It's a Wrap! Her League 2021 Spring Season Recap
Whether it was to learn, compete, make friends, start coaching or just have fun, the inaugural Her League Spring chess tournament allowed girls from across the country, all ages, to join together, and play chess.
BY SUHANA KUMAR - SALK SCHOOL OF SCIENCE
HER LEAGUE MEMBER & HER NEWS COLUMNIST
Photo courtesy of Neot Doron-Repa.
On Monday, March 8, 2021 the Her League inaugural spring chess tournament was off to an exciting start. March 8, being this year's International Women's Day, was the perfect day to introduce the start of Her League tournaments. Whether it was to learn, compete, make friends, start coaching or just have fun, the inaugural Her League Spring chess tournament allowed girls from across the country, all ages, to join together, and play chess. This year's first-ever Her League season was hosted on three separate days, once every month. The first event consisted of nine quads and nine individual winners as well as four teams and one team winner. Congratulations to: Chenyu Zhao (Q1), Chloe A Stark (Q2), Suhana Kumar (Q3), Hrtha Rajiv (Q4), Hailey Tsai (Q5), Mahima Paleja (Q6), Dena N Wang (Q7), Emma Vesval (Q8), and Rafaella Castillo (Q9)! In addition to that, congratulations to the Green Team, who collected a total of 18.5 points! These wins were well-deserved and, on behalf of Her Move Next, all quad winners received a gift for the accomplishment. Sannah Kumar, another player who had joined the tournament, stated, “Although I didn’t come first in my quad, I had a really fun time. I was able to play chess and go over my games while still being calm and not stressed about how many points I had. I also was able to talk to my friends, some of whom had been playing and others coaching.”
April 9 marked the second tournament of the inaugural spring chess tournament. During the second tournament, we were joined by Jennifer Shahade, two-time United States Women’s Chess Champion and FIDE ‘Women’s Grandmaster’ title holder. Not only is Shahade passionate about chess and writing but she also focuses on and values female empowerment and creative work through and around her favorite activities, chess and poker. Shahade was great during our zoom meeting, speaking in an inspiring and intriguing manner towards all the young girls on the video conference call. Simone Morden, a player in this season’s tournaments, said, “It felt special to have a women's grandmaster come to Her League and I think it was very fun to have insight from someone who personally had a lot of experience and is very good at what she does.” She goes on further, saying that Shahade gave her “[...] advice (that) was never really given to me before and it helped me improve a lot as I have since been trying out lots of new openings.” This was one piece of advice from Shahade: “If you find yourself plateauing in some kind of chess skill, well, you know usually if it’s true that you’re flattening, you’re not getting a lot better anymore at it. You want to do something different than you did before. So, if you’re reading a certain tactics book over and over again, and you don’t move to something else, maybe try some online tactics. Maybe set some tactics up on the board. If you’re only doing online tactics and you’re not getting better at them, definitely try a book, [and] try setting them up at the board.” We had the great fortune of listening to Jennifer Shahade. The second tournament consisted of seven quads and seven winners and as well as four teams and one team winner. Congratulations to: Chenyu Zhao (Q1), Joshini Gandhi Sudhakar (Q2), Emma Phu (Q3), Hrtha Rajiv (Q4), Vere Felciano (Q5), Dena N Wang (Q6), and Siobhan M Manning (Q7)! The Green team took the win again with 15.5 points!
On May 7, the last tournament of the Spring season was held. Although it was the end of the beginning, many great things happened. Over the three months, girls from 11 different states had joined the tournament! In addition to that, games were analyzed, people became friends and much more. Zara Shah shares her experience from coaching for the time. She said, “At first I was definitely nervous but when I got there all the other coaches were helpful and supportive and that made me feel more comfortable. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. At first, I didn't think I would be able to be a coach, I thought I would never know what to say when going over games. But I was actually able to give feedback and adapt quickly, and overall, it was actually much better than I thought it would be.” Hearing this feedback shows how the supportive girls’ community and environment that the Her league inaugural spring chess tournament strengthened people's confidence and ability within themselves. The third tournament consisted of eight quads and eight winners and as well as four teams and one team winner. Congratulations to: Chenyu Zhao (Q1), Maria Poulos-Chachere (Q2), Aliya Saldanha-Suri (Q3), Shoshana Seigel (Q4), Sharon Cheung (Q5), Arianna Rim (Q6), Cara Wolfenberger (Q7), and Vivian Cheung (Q8)! The Green team took the win again for the last time with 15.5 points! The encouragement of girls in the chess community has started and will continue strong with more tournaments, activities, and guest speakers to come!
