3rd U.S. Senior Women's Championship Preview

WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia (2158)

The 2023 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.

Belakovskaia served as 1st Board and Captain of the USA Women’s 50+ Team at the 2024 World Senior Team Chess Championship in Kraków, Poland — the team won silver. She returned as 1st Board in 2025 in Prague, Czech Republic — the team won bronze.

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 Head of the Weather Desk and was featured on the front page of the Money section in USA Today.

In 2003, Belakovskaia married Lawrence Bernstein – the former Treasurer of the Marshall Chess Club and a chess enthusiast. They live in Phoenix, Arizona, with their three children.

Currently, Belakovskaia is an Associate Teaching Professor in Global Finance at the Thunderbird School of Management, Arizona State University. She is also a Chair of the AI and Emerging Technologies, and Faculty Advisor for Crypto Club at Thunderbird and Global Challenge Lab - International student consulting program. An avid traveler, she has visited 49 countries so far and will be going to Israel - her 50th country in December.

WFM Natalya Tsodikova (2143)

The reigning U.S. Senior Women's Champion, Natalya Tsodikova was born in Ukraine, 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 and again in 2025. Tsodikova just returned from the 2025 World Senior Individual Championship in Italy, where she achieved a "plus one" score against a strong field including GMs and IMs. 

WFM Olga Sagalchik (2081)

Olga Sagalchik is a Women’s FIDE Master and an eight-time participant in the U.S. Women’s Championship. She has taken part in the U.S. Women's Senior Championship since its inaugural edition in 2023, and she represented USA in the last two FIDE World Senior Team Championships. 

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

Jennifer Skidmore Smith (1968)

Jenny Skidmore Smith learned to play chess from her father Michael Skidmore, the chess coach for Kearsley high school in Flint Michigan.  As a scholastic player, Jenny was the first female to win the Michigan Young Junior Championship (1988) and Junior Championship (1993).  She led her elementary, junior high, and high school teams to state championships in the 1980s and 90s.

Jenny was the U.S. representative for the 1990 World Youth Girls U16 championships and 1992 World Youth Girls U18 championships.

Jenny won the US Chess-player scholar award in 1992 (4^th place) and 1993 (1^st place).

Jenny competed in 30 consecutive Michigan Women’s Chess Championships from 1986-2015, finishing first in half of them.  She also won the Michigan Amateur Championship 4 times.

Jenny’s favorite tournament to attend is the U.S. Open Championship.  She has participated in 14 of them and traveled to 17 different states to play in tournaments.

In addition to playing, Jenny has served as a chess ambassador.  She was previously the scholastic coordinator of the Michigan Chess Association (MCA), vice-president of the MCA, president of the MCA, a Michigan delegate to US Chess and a member of the US Chess scholastic and women’s committees. Jenny organized and directed a series of 100 Friday Knight Quad events in Ann Arbor from 2008-2015 and the Knight Relocation Chess Camp from 2010-2015.   She has also served as a director at numerous national scholastic events.  In 2009, Jenny was awarded a meritorious service award by US Chess. Jenny has also served as a private coach.  Her students (JFORCE) won many sections of the Michigan Scholastic Club Championships including the K-3, K-5 and K-8 sections in 2010.

Jenny withdrew from most chess activity as she and her husband Michael Smith (attorney and chess player) have been raising their sons Theodore and Sebastian.  As the boys have grown older, Jenny has made several connections in the Ypsi/Arbor chess community.  Jenny has found time to visit the Ann Arbor Women’s chess club organized by Dawn Lawson and as a family, the Smiths attend the Ypsilanti chess club organized by Justin Meek at Aubree’s.  Jenny has worked with Jodi Krahnke to organize a youth chess club at the Ypsilanti District Library.  The club won a grant from US Chess in its third year, 2024-25 and is currently being funded by a grant from Toyota for year 4.

Professionally, Jennifer serves at the lab manger for Dr. Donna Martin’s developmental genetics research lab in the Pediatrics department at University of Michigan.  She is the co-author of over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

WFM Chouchanik Airapetian (1894)

Coming soon.

Varinia Cabrera (1848)

Varinia Cabrera was born on the little island to the south of Cuba, named Isla de la Juventud (Island of Youth, or Island of Pines pre-revolution), after the Communist revolution. She grew up in the city of Havana, and her father taught her chess at the age of eight, although she only began to take it seriously at age 12.

Cabrera played in several Cuban national competitions individually and with the University of Havana team while completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology. 

Cabrera moved to the U.S. in 1993, but only played in one tournament, as she was pursuing her Master's and Doctorate degrees in Psychology.  She completed her Masters' in 2004 and began working with children, using chess as a therapeutic tool.

Cabrera then completed her Doctorate in 2010, and her dissertation was a program design titled The Balance Your Mind with Chess Program:  A Psychosocial Treatment for Elementary School Children with ADHD.

Cabrera has a 24-year-old daughter that knows how to play chess but was not interested in playing, adding that, "She is super talented in painting, but chess is not her cup of tea."

Cabrera returned to tournament chess during the pandemic, and now plays often at her local club in Miami. She adds, "I am super excited, after missing last year, to return to the U.S. Senior Women's Championship."

WIM Alexey Root (1841)

WIM Shernaz Kennedy (1770)

Shernaz Kennedy has competed in ten U.S. Women's championships, represented the U.S. in the 1986 Olympiad in Dubai, and was Captain of the bronze medal American team for the inaugural Women's 65+ World Senior Team Championships in Krakow in 2023. This is her third year competing in the U.S. Senior Women's Championship. 

Her book, Bobby Fischer's Chess Queen: The Untold Story of the Indian Woman who Captured the World Champion's Heart, is available via New In Chess on Dec. 1. The book details Kennedy's enduring friendship with the former World Champion, including her preparation for the 1992 match against GM Boris Spassky.

Kennedy has also been business partners with famed chess educator Bruce Pandolfini for 37 years, running the Browning and Trinity programs together. She also ran 22 other schools, specializing with learning-disabled children in chess, leading children to city, state, and national titles.

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

WCM Mary Kuhner (1763)

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.

WCM Natasha C Christiansen (1674)