Jennifer Shahade grew up in a family of gamers. Her brother is IM Greg Shahade is founder of the PRO Chess League and the US Chess School, while her mother, Dr. Sally Solomon (1940-2013), was an avid bridge and poker player. Her father, FM Michael Shahade is a four-time state champion and taught her chess at five. Jennifer did not take to the game right away, gravitating instead to acting and writing. When she got back into it in high school, she fell in love and quickly improved, becoming a National Master at the age of 16, and the first female to win the US Junior Open. She went on to win two US Chess Women’s Championship titles and a Silver Olympic medal.
Jennifer’s joint passion for games and art led to dozens of creative projects through her career, including authoring Chess Queens and Thinking Sideways: How To Think Like a Chessplayer and Win at Life. She’s a board member at the World Chess Hall of Fame and the host of two award-winning podcasts, the GRID and Ladies Knight. The GRID is a game within a game, as Jen fills out the entire 169 grid of possible poker hands.
Shahade is a fierce advocate for inclusivity. She is the co-founder of 9 Queens and an advisory board member of the Women in Chess Foundation. In 2023, she became a whistleblower of #MeToo in chess. According to the Telegraph, “Thanks to the actions of female stars like Jennifer Shahade, a dark side to the male-dominated-mind sport can no longer be hidden.”
Jennifer is the MindSports Ambassador at PokerStars and a two-time Global Poker Award winner. Her titles include a PA Spring Championship of online poker and a Championship belt at the Open Face High Roller Championship in Prague. In 2024, she was nominated for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.
