From left to right: Kimberly Doo McVay (member of US Chess Women’s Committee), Rex Sinquefield (co-founder, Saint Louis Chess Club), Carol B. Meyer (US Chess Executive Director), Sophia Rohde (US Chess Women’s Committee), Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield (co-founder, Saint Louis Chess Club), Maureen Grimaud (Chair, US Chess Women’s Committee), Jennifer Shahade (US Chess Women’s Program Director)
ST. LOUIS, MO: At the opening ceremony for the Cairns Cup, Jennifer Shahade, the newly-named Women’s Program Director for US Chess, began with a bombshell: “I am proud to announce a partnership between the Saint Louis Chess Club and US Chess Women that includes a $100,000 commitment from the club to help us continue on our drive to promote, retain, and encourage girls and women in chess.”
The Cairns Cup is an elite tournament for the top female players from around the world. The nine-round classical chess tournament is taking place in St. Louis from February 5th through 16th and brings together the strongest international field ever assembled in women’s chess on U.S. soil with one of the largest prize funds ever for an all-female tournament.
Shahade’s new position is focused on identifying, developing, and executing key program initiatives that support the growth of chess among girls and women. To this point, the two-time U.S. Women’s Champion (2002 and 2004) continued, “Last week members of the Cairns Cup field and I led a Scouting workshop where the first girls in history earned their chess merit badges. This is incredible synchronicity as we are now set to make history with the first Cairns Cup. These types of experiences are why this event is so important; girls all over the world—and boys and adults too—look to these women for inspiration, for the dream of playing on this grand stage, and for representing their country and chess.
“As US Chess Women’s Committee Chair Maureen Grimaud stated in a recent Sports Illustrated article, ‘It’s a total and complete numbers game.’ What the Women’s Committee is trying to do is to grow the base. Here at the Saint Louis Chess Club, Rex and Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, Joy Bray, Tony Rich, and the staff agree with this ethos that we need to introduce more girls to this incredible game that teaches so many life skills.”
“We are very excited to be able to support the US Chess Women’s Initiative,” said Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield. “It’s so important to provide more opportunities to women and girls to learn and play the great sport of chess.”
Kimberly Doo McVay, a member of the US Chess Women’s Committee, echoed Shahade’s sentiments, stating, “Thank you so much to Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield for their incredibly generous gift of $100,000 to US Chess to further the women’s initiative of promoting and empowering women and girls through chess. The Women’s Committee greatly appreciates the support [of the Saint Louis Chess Club] and also the leadership of US Chess Executive Director Carol Meyer and Jennifer Shahade!”
For more information and photos, please see Jennifer Shahade’s report here: https://new.uschess.org/international-events/historic-cairns-cup-opens-100000-commitment-womens-programs/. For more on the Cairns Cup, please see https://uschesschamps.com/Categories
Archives
- April 2024 (36)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (38)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (39)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (36)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (32)
- July 2017 (27)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (37)
- February 2016 (27)
- January 2016 (33)
- December 2015 (25)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)