Description
Book Synopsis As late as 1950, many chess clubs in America excluded women. The Marshall Chess Club in New York City was an exception, organizing the U.S. Women''s Chess Championship beginning in the late 1930s. Since the 1980s, the average rating of the players has increased. The Saint Louis Chess Club has organized the championship since 2009, with record-setting prizes.
Drawing on archives and original interviews with the living U.S. Women''s Chess Champions, this book examines their careers with biographies, photos, and 171 annotated games, most of which are from the 60 championships between 1937 and 2020.
Trade ReviewAlexey Root, takes a look at the history of the United States Women's Chess Championships, something for which she is uniquely qualified in the sense that not only is she a Woman International Master (WIM), she has also won the Championship herself, back in 1989... Most of the best games have an appropriate amount of annotations to provide both enjoyment and instruction.... All in all, this is a good read and, as with all other publications from McFarland, carefully researched, thoroughly illustrated, indexed, etc.—everything that makes for a great book."—
American Chess Magazine"Wonderfully written...One of those must have chess books!"—
Chess Book Reviews"Fills a gap in American chess literature. Previous to its publication one could find little on the subject beyond a bare bones list of winners. Basic information such as a crosstable or a game played by the champion were often missing for many of these events. Even reliable biographical information about the winners was hard to find. No more....a major accomplishment and one chess historians will gratefully appreciate...fascinating"—IM John Donaldson (Mechanics' Institute)
Table of Contents
- Championships and Champions viii
- Foreword by Grandmaster Irina Krush 1
- Preface 3
- Introduction 9
- 1. Adele Rivero Belcher 17
- 2. Mona May Karff 21
- 3. Gisela Kahn Gresser 29
- 4. Mary Bain 38
- 5. Nancy Roos 42
- 6. Sonja Graf 45
- 7. Lisa Lane 52
- 8. Eva Aronson 57
- 9. Marilyn Simmons 60
- 10. Diane Savereide 63
- 11. Rachel Crotto 72
- 12. Inna Koren 77
- 13. Anna Akhsharumova 81
- 14. Alexey Root 87
- 15. Elena Akhmilovskaya Donaldson 92
- 16. Esther Epstein 98
- 17. Irina Levitina 103
- 18. Sharon Burtman 110
- 19. Anjelina Belakovskaia 114
- 20. Irina Krush 122
- 21. Elina Cotler 133
- 22. Camilla Baginskaite 137
- 23. Jennifer Shahade 141
- 24. Anna Hahn 148
- 25. Rusudan Goletiani 153
- 26. Anna Zatonskih 159
- 27. Nazi Paikidze 169
- 28. Sabina Foişor 174
- 29. Jennifer Yu 179
- Ratings and Crosstables 185
- References 219
- Traditional Openings Index (to game numbers) 225
- ECO Openings Index (to game numbers) 226
- General Index 227
