Chess Icon Shahade to Speak on Women in Chess

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Two-time U.S. women's chess champion and author of "Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport," Jennifer Shahade will give a lecture titled "Leveling the Chessboard: Women in Competitive Chess" on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. The event, which will be held at Griffin Hall, room 3, on the Williams College campus, is free and open to the public. Following the lecture, Shahade will play 20 simultaneous chess games in Griffin 4. Participants who give her the most challenge will receive signed copies of her book. Those interested in signing up should contact Trevor Murphy at tmurphy@williams.edu. Shahade, a Woman Grand Master who has an FIDE rating of 2322, is considered by some to be the strongest female player ever born and raised in the U.S. In 1998, she became the first female to win the U.S. Junior Open. She then proceeded to win the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 2002 and 2004. Shahade's 2005 book, "Chess Bitch," is a controversial but critically acclaimed investigation of young women in chess today. The book profiles international chess players and explores trends and biases in the game. This Brooklyn-based chess expert is also the web editor in chief for the United States Chess Federation. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications. In 2005, the New York Times carried an op-ed by Shahade, in which she suggests that chess in the U.S. can and should be popularized in a manner similar to the mainstream presentation of poker, a game she also plays competitively. Shahade who holds a B.A. in comparative literature from NYU teaches chess and is involved in performance art.
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Swann, Williams College Harriers Compete at NCAA Championships

iBerkshires.com Sports
Mount Greylock Regional School alumna Kate Swann and the Williams College women's cross country team are in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday morning to compete at the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Williams crushed the field at the 24-team regional championship in New London, Conn., to qualify for the national championship.
 
On Nov. 16 at the Mideast Regional, Williams finished with 59 points, well ahead of runner-up Rensselaer Polytechnic, which collected 110 points.
 
Swann, a junior, was the second Williams runner across the finish line, finishing 10th overall with a time of 21 minutes, 36 seconds on the 6-kilometer course.
 
Williams has finished first or second in every event it entered this fall, winning titles at its own Purple Valley Classic, Keene State (N.H.) Invitational, James Eareley Invitational (Westfield State), Connecticut College Invitational and New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships.
 
The NCAA DIII Championships get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.
 
The Division I Stonehill College women's cross country team placed fourth at the Northeast Conference Championship; Pittsfield High graduate Kellie Harrington was the second finisher for the Skyhawks, placing 17th at the season-ending meet.
 
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