Isolated Queens: US Chess Women and Botez Live Host 2K Saturday Swiss

Looking for a Candidates Chess aftershow this weekend? We got you. On Saturday, March 21st, US Chess Women will continue our partnership with Alexandra Botez with an even bigger and better event to celebrate all the female chessplayers hanging out at home this week. The Isolated Queens Swiss starts at 1 PM ET on Saturday, and will feature over $2000 in prize money for participating streamers. The ten round Swiss will be played in 3 minute games (plus a two second increment.) Confirmed players include two Grandmasters: Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and Marie Sebag of France. Famous commentator, YouTuber and IM Anna Rudolf will also be playing. Many top American players will also be in the hunt, including US Women's Champ Jennifer Yu, IM Carissa Yip, IM Dorsa Derakhshani and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan.

Popular streamers who are improving at chess by the day will also be in the mix, including Andrea Botez and Gold Dust Tori. There are class prizes for top Under 2000, Under 1800 and Under 1400 (chess.com blitz ratings.) Jennifer Shahade and Alexandra Botez will host live commentary.

For anyone interested in playing the event you have to join the BotezLive Female Players Club on chess.com. On Saturday go to https://www.chess.com/live and look for the event in the tournament tab. Make sure to click join! No late entries, so register before 1 PM EDT. Check out the full rules on this google doc. Details: When: March 21, 1 PM ET, Saturday Where: Stream on twitch.tv/botezlive, play on chess.com Prizes for streamers* Top 3 finishers: 1) $700 2) $500 3) $300 Top finishers under 2200, under 1800, and under 1400*: $250 Donors: Ian "Maprail" Silverstone "($1000), Open Field Media ($500) and Kevin Wong ($250). Alexandra Botez has kicked in $500 from previous donations to the prize fund. Commentary: WGM Jen Shahade and WFM Alexandra Botez will be following the event and doing live coverage on twitch.tv/botezlive Donations: 60% of on stream donations will go to US Chess Women Programs, while 40% will go to supporting future matches and events. *Non-streamers also welcome to play, but the prizes are only for those streaming the event on twitch. **Provisional ratings do not qualify for class prizes *** You must be 13 or older to sign up for twitch. Minors can use chess.com or Twitch under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. Special thanks to Maprail, who sponsored this US Chess Women series since the beginning of the year and was also a major donor in our first Femme Fatale, devised by Chessbae. Speaking of which.... Mark your calendars: March 28th we will be hosting a special fundraiser for Coronavirus Relief. This will take the place of our usual US Chess Women programming and will also be hosted on chess.com and Botez Live. Take advantage of a new offer: using the code USWOMEN, you’ll receive 15% off any merchandise at US Chess Sales, including the US Chess Women hat Alexandra is wearing above. Alexandra’s channel is at twitch.tv/botezlive . Find out more about Alexandra in our premiere Ladies Knight episode and in a recent NBC article with video about the streaming boom. Find out more about our Women’s Programs at uschesswomen.org and donate here.