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.
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