News

Winners that emerged from the fun-filled and bustling activities included Freya Austin, Lily Xing, Lilianna Gao & Isabella Gao at the Puzzle Contest, Dena Wang from the Best Game Review, and Matt S., Nathan Kuo, Freya Austin from the Arena Tournament.

Prizes for the winners were sponsored again by the grant that Unruly Queens was awarded for the 2023-2024 cycle, including chess hoodies and the newly released chess book Play Like a Champion: Chess Tactics from the Greats by the former US Chess Women Director Jennifer Shehade.

The team of Unruly Queens instructors would like to congratulate these winners one more time on their great work! The team also thanks everyone at the series for their consistent participation and looks forward to welcoming them back in the spring!

Carnivore is an open-air restaurant in the Langata suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, specializing in exotic meat and featuring an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. Dining in a restaurant as luxury as Carnivore for the first time in their life, by winning a major chess championship in the area, was a memorable and inspiring experience for these Salama players. Their true passion for the game and their hard work over the board earned them this rare opportunity to treat themselves and the very supportive and encouraging Salama faculty who are always helping off the board.

Congratulations again from CTC to our proud winners!

Open to all girl players and set to start on October 18^th, this series will be running over 10 Wednesday nights consecutively until December 20^th, covering a rich curriculum of tactics, evaluation, calculation, pawn structures, endgame theory and psychological skills. Two level-based groups, the beginner group with USCF rating less than 800 and the intermediate/advanced group with rating lower than 1500, will be arranged to better suit the needs and the background of the learners. Excitingly, a puzzle contest, a best-game competition, and an arena online tournament will be adding vibrancy to the online activities, where participants have the opportunities to earn prizes such as hats, shirts and medals, all sponsored by the grant awarded by US Chess Women. The grant also enables Unruly Queens team to continue hosting offline chess festivals around the country during the school year of 2023-2024, one in the east coast (NY or MA) and one in the Midwest (MN or IN).

Leading this new UQ series is the second generation of Unruly Queens, WIM Ellen Wang (NY), IM/WGM Alice Lee (MN), NM Kelsey Liu (MA), and Madison Brown (IN). Since 2022, the torch of the Unruly Queens legacy has been passed onto these four top girl players, while the other founding members continue sharing their experience and serving as advisors. Ellen, Alice, Kelsey and Madison’s dedication attracted 90+ registrations with UQ’s Tuesday group lessons in the previous season, bringing the total number of participants in UQ programs close to 500. Indeed, the UQ initiative has evolved into a joint national effort that carries the mission of empowering girl players, connecting the female chess community, and closing the gender gap in the world of chess. The mentorship from the first to the second generation of Unruly Queens also sets a model of female leadership and inspires many more girl players to follow its steps.

Registration for this new UQ series continues at here and please act promptly!