United States Women’s Chess Champions, 1937–2020

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