? Black to move and mate in three.
Win a PRIZE! Bring your puzzle solution to Bookman’s on Speedway Family Chess Night, 6:30-8:30pm, first Wednesday of every month–this month, April 4–and win a free prize. The whole family, new and experienced players are all invited to join us to play or learn chess.
Dress for chess minding the rules
Maybe the biggest story coming out of the recent European Women’s Individual Chess Championship in Gaziantep,Turkey–other than winner Valentina Gunina also placing first in the blitz–was the announcement of a new dress code.
Internet alerts for women’s chess were blazing with news of the dress code released by the European Chess Union. The story got much media exposure–Time, New York Times, USA Today and the Tucson Citizen among others.
A photo of 9Queen’s co-founder Jennifer Shahade playing chess with a tattooed male opponent (an homage to artist Marcel Duchamp’s famous game), illustrated a number of the news releases.
The irony of the sexually assertive championship’s masthead–a red lipstick with black rook base–and the concurrent dress restrictions, highlights confusions female players face in a game dominated by men and conservative views of current fashion.
Though guidelines for both sexes are described, the news buzz focused on keeping women’s blouses buttoned up and skirts long. Rules describing clothes “coordinated to the outfit” and “a pulled-together, harmonious, complete look with colors, fabrics, shoes and accessories” makes fashion concerns imperative in an otherwise geeky domain. What to wear supersedes which opening to play.
ChessBase News (making the initial report) presented an interview with the ECU general secretary Sava Stoisavljevic about the new rules. Surprisingly, Stoisavljevic described men’s appearance as being more of a problem than women’s. ChessBase followed up the media flurry by interviewing players about the dress code and photographing tournament attire.
9 Queens 5th Annual Chess Fest set for Saturday, May 5
9 Queen’s 5th annual Chess Fest is just around the corner. This year’s free family chess celebration is featuring former World Women’s Champion and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk. Congratulations go to Grandmaster Kosteniuk for winning silver in the Rapid Championship in Gaziantep, Turkey.
See you May 5 at the Hotel Congress for 9 Queen’s Readymade Chess Fest!
References
2012 European Individual Women’s Chess Championship
Gaziantep: Gunina overtakes Pähtz, wins European Women’s Blitz–ChessBase News
Interview with Sava Stoisavljevic on the dress code–ChessBase News
Chess and cleavage: dress code story in the media–ChessBase News
Postscript
March’s puzzle solution:
1. . . . Qxf2+
2. Rxf2 Re1+
3. Rf1 Rxf1#
Join 9 Queens and former Women’s World Champion and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk for the 5th Annual “Chess Fiesta” on Cinco de Mayo (May 5, 2012) from 2-5 pm at the Hotel Congress (311 E Congress St, Tucson, Arizona). This year’s Chess Fest will feature a simultaneous chess exhibition where Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk will play multiple games at a time against Tucsonans interested in challenging the Grandmaster. Grandmaster Kosteniuk will also be the recipient of the 9 Queens Award given to a player who embodies the mission of 9 Queens and our commitment to empowering under-served and under-represented populations.
This year’s “Readymade” Chess Fest will have something for everyone, regardless of age or chess experience. For those more artistically inclined, Chess Fest will pay homage to Marcel Duchamp an artist and avid chess player known for selecting ordinary manufactured objects and using them to create “readymade” pieces of art. Participants can visit the arts and crafts station to create their own “readymade” chess sets and crowns. Other activities include: beginner chess lessons, pick-up chess games, face painting, chess simultaneous exhibits.
For the last four years, 9 Queens has partnered with Philadelphia non-profit ASAP (After Schools Actvities Partnerships) to host 9 Queens all girls chess academies led by co-founder Jennifer Shahade. The latest edition on February 11th featured a lecture by Jennifer on openings, a blitz tournament and a screening of the second episode of the Extreme “X Chess” Championships. Zayonna Brown won the blitz tournament with a perfect 3-0 score and won the first place medal and a copy of Play Like a Girl!
The Extreme Chess Championships is a made for TV single-elimination knockout that showcases the drama of chess competition and the diversity of its top practitioners. Watch the “Battle of the Sexes” episode below, which features Philly based law student and chess master Alisa Melekhina, who also teaches at 9 Queens academies.
9 Queens is the fiscal sponsor of X Chess.
December’s puzzle is taken from a game won by Judit Polgár. White to move and mate in three moves.
Bring your puzzle solution to Bookman’s on Speedway Family Chess Night, 6:30-8:30pm, first Wednesday of every month–in December, Wednesday the 7th–and win a free prize.
The whole family, new and experienced players are all invited to join us to play chess.
Judit Polgár: World’s Greatest Female Chess Player
Judit Polgár was born in 1976, Budapest, Hungary. Her father trained Judit and her sisters, Susan and Sofia, to be chess prodigies. Laszlo Polgár’s belief that “geniuses are made, not born” was tested and proven by his daughters, two chess grandmasters and one international master.
Judit Polgár 2008
Judit became grandmaster in 1991 at the age of 15, beating Bobby Fischer’s record by a month. She is the only woman to enter the World’s Top Ten Chess Players. She has defeated nine Men’s World Champions. Polgár seldom plays in women-only chess events. “I always say that women should have the self-confidence that they are as good as male players,” she said.
Former world champion Garry Kasparov has written, “if to ‘play like a girl’ meant anything in chess, it would mean relentless aggression.” Judit’s style promotes aggressive openings and play. She excels in tactics by maximizing the initiative and developing complication.
Former US Champion Joel Benjamin describing Polgár–”it was all-out war for five hours. I was totally exhausted. She is a tiger at the chess board. She absolutely has a killer instinct. You make one mistake and she goes right for the throat.”
The debate over female chess capability may continue but Polgár’s aggressive style and accomplishments disprove the argument that in chess, women lack the patricidal urge.
Putting the title “strongest woman player ever in chess” to test, Polgár, as a mother of two, has said, that a chess tournament now “feels like a vacation.”
More about great chess moms in puzzles to come.
Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polgar
Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Judit_Polgar.jpg
Postscript
November’s Bobby Fischer puzzle solution
1. Rxf8+ Kxf8 2. Qd8+ Ne8 3. Qe7+ (or Be7+) Kg8 4. Qxe8#
9 Queens is dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through chess by making the game fun, exciting, and accessible.
“I think chess is a learning strategy. It takes skills, patience, concentration and discipline.”
