Chess Icon Shahade to Speak on Women in Chess

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Two-time U.S. women's chess champion and author of "Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport," Jennifer Shahade will give a lecture titled "Leveling the Chessboard: Women in Competitive Chess" on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. The event, which will be held at Griffin Hall, room 3, on the Williams College campus, is free and open to the public. Following the lecture, Shahade will play 20 simultaneous chess games in Griffin 4. Participants who give her the most challenge will receive signed copies of her book. Those interested in signing up should contact Trevor Murphy at tmurphy@williams.edu. Shahade, a Woman Grand Master who has an FIDE rating of 2322, is considered by some to be the strongest female player ever born and raised in the U.S. In 1998, she became the first female to win the U.S. Junior Open. She then proceeded to win the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 2002 and 2004. Shahade's 2005 book, "Chess Bitch," is a controversial but critically acclaimed investigation of young women in chess today. The book profiles international chess players and explores trends and biases in the game. This Brooklyn-based chess expert is also the web editor in chief for the United States Chess Federation. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications. In 2005, the New York Times carried an op-ed by Shahade, in which she suggests that chess in the U.S. can and should be popularized in a manner similar to the mainstream presentation of poker, a game she also plays competitively. Shahade who holds a B.A. in comparative literature from NYU teaches chess and is involved in performance art.
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Clark Art Presents Music At the Manton Concert

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute kicks off its three-part Music at the Manton Concert series for the spring season with a performance by Myriam Gendron and P.G. Six on Friday, April 26 at 7 pm. 
 
The performance takes place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
 
According to a press release:
 
Born in Canada, Myriam Gendron sings in both English and French. After her 2014 critically-acclaimed debut album Not So Deep as a Well, on which she put Dorothy Parker's poetry to music, Myriam Gendron returns with Ma délire – Songs of Love, Lost & Found. The bilingual double album is a modern exploration of North American folk tales and traditional melodies, harnessing the immortal spirit of traditional music.
 
P.G. Six, the stage name of Pat Gubler, opens for Myriam Gendron. A prominent figure in the Northeast folk music scene since the late 1990s, Gubler's latest record, Murmurs and Whispers, resonates with a compelling influence of UK psychedelic folk.
 
Tickets $10 ($8 members, $7 students, $5 children 15 and under). Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. Advance registration encouraged. For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events.
 
This performance is presented in collaboration with Belltower Records, North Adams, Massachusetts.
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