2nd U.S. Senior Women's Championship Preview

WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia (2231)

The reigning U.S. Senior Women's Champion, Anjelina Belakovskaia is a three-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion (1995, 1996, 1999) and former leader of the U.S. Women's Olympiad Team, competing in 1994, 1996, and 1998.

Belakovskaia was also a member-at-large of the US Chess Executive Board from 2015 through 2018.

Born in Odesa, Ukraine, Belakovskaia learned to play chess when she was six years old. At the age of 9, she qualified to study at the "School of Olympic Reserve" in her hometown. Little did anyone know that the preparation would be for ... the American Team! In the next decade, Belakovskaia won many Ukraine and USSR competitions, including the individual USSR Championship among the Young Masters and the Team World Chess Championship among Students, playing for the USSR Team. 

In 1991, Anjelina flew to the U.S. to play in the World Open in Philadelphia, and then she decided to stay. She had $100 in her pocket and spoke no English, but it didn't deter her. Thanks to chess, Belakovskaia found her way to survive and strive in America. In addition to actively playing in women's chess in the U.S. in the '90s and earning her WGM title in 1993, Belakovskaia opened her chess academy in Brooklyn and taught chess in several NYC Public Schools. Simultaneously, Anjelina discovered her interest in Wall Street and trading and got a job as a Foreign Exchange trader first, then as an algorithmic equity trader. 

In 1999, Anjelina enrolled in New York University and graduated in 2000 with an M.S. in Mathematics in Finance. From 2001 to 2002, Belakovskaia was a weather derivatives trader at Williams Energy in Tulsa Oklahoma, where she rapidly rose to the Head of the Weather Desk role and was featured on the front page of Money Section in the USA Today.

In 2003, Belakovskaia married Lawrence Bernstein - the former Treasurer of the Marshall Chess Club and a chess enthusiast. 

Currently, Belakovskaia is an Associate Teaching Professor of Finance at the Thunderbird School of Management at Arizona State University. An avid traveler, she has visited 47 countries so far.

WIM Beatriz Marinello (2208)

Beatriz Marinello is a Chilean-American chess player and official. She was a Vice President of FIDE from 2010 through 2018, and was president of US Chess from 2003 to 2005 (and on the executive board through 2007). 

Marinello earned her national title in Chile at the age of 13 and her WIM title in 1980 at the age of 16. That same year, she became national women's champion of Chile. As an organizer, she first organized a Chilean national championship at the age of 20.

Marinello then moved to the United States in 1990, and was a member of the 1994 U.S. Women's Olympiad team in Moscow. 

WFM Natalya Tsodikova (2138)

Born in Ukraine, Natalya Tsodikova immigrated to the United States in 1994 and currently resides in Daly City, CA, nestled in the suburbs of San Francisco.

In the mid-'90s, Tsodikova participated in the U.S. Women's Championship in 1995 and 1996, securing a fourth-place finish in each.

After a break from competitive chess, Tsodikova rekindled her passion at the local Mechanic's Institute chess club, finishing first twice in the prestigious Tuesday Night Marathon — a seven-round tournament that unfolds weekly.

Tsodikova played several times in the CA State Women's Championship, culminating in a proud first-place finish in 2019. In the wake of the pandemic, she transitioned to online play, favoring the rapid format, and is looking forward to her return to live chess.

WFM Olga Sagalchik (2118)

Olga Sagalchik is a Women’s FIDE Master and an eight-time participant in the U.S. Women’s Championship.

She has been teaching chess to NYC students for almost three decades, coaching scholastic chess players to numerous national, state and city titles.

WIM Alexey Root (2000)

Alexey Root began playing chess tournaments as Alexey Rudolph at age nine in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1976, she was the Nebraska Elementary co-champion, Three weeks before she married IM Doug Root, she won the 1989 U.S. Women's Championship. After earning her Ph.D. in Education at UCLA in 1999, Root became a lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas. As of April 2022, she also works as the Chief Science Officer for Chessable. Root is the author of eight books about chess, including United States Women's Chess Champions, 1937-2020 

Fun facts: Doug and Alexey have two children, Clarissa and William. Both earned US Chess ratings. Clarissa's US Chess rating is under her maiden name, Clarissa Root. Doug and Alexey became first-time grandparents on October 4, 2023, when Harmony Gayle Cerepaka, daughter of Clarissa and Tim Cerepaka, was born. Doug competed in his first U.S. Senior Championship in 2023 and Alexey is competing in her first U.S. Senior Women's Championship in 2023.

WIM Shernaz Kennedy (1900)

Shernaz Kennedy has competed in ten U.S. Women's championships, represented the U.S. in the 1986 Olympiad, and founded a business teaching chess to 24 schools in Manhattan. She has also written a book, The King’s Indian, about her great relationship with Bobby Fischer. "After my first U.S. Women's Championship in Utah," Kennedy said, "Bobby had his Secretary Claudia Mackarov contact me requesting ten of my wins and losses. He called me on Thanksgiving of 1981 and we began writing over a hundred letters to each other."

About my chess he wrote, “You are active aggressive and dynamic … out of all the women in the U.S., I liked your games the best." He also said, “Even when you are losing, you are like a tiger held at bay …  but there is a lot you don’t know." Kennedy credits Fischer with her earning her WIM title in 1987. Fischer had asked her to represent him in his 1992 match against Spassky, but she was unable to accompany him after getting pregnant with her fourth child.

On her career as an educator, her business partner of 37 years, Bruce Pandolfini, had said, "You earn more than any other chess player in the world, except perhaps Kasparov and Anand." Kennedy adds that she, "loves teaching children chess and taking them to City, State, National, and World championships."

Kennedy now leads a quiet life gardening, cooking and helping take care of her family as a single mother with four kids and seven grandkids. 

WCM Natasha C Christiansen (1817)

Natasha Christiansen learned to play chess at the age of 11, and has since had the honor of playing in two U.S. Women’s championships (in 1989 in Spartanburg, South Carolina and in 2006 in San Diego, California).

Christiansen currently plays in "as many tournaments as my day job of patent attorney allows." She has a Master's degree from MIT, and went to law school after having worked as a semiconductor engineer in New York and a European scientific grant consultant in Germany.

She now lives in Cambridge, MA with her husband, GM Larry Christiansen, and their two tuxedo cats.

Julia O’Neill (1800)

Julia O'Neill is originally from San Diego, CA, and currently resides in Goodyear, AZ.

O'Neill decided to be a journalist when she was fifteen, working at San Diego Magazine that summer ... without pay. Of this experience, she says, "It was a great way to learn how things should be done and how things were really done." At seventeen, she was hired as a copy kid at the San Diego Union Tribune, where her first by-line was published.

Over the years, she wrote for various newspapers, magazines, the Encyclopedia Americana and Chess Life. In 1989, she became the first woman editor of Chess Life and some of her work has been exhibited in the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Along the way, she was an NFL cheerleader, a dance instructor, a drummer, and an artist. She is also a Silver Life Master in bridge. On chess, she says, "I play chess because I love the game. It's allowed me to travel, interview numerous grandmasters, and meet many wonderful people, including my husband! I'm thrilled to be at this inaugural event with such talented women."

Carla Naylor (1759)

Carla Naylor's passion for chess began at age three when her father, an expert-level player, taught her the game, which sparked a love that would shape her life. Her parents enthusiastically supported her, encouraging her every step of the way.  In 1976, Naylor competed in her first rated tournament at the age of 10. Two years later, she tied for 4th at the 1978 National Elementary School Championship in Atlanta, GA. She continued to compete throughout high school and college, playing on the top board for her high school team.

Naylor has been married for 33 years and has spent much of her adult life actively encouraging and teaching children to play chess. She started chess programs in her children's schools and taught at camps and local programs in Virginia. Naylor stepped away from tournament chess to focus on raising her two children, but returned when her sons began playing tournaments. Naylor and her two sons traveled extensively to compete in Nationals, U.S. Opens and other large tournaments, which became a family tradition. In 2015, she shared the Mixed Doubles Mother/Son category prize at the U.S. Open in Arizona with her younger son, Jonathan, and in 2017 she shared the same prize again at the U.S. Open in Virginia, this time with her older son, Nicholas. In addition, Naylor won the 1st place Mixed Doubles prize at the 2015 World Open with GM Alex Lenderman as her partner.

In 2024, inspired by the introduction of the U.S. Senior Women's Championship, Naylor ramped up her active tournament play. She tied for the top Senior Women's prize at the 2024 U.S. Senior Open in Chicago and finished second on tiebreaks.

WCM Mary K Kuhner (1710)

Mary Kuhner played in her first tournament at age 15. On this experience, she says, "I quickly realized that, even though I could beat my parents and friends, I wasn't actually good at chess.  This somehow intrigued me, and I competed in tournaments throughout high school and college."

Kuhner was twice Junior Champion of Alaska, and in 1987 was fortunate enough to compete in the U.S. Women's Championship, tying for fourth. Then, for a variety of reasons — including graduate school pressure — she stopped competing for 27 years. On what motivated her comeback, she says, "My father sent me a US Chess membership as a birthday present and suddenly I had tournament fever again. Coming back was a struggle and involved losing a great many games to small children, but it's also brought me a lot of joy."

Since her comeback, Kuhner has twice been Washington Senior Champion/Co-Champion, and twice Washington Women's Co-Champion. On her playing style, she says, "I've kept my youthful aggression and love for murky positions, but added a little more endgame knowledge."

When not playing chess, Kuhner is a research scientist currently working on elephant conservation genetics, and has also developed a regrettable addiction to Starcraft 2.

Brenda Nardi (1702)

Brenda Nardi is originally from Pennsylvania. She now lives with her family in Southern California.

She learned to play chess at age five from her German grandfather who didn’t speak English. Their games were their way of communicating.

Brenda played on her high school chess team and then took a long break from chess. Currently she is returning to tournaments and loves the excitement of a good game.

Brenda plays many sports and volunteers as a registrar for a historical society.

Jayashree Sekar (1600)

Jayashree Sekar's passion is to play all over the world and play chess. So far, she has played in a number of states, including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Philadelphia, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. In 2022, she won all five games and won first prize in Florida as her rating increased from 1600 to 1740. Her peak rating is above 1800. Still, Sekar is trying to reach a higher peak rating and still enjoys playing. She was a chess coach for the past 13 years in public schools. She was a tournament director.

Whenever Sekar traveled to India, she competed in FIDE-rated tournaments, even winning prizes for Best Woman.