Looking for Revenge in Chess Poker July 7, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, poker , 5 commentsThe first ever chesspoker match began randomly in the miles-long hallway of the Rio, World Series of Poker 2010. After busting out of a single table satellite, I was desperately seeking a carb fix when a couple of chess turned poker players recognized me from my 2010 US Chess Championship commentary. After consoling me that my 72 offsuit shove was indeed, the right play, we turned to discussing the parameters of our imminent chess poker match.
My opponent Brandon Lee, was a former 1900 player who long ago gave up chess for poker. We decided on a six-game chess match at 5 to 2 odds. Each chess game was worth 50 poker chips—after the chess match, we’d move on Heads-Up No Limit poker. There was a base of 100 chips each, so even if one of us swept, there would still be a poker match.
My first game was a sweet victory in the King’s Indian Defense, ending something like this:
Things went downhill from there and we split the next four games. In the final game, I reached a lost winning rook endgame. Yes, you read that right! I was up a pawn but had about eight seconds to my opponent’s 30. Somehow, I managed to balance that to 2 to 8, and Brandon offered a draw. I took it
We moved on to heads-up poker. The blind structure was pretty deep at 1-2 with 15 minute levels, but I felt good about my chip lead—a starting stack of 275 to Brandon’s 225.
Things started off badly for me as I lost a bunch of small pots and I was down to 235 when we reached a critical hand. Brandon made it 7 on the button, I re-raised it to 22 and he 4-bet me to 83. He raised me off pots and showed bluffs a few times already, so I thought his range was much wider than it actually was. This is the danger of using too many “instincts” in poker. My gut said that he was trying to bully me, but logically, his range is pretty narrow. I five bet-him all in with QTs and he called with AJo. Everyone laughed at my play but at least I was a little over 40% to win the showdown and of course I made a flush on the river.
I now had him down to about 30 chips! Unfortunately, after folding a couple hands, he won a race with J2s vs. something like T9 and was back to 50 chips. A little later, we had this annoying hand:
I raised the button with T6s and he called. Flop came 467 rainbow. He checked, I bet out 12, he raised to 30 and I called. Turn was a 7 and he bet out 45. I thought for a while and folded—at the time completely unsure about my play. After the hand, I knew he had me beat because earlier he was showing bluffs whereas in this hand he sheepishly tossed his cards into the muck. Later he told me he had 35o for a sucker straight-more like a crusher straight heads up.
So eventually he regained a chip lead, the blinds blossomed and I got it all in with A3o vs. K5o. You can see the result of that race from my expression in the photo.
Overall, the format was very fun. So if you’re good at poker and chess, go ahead and challenge me. I’m hungry for a win.
2010 Ladies World Series of Poker Redux June 20, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, feminism, poker, travel , add a commentI’m back from Las Vegas, where I played in the Ladies World Series of Poker and covered the National Open for Chess Life Online. I also made a quick stop in Saint Louis for meetings related to the 2010 US Women’s and US Junior’s Championship (July 9-19)and to give a group of Saint Louis women a sneak preview into “Play Like a Girl”, the 9queens/Mongoose Press collaboration that will be coming out later this year. It was all a blast, though predictably, I came back with a serious case of the Vegas/airplane flu.
I reported on the Ladies World Series of Poker on the second episode of Women’s Poker Hour and in an article on WomanPokerPlayer.com, which begins thus:
At the Ladies Event of the World Series of Poker, Vanessa Hellebuyck of France won her first bracelet and a prize of $192,000. Despite the uproarious applause of what seemed liked every French man or woman in Las Vegas, Vanessa’s win barely registered a peep compared to the media coverage of the dozen men who took their legal right to play in the “Ladies’ Event” seriously.
About ten minutes into the event, Seth Palansky made it clear that Harrah’s was not happy about the men who infiltrated the Event #22 of the World Series. A woman, who I later found out was Joy Miller representing Bluff Magazine, also announced soon after the tournament started that online poker legend Shaun Deeb was playing (in drag) because he lost a prop bet.
Women’s poker tournaments have a great atmosphere. Daniel Negreanu called it “electric!” We compliment each other’s clothes and handbags, offer each other gum and lip-balm, and spend the first three levels set-mining and waiting for aces. Except of course if Shaun Deeb is on our right in which case we three-bet him until his mascara, applied by none other than Liv Boeree, drips and he changes his mind, decides that drag is uncool and women’s poker tournaments are just wrong.
Some more salient points from my reportage:
1. I was eliminated from the Ladies WSOP shoving A3o from the Cutoff in an unenviable but inevitable spot. My opponent called with AQo and I was busto minutes before the dinner break.
2. I cashed in my private lesson with pokerstars pro Vanessa Rousso of Big Slick Bootcamp. Vanessa is really passionate about poker and teaching, and I will write a full article on my lesson with her. One tidbit: she is not a big fan of three-bet shoving, which was comforting cause there were a few such spots in the WSOP that I wisely chickened out on. Rousso is currently in the Elite Eight of the 10K Heads-Up competition, which started with 256 players. Good luck!!
3. Phil Ivey is better looking in person than on TV poker tables because a. he is much taller than you’d expect (often obscured by slumping over the poker table), and b. he dresses well (often obscured by full tilt gear).
4. Of the dozen men who crashed the Ladies WSOP, one used a tampon as a card-protector. While this may be a rude, I don’t think it merits a penalty. The same sort of male tournament director who gives a penalty to someone for that is the type of boyfriend who would think it’s “gross” to run out to the CVS and buy a pack of Tampax for his girlfriend. It’s a tampon, not an illicit device!
5. Two more stories coming on my aforementioned lesson with Rousso and a pokerchess match that I contested against a chessplayer turned poker pro.
US Championship Battle of the Names & ESPN2! May 6, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : chess , 1 comment so farCheck out this promo for the 2010 US Chess Championships! I shot this with Daniel of DimMak Films at the same time as we shot our new reality chess TV show trailer, which I can’t wait to tell you more about.
By the way, I’m going to be on ESPN2 tomorrow, Friday May 7 from 10 AM-Noon for the “First Take” show. I’m going to take on various on-air personalities/guests/crew – 10 total people (or “victims” as they called them). Should be fun 
Wish me luck!
Finish What You Start: My last shot at Monte Carlo & Checkmating Violence April 19, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, poker , 2 comments
This weekend I gave a simultaneous exhibition at a 24-hour “Checkmate Violence” marathon, organized by After School Activities Partnerships and sponsored by PECO. It was a 20-board clock simul where I had 45 minutes for all the games, and my opponents had 25 minutes. Very tough to win 20 games in 45 minutes, but I was happy with my final tally of 15:5. I certainly got a great cardio workout, completely canceling out my decadent Friday hoagie and mozzarella sticks dinner
It was also interesting to watch Mayor Nutter play chess against a 9-year-old girl from the program. Normally when political figures offer to speak at a chess event, they only make the ceremonial first move. But Nutter took it very seriously and ended up playing the entire game, which lasted 45 minutes. His aides, who were impatiently watching said it felt like it took 4.5 hours. See the full story in the Philadelphia Inquirer and look for some moves from the actual game on my CLO blog.
In another example of finishing what you start, I played the last chance €215 Ladies Luxury Poker Club Monte Carlo direct qualifier. I was seriously considering not playing because it may be hard to get to Europe in the new few weeks due to the volcano. But it just felt wrong to play so well in the first six and reject my final shot especially since I’d won a super-sat into it. Also I want to support stars’ efforts to promote women’s poker and it’s hard to find a $300 online tournament with such good value.
In the start of the tourney, I felt a little distracted and call-ey. But during the middle and end, patience, math and some luck ( I got kings at a good moment) came to the fore and I final-tabled with an average stack. Two €3500 packages were at stake and there were three consolation prizes for 3rd-5th of €530 Euros (about $700). Sadly I mini-bubbled for 6th (the big bubble is obviously third). The hand I busted on was pretty trivial. I had sixes on the button with a M of 10, was called by the shortest stack in the SB with AJs and lost the showdown, ace on the river 
Lost another showdown for the rest of my meager stack and ended up with the sub-consolation prize of €10 Euros! I did have some interesting hands earlier in the event like this one against the most aggressive player at the table:
I’d bet/fold against a lot of the tight players in ladies events, but against this player, my plan was bet/re-raise all in, since she’s perfectly capable of raising here with air. She did checkraise/fold so it worked out well, but later I wondered if my play was clearly +EV or if I was overestimating her range.
Speaking of aggressive female players, I bought the James McManus tome, Cowboys Full on the history and culture of poker and read two articles on WomanPokerPlayer.com, HeSaid and SheSaid summing up his thoughts on the supposed lack of female ability in No Limit poker tourneys. The main argument is that women are too risk averse for high stakes poker. I find this very oversimplified. Patience and bankroll management are also very important poker skills which women may have more cultural aptitude for. It’s not clear that these are easier to learn than aggression. Often the testosterone pumped men tend to be the worst players of all, garbage raising machines. I think it would be much easier to teach a peaceful woman to push T9o on the SB with a short stack than to teach an egomaniacal dude to fold most hands out of position. The argument that women are ill-suited for NL poker smacks of a foregone conclusion, “women play poker less than men and don’t cash as often,” so let’s explain why that must be the case, ignoring the fact that tons of “aggressive” male players have lost their shirts on poker. Poker is not just about how much you win, but also sadly, about how much you lose. Otherwise, we’d all be rich.
I played a lot of online poker in March and April and felt I learned a lot, but I’ll be taking a break till my yearly WSOP/National Open trip in June to focus on other projects, such as promoting the 2010 US Chess Championships in Saint Louis. The event will feature a 10K guaranteed blitz Open for just a $40-50 entry fee. Hope to see you there!
Forever 29 suited and Beauty Queens Revisited December 19, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : books, chess, feminism, poker , 2 commentsFake wind blew out my dyed and straightened red hair. My eyes were smokier than they’ve ever been as the photographer told me, “God wanted your hair to be curly.” Indeed, a lot of artifice went into my new website banner, but what did you expect, a drowsy everyday photo of me typing away?
A couple months ago, I was lucky enough to have a portrait session with Suzy Gorman, the same Saint Louis photographer who took glamour shots of participants at the US Women’s Championship. The Gorman photos and some resultant controversy on blogs and forums, reminded me of how difficult it was for me, four years ago, to write Chapter nine in Chess Bitch, European Divas. In the chapter I profiled Antoaneta Stefanova and Alexandra Kosteniuk, two beautiful and accomplished Grandmasters (Kosteniuk became Women’s World Champion and a GM since I wrote Chess Bitch) who took opposite approaches to publicity. Stefanova is very under the radar compared to her accomplishments, while Kosteniuk with few possible exceptions (Kasparov,Carlsen) is the most popular chess player in the world.
I pointed out the pitfalls of celebrating women chessplayers as pinups: It could penalize or scare women away who don’t fit into a certain standard of beauty, or who just don’t feel like posing for glamour photos. On the other hand, emphasizing beautiful chessplayers contradicts the nerdy image of chess that persists. Also, dressing up and posing is fun for many girls and women and attacking that head-on is not my brand of feminism. At the time of writing Chess Bitch, I was ambivalent about all these issues. However, I was sure about the chapter’s conclusion, a line too perfect to cut once conceived and also a great way to test whether my friends actually read Chess Bitch: “Journalists and fans don’t go around commenting on the size of Kasparov’s cock.”
Four years later, the negatives have faded (pun intended here as well). As long as sexy publicity campaigns are high quality and optional, I approve of them more as a journalist and artist than I disapprove as a feminist. Alexandra Kosteniuk said her new book, Diary of a Chess Queen, “It was the 2001 World Championship that made me understand how important it was to work constantly with the press; and since that time I have given a lot of attention to photo shoots and my off-the-board activities. The popularity of chess during the Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov eras can be explained by the outsized personalities of those grandmasters. People who do not play chess aren’t very interested in what novelty Grandmaster N employed on move 40 of the Petroff’s Defense…”
During my own photo session, Bjork was playing, and I found when looking over the photos later, my favorite portraits were those that seemed to be less mimicking sexy face and more like me, or at the very least more like Bjork. For my new website theme I had to jump at the chance to be forever 29 suited. Some of the other photos are too risqué for me to post here, but I do have a new poker/chess themed twitter page and I also added two new galleries on my photos page, on roulette chess and hula chess.
On the subject of the Women’s World Champion, I’m grateful that Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk decided to do her Christmas Goodwill simultaneous in Tucson. When I saw this offer on Kosteniuk’s blog, I knew that Jean and the Tucson 9queens Academy would be a wonderful venue for Kosteniuk. Look for upcoming photos and details of the event on the 9queens blog, Chess Life Online and Kosteniuk’s various websites, including twitter.
I hope everyone has a very happy holiday and if you’re looking for a place to give, please consider donating any amount to 9queens, or read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn for more ideas.
Love, Jennifer
The Wire: Bodie is a Chess Talent, Omar Curses!? November 6, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : chess , 3 commentsI’m rewatching my beloved showThe Wire from start to finish. The first time around, I watched the series with my brother, who insisted on subtitles to catch every nuance of dialog including street and police slang. Recently, Jezebel had a post on turning the drama into a comedy with subtitles . “It kind of reminds of scenes from that comedy Airplane! when two black guys speak and subtitles appear on the screen.” I think this is ridiculous and overly PC, and I generally love being politically correct (and Jezebel). Watching a show as great as The Wire with subtitles can deepen your appreciation of the dialogue and boiling it down to a comic racism sketch from 1980 is inane.
I just finished episode three, “The King Stay the King”, which includes the famous scene in which D’Angelo teaches Bodie and Little Man how to play chess. “You can’t play no checkers on no chess board”, may have inspired this hilarious clip. I wish Chess Bitch had included the D’Angelo line: “The Queen Aint No Bitch, she has all the moves.” If you’re not a Bodie fan, you have to watch this scene again, cause it shows that of all the characters on The Wire, Bodie may not have the biggest heart or sharpest brain, but he has the most chess talent.
My big problem with this episode: Omar curses!! When in a car spying on Barksdale’s crew, he describes the way they hide their stash as some “raggedy ass shit.” One of Omar’s hallmarks is that he never harms or robs anyone who is not involved in drug dealing, and he never curses. But he cursed in this episode. Unless “shit” and “ass” don’t count as real curses and only the f-bomb counts? Speaking of which, there are too many curses in this post to put it in my CLO blog, which is a shame cause otherwise, “D’Angelo teaching chess” could be a good clip for beginners.
Hulachess on the news! October 15, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism, hooping , 5 commentsWhile promoting the US Women’s Championship in Saint Louis (October 3-13), I appeared on a news station to show them how to hulachess. Hulachess was also installed at the opening ceremony at the Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis. Irina Krush, Tsagaan Battsetseg and Rusudan Goletiani turned out to be natural chess-hoopers. Catch the full story on the opening festivities here.
Hulachess & Yoko Ono at the NYC Duchamp show September 10, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism, hooping , 2 commentsThe Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess goes from September 10-October 30 at the Francis Naumann Art Gallery in New York. In addition to a collection of Duchamp’s work, contemporary artists will be featured. This will include hulachess and work by Yoko Ono! Check out an excerpt of hulachess, which I created with Daniel Meirom of DimMak Films and a new review of the book (which will be on sale at the gallery opening) in Frieze magazine.
At the gallery opening, I was also honored to get a chance to play against Grandmaster Lev Alburt on Yoko Ono’s famous chess set, "Play it By Trust." Read more about that and see more photos on Chess Life Online.
I’m also excited about the events scheduled for the U.S. Women’s Championship in Saint Louis from October 3-14. I’m the chair of the organizing committee and will be giving live commentary that will be aired on both the official website and the Internet Chess Club. To sign up to watch rounds live or for the events below, go to the U.S. Women’s Championship schedule on the CCSCSL website.
Some of the highlights include a jazz concert on Friday night and a FREE Bounty Blitz tournament on October 3, Saturday afternoon, 2 PM at the Contemporary Art Museum. Bounty tournaments are very popular in poker-a bunch of stars play in a tournament that’s open to all, and anyone who knocks out one of the stars gets a special prize. In this case, prizes will include books, free memberships to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and chessboards signed by all the participants of the U.S. Women’s Championships. Sign up directly for any events at this link.
Finally A Game of Chance, will take place on October 14 at the Kemper Museum at Washington University. The game features a merging of roulette and chess that I created with curator Larry List. The idea was inspired by roulette and chess crazed Duchamp’s wish that somehow chess and gambling could meet in the middle. The reigning U.S. Women’s champion, crowned just a day before, will face off against a special guest, and apparently, I will spin the wheel (which will not look at all like the one below). Email me to place sidebets on the knight.
Fundraising Drive for 9queens book and Academies August 19, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, feminism , 5 comments
After visiting the all girls’ U.S. Chess School at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis that my brother organized, I’m even more convinced of the benefits of 9Queens Academies and more generally, for occasional all girls’ learning in chess and other male-dominated activities.I think women are just as competitive as men, but they feel less comfortable exhibiting it.
A fierce competitive instinct is why I admire the top-rated player in the camp, Denker Champion Abby Marshall so much. She set a great example for the younger (except for 9queens instructor Amanda Mateer) and lower-rated girls at the camp. When I spoke to Abby on the phone before the Denker, she told me she was going to win it! She was ranked 8th going in, but without confidence that her chances were high, would she have any chance at all? I remember being astounded as a young girl when a male International Master friend of mine told me he played every tournament with the intent of winning it. "Even the World Open?" I asked incredulously. "Of course." To my further surprise, another male IM who was with us totally agreed with him. Huge points if you can guess the first International Master I’m talking about. Hint: He doesn’t play actively anymore.
Another positive trend for women’s chess is that currently 10+% of the members of the USCF are women and 5%+ of the adult members are women. I know those numbers don’t sound too exciting, but they are definitely up from when I wrote Chess Bitch. (New membership categories like Family and Youth complicate direct comparisons, but I am working on getting more analysis of the stats.)
Philadelphia 9queens Academies attracted dozens of girls and women for each session last year, and in Tucson, 50+ girls participated in the latest Queens Academy. I urge you to make as small or large a tax deductible donation as you like at this link: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=24671 If snail-mail is your thing, please send a check to: 9 Queens P.O. Box 41838 Tucson, AZ 85717.
We can’t host 9queens Academies in every city, so I’m particularly excited about a book of women’s chess positions that we’re hoping to produce in time for what I expect to be a hugely inspiring event, the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. I am chairing the event, which will take place from October 3-13 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, and the Saint Louis team is involving the players in a number of community events.
Thanks and I’ll keep you updated on the Academies and the workbooks!
Baseball and Chess in Lakewood, NJ August 10, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : chess , 3 commentsOn August 3rd, I went to a minor league baseball game to root on the Lakewood BlueClaws and to play 25 chess enthusiasts simultaneously (while the baseball game was in full swing). There were so many interested players that my dad also took on 25+! I lost one, drew three and won all the rest. My dad had no losses and a few draws. My brother also came, so we decided to add a special twist to my simul. I gave each of my opponents a "Call an IM" pass, in which they could call Greg over and ask for advice. The opportunity to learn from an International Master was a big hit, although I squirmed every time I saw Greg generously mentoring over a board I thought was in the bag. Article with game fragments coming soon to Chess Life Online! Here’s the photo gallery:
