Jennifer Shahade is a three-time National Chess Champion, PokerStars Ambassador and keynote speaker.  A two-time Global Poker Award winner and chess Olympic medalist, Shahade was the first female to win the US Junior Open, and claimed two U.S. Women’s Championship titles. 

She’s the author of Chess Bitch/Chess Queens, Play Like a Champion and Thinking Sideways: How To Think Like a Chess Player and Win at Life.  Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and the Financial Times. She has delivered keynotes on chess, poker and decision-making to audiences all over the World, including Bank of America, the Boston Consulting Group, Harvard, Yale and MIT. 

Shahade is known for making mind sports more inclusive, and for big moves to instigate more gender equality in chess. As The Telegraph reported in 2023, “Thanks to the actions of female stars like Jennifer Shahade, a dark side to the male-dominated-mind sport can no longer be hidden.” In 2026, US Chess named her as their first official ambassador, in an announcement that they had resolved all matters amicably, while expressing “sincere gratitude” to Shahade for her courage.

She has won poker tournaments all over the world, from Prague to London to Las Vegas.   

Find her @jenshahade, on her newsletter, See the Sideways Move and on YouTube, where she hosts “How to Beat Your Mom at Chess” videos with her chess-loving son. 

Reach Jennifer at jenshahade at gmail dot com and jenshahadeteam at gmail dot com. speak