HerMoveNext | Coach Liah

CHESS : COMMUNITY : COMPETITION

Coach Liah | liah.hermovenext@gmail.com

Liah Igel is sixteen years old and has been playing chess competitively since second grade in the Gifted and Talented Program at Anderson. She discovered her true passion for chess when she began competing in national and regional tournaments, and assistant coaching her middle school chess team. Some of the tournaments she won include 1st place in the 2024 New York Scholastic Championships in U1600, and 4th in the 2021 New York State Girls Championships. She now goes to Bronx Science, and is the president of the chess club there.

Throughout her years playing chess, she made an especially close community with the few other participating female players. She realized just how important a strong female support group is, and just how easy it is to fall out of love with chess without proper encouragement. So, she is motivated to bring this type of community to Her Move Next.

Liah loves engaging in Her Move Next through writing and coaching, and coaches at Her League tournaments regularly. She is also the Managing Editor for Her News, and has written many articles including “Millions Embracing Chess! Why?” and “Checkmate, Raccoon!” She aims to encourage other girls to pursue their interests even if they’re in a male-dominated field like chess, and has spoken as a spotlight speaker during a Her League tournament regarding her experiences winning a National ExploraVision science award as the only girl on her team.

In addition to Her Move Next, Liah enjoys writing about chess and bringing awareness to important subjects such as its gender gap in her school's newspaper. Besides playing chess and writing, Liah enjoys art, boxing, playing the guitar, and hanging out with her friends

Coach Liah’s articles:
Her News | Millions Embracing Chess! Why?
Her News | Checkmate, Raccoon! - A Chess Short Story!
Her News | AnAn and Liah: Some Chess Trivia