(intense music) (armor clanking) - Hello, everyone.

We are here at the World Chess Hall of Fame, and we are ready to celebrate Women's History Month here in America.

Coming up on "Today in Chess," we will meet the extraordinary Polgar sisters.

Sharon sits down with Begim for a delightful interview, and we get to explore the work of Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.

Also, we will preview the amazing slate of tournaments for Professional Ladies Players for 2024.

And of course, more chess lessons from our experts coming your way on "Today in Chess."

(triumphant music) (horse snorting) (armor clanking) (horse whinnying) (armor clanking) - Welcome to another edition of "Today in Chess."

I'm your host, Sharon Carpenter.

Thanks for being here.

As Yasser pointed out, it's Women's History Month here in America, and we're celebrating women in chess.

We start today spotlighting a truly extraordinary woman.

Early on, she had no idea how tremendously she would impact the world of chess, but her efforts have touched millions, and she's created a legacy that will never be forgotten.

Is my great pleasure to introduce the amazing work of Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.

(uplifting music) - The chess merit badge for the Boy Scouts, the detective, Detective Rick Metz, who's driving me today on my security detail, his son received a chess merit badge.

And I said, well, do you know whose idea the chess merit badge was?

He said, whose?

And I said, Jeanne Sinquefield.

He goes, wow, I had no idea.

- [Narrator] Jeanne initiated the creation of the Scouts BSA Chess Merit Badge.

The Scouts BSA Chess Merit Badge was made to encourage Scouts to learn the game of chess and share it with others.

It immediately became a success, and over 300,000 Scouts have earned the badge today.

Dr. Sinquefield also inspired a special Eagles Scout project, where a life-size chess board was built and installed in Jefferson City to celebrate the Missouri Bicentennial.

- My name is Andrew Dowden, and I belong to Troop 6 in Jefferson City, Missouri.

So, my troop, we were down camping, and Jeanne came down and asked, you know, is anyone close to getting their eagle or needing a project?

She had this idea of the Eagle Scout project chessboard, and she wanted somebody to kind of work with her to see what we could come up with.

At the time, I kind of had a project in line, but when she brought up this idea, obviously I wanted to choose it because it was a lot better idea than what I had started.

Prior to this project, I did not really know anything about chess.

Once I got into this project, I downloaded an app on my phone and started playing chess, and I took the Chess Merit Badge down at Scout Camp.

This was a bicentennial chess board for the Historical Society of Missouri.

There were a lot of people that helped me with this project because whenever I got the pictures from the Historical Society to engrave onto the granite, I wasn't very familiar with the technology needed.

To engrave on there, so I needed some assistance with that and learning how to do it.

And after all that, I'm pretty sure I know how to do it now.

So, to engrave those edge pieces, I went down to the Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation, and we used the epilogue laser, me and Thomas Yang did.

I wasn't really expecting it to end out this big.

But as me and Jeanne were working, it just kind of got bigger and bigger and bigger, which I didn't have a problem with.

I thought, you know, I can take on a little bit more and a little bit more, and it ended out to be a really, really cool project.

So, we had a ribbon cutting of the chessboard, and there were a whole bunch of people there, including the governor, the Saint Louis Chess Club.

The World Chess Hall of Fame, the State Historical Society, which all helped out during this entire project.

Jeanne was there.

I had to give a little speech that I didn't really know I had to do, but that kind of has taught me a little bit about speaking too, so I think that has helped me too.

This project, it's made me real proud that everyone is enjoying it.

Like every time I go down there, somebody's playing, and then they're taking care of it, which really makes me proud because me sinking all that time and everyone else that's helped me sinking in all that time, I like to see people use it, but I also like to see people appreciate it.

(bright music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, better known among chess fans as Begim, is a women's grandmaster and is becoming one of the top female chess players in the United States.

Originally from Uzbekistan, Begim's chess career started early with inspiration from her two older sisters, both phenomenal chess players.

In 2019, Begim attended the University of Missouri and joined the chess team, where she has competed and placed in high-profile collegiate events.

She participated in the 2021 U.S. Women's Chess Championship, where she took home the second-place prize.

In 2022, she was a member of the U.S. Women's Olympiad chess team to compete in the 44th Chess Olympiad.

Begim is becoming a mainstay in top American chess competitions and looks to continue her ascent in the women's game for years to come.

- Begim is awesome to have you here.

- Thank you for inviting me, guys.

It's awesome to be here.

Being a professional chess player is kind of like a roller coaster, right?

- Yeah.

- You've got the highs, the lows, you're flying high one minute, and then your stomach's churning the next minute.

The Women's American Cup is coming up.

That's in March.

So, can you tell us a bit about your prep right now?

What kind of preparation are you going through?

How intense are things?

Because you seem pretty relaxed right now.

- Yeah.

- But you've also learned how to kind of handle yourself and pace yourself.

So, talk to us about that, and how are you going to make sure you win this thing?

- Everyone comes to win.

- Yeah.

- It's an obvious thing.

I'm not going to compete to the second place, right?

(host chuckles) - Yeah.

- Of course.

But for it, you've got to work too.

- Yeah.

- But in my situation right now, I'm back to St. Louis.

So, I've got to find an apartment, which I'm doing now.

And hopefully, I can move in as soon as possible.

Because I need to have my comfort zone, I need to have my setup so I can work, you know, more focused.

- Yeah, yeah.

- That's the first step.

- So, you've got to put out everything first.

- Yeah.

Now I'm all over the place.

I'm just doing things like one thing at a time.

So, I'm just taking it a little bit like slowly because I need to, I cannot put a lot of pressure on me right now, but once I'm settled, trust me, I'm going to work more- (cross talk) So that's my plan.

But, hopefully I will be ready because I know other women are already preparing.

So, I'm behind.

- Well, we're very excited for what the future holds for you.

We'll certainly be watching the women's American cup and good luck with everything.

Thanks for hanging with us.

- Thank you so much, guys.

(bright music) - What chess player has mostly influenced your chess career, and why?

- I think it was Anatoly Karpov.

I really like to check his games with my coach when I was young.

So probably, yeah, probably it's just Karpov.

- I'm a big fan of Anatoly Karpov and also Judith Polgar.

So, from my anger days, I used to follow their games, and their play has inspired me a lot.

- Capablanca and Alekhine was the ones that I really loved, their games and their style, casually was looking their games to learn how to play chess.

So, I would call their names.

- I think Vladimir Kramnik.

During my childhood days, I used to see a lot of his games.

And I think somewhere I really like his style.

And maybe not game-wise, but Judith Polgar has a lot of influence on me as a women player to be doing well in the men, to beat the strong men and like to be there.

So definitely these two, I think, have influenced me a lot.

- I was a fan of Bobby Fischer's games when I was young.

Also, Mikhail Tal was my favorite chess player.

So, I guess they influenced my... style of play?

- Well, honestly speaking, my dad is a grandmaster and he used to be professional when I was very young.

So, he had the deepest impact on me from everybody because he taught me and my brother at the early age how to play.

And of course, he went with us to tournaments.

And he had been my teacher up till 16 before I actually met other trainers.

Oh, I wish.

I wish I had such a player, you know, such an influencer, mentor in a way, because when I was growing up, I wasn't really excited about chess lines and like moves and champions in a way.

I was excited about the psychological part of a battle, and I was, I liked to read.

Chess books, I mean from chess champions, but not about chess moves or openings or middle games, nothing about that, but rather about psychological preparation and about how games went and how they prepared and what went wrong if they lost.

So, I didn't have a chess mentor in a way.

And I feel that I'm lacking this information right now because definitely like your youngest years are the best in order to consume and be able to learn certain material.

But of course, it's never too late with the chess book.

And what I'm trying to do right now is to learn from those great chess champions and their games.

Because, well, you need to know history in order not to make the same mistake in your own games.

- As chess continues to prosper and grow around the globe, so does the world of Women's Chess competition.

We've previewed the Candidates Tournament happening next month in Toronto, Canada, featuring the top players in the world.

Well, there's a Women's Candidates Tournament featuring the world's top rated women.

It's an impressive field of contenders.

(bright music) - [Narrator] 2024 is another important year in the world of chess.

Both men and women will be playing in separate Candidates tournaments.

Winning the tournament signifies the prestigious path to challenge the reigning world chess champion.

For the first time ever, the open section and women's tournaments will be held at the same time, and the same place, Toronto, Canada, the first week in April.

The players in the Women's Candidates are the most powerful eight women chess players in the world, including one former world champion.

Each participant will face their rivals twice in classical chess, battling for the honor to challenge the world champion in 2025.

The current Women's World Champion is Chinese Grandmaster Ju Wenjun, who has held the title through three championships starting in 2018.

So, who were some of these phenomenal young players?

Let's take a quick look.

(upbeat electronic music) 27-year-old Lei Tingjie is a Chinese Grandmaster.

She played in a Candidate's Tournament in 2022, which she won and went on to face Ju Wenjun in the world championship.

For that effort, she immediately qualified for this year's Candidates.

Nurgyul Salimova is a 20-year-old International Master and Women Grandmaster.

She describes her heritage as Turkish-Bulgarian.

Her grandfather taught her chess at age four.

Her strong finish in the 2023 Women's World Cup sends her to the candidates this year.

Anna Muzychuk, 34, is a Ukrainian Grandmaster, ranked as high as number two in the world among women.

She's from a chess family, her older sister Maria was the 2015 world champion.

23-year-old Rameshbabu Vaishali is an Indian International Master and Grandmaster elect.

Only two other Indian women have reached the Grandmaster title.

Her win at last year's Women's Grand Swiss event sends her to the Candidates.

And amazingly, her younger brother, Praggnanandhaa, will be playing in the open section of the Candidates across town in Toronto at the same time.

(upbeat music) Tan Zhongyi is a 32-year-old Chinese grandmaster and former Women's World Champion.

She lost her title to the current world champion, Ju Wenjun, in 2018.

Her second place in the prestigious Women's Grand Swiss returns her to the Candidates.

The Challenger in the 2011 Women's World Chess Championship, Humpy Koneru, is once again competing for the crown.

She won what has been called the strongest women's tournament in the world, the 2020 Cairns Cup at the St. Louis Chess Club, notably beating the world champion, Ju, by half a point.

The Candidates could send her to the World Championship.

The 2024 Women's Candidates in April will be something special to watch.

(uplifting music) - Alice Lee was first introduced to chess when the shy 6-year-old followed her older brother, Lyndon, to chess club at their elementary school.

Now big brother is looking up to her, as the immensely talented teenager is shooting to the top of American Women's Chess.

Already a three time World Youth Champion, and reigning U.S.

Junior Girls Champion.

At only 13 years and seven months old, Alice became the youngest American woman ever to earn the title of International Master, eclipsing the previous record by two and a half years.

She's establishing herself as a singular threat, if not a favorite in elite events such as the American Cup, where she placed second in back to back years.

It's clear that her impact on the game will be felt as she continues to chase her goals and propel chess into the future.

(dramatic music) - Preparation for players gearing up for the Candidates tournaments can be grueling.

They pore over games and the moves they can use to win.

Each month, "Today in Chess" features a lesson from the experts.

(punchy music) It's time for chess school, and your chance to learn from the masters.

- Hi, everyone.

In this lesson, we are gonna learn how to checkmate with two rooks, which is called, the idea is called rolling rooks.

So we're here with this position, where you don't need the white king, you only need to rooks to checkmate the black king.

We start off with rook B3.

We are checking the king, and king's forced to get back, and then we are gonna play rook A4.

As a rook on B3 is cutting the whole king squares on the third rank.

That's how king needs to get back to F5.

And we're gonna check rook B5.

Again, we're checking and attacking the king, and king has to move back.

And we're gonna play rook A6.

We are just repeating the same process, and king goes to D7, and we're gonna check D7, attacking the king.

So king has to go back to C8, attacking the rook.

So one thing you should remember is never check on A8, rook A8, because king can take the B7 rook, that's why here is the important part of this checkmate.

You gotta go rook H7, as far as possible from the king.

So king has to move to B8, protecting from rook A8.

Because if we play rook A8, trying to checkmate the black pieces, they're gonna take the rook.

That's why what we have to play here is rook G6.

And no matter what, black plays king C8, or king A8.

So we're gonna play rook G8 here, and it's a checkmate.

I hope you guys enjoyed the lesson.

- The history of women's chess is full of brilliant players defying the odds and rising to the top.

But who are the best women to have ever played the game?

Well, to find the answer, (contemplative piano music) we must travel to one household in Hungary where two sisters, guided by their father, proved their incredible abilities and changed Women's Chess forever.

- [Narrator] Any discussion about great women in chess always starts with one name, Polgar.

And it's not just one player, but three, the famous Polgar sisters.

In the early 1960s, Laszlo Polgar was an educational psychologist, living with his wife, Clara, in Budapest Hungary.

Laszlo had a theory that geniuses are not born, they can be created by education and training, there just needed to be a focus on a single subject.

Laszlo chose chess.

The Polgars soon had three daughters, and it was the parents' mission to turn them into chess champions.

(energetic classical music) At age four, oldest sister, Susan, won her first tournament, the Budapest Underage 11 Competition, with a perfect 10-0 score.

That was just the beginning.

By age 15, Susan became the top rated female chess player in the world.

Susan would win the Chess Triple Crown, and become the first woman in history to qualify for the Open World Championship in 1986.

Susan Polgar became the Women's World Champion in 1996, and held the title for three years.

Second daughter, Sophia, also had great success in chess, becoming a top 10 rated female player in the world, and competing and winning in many tournaments against Grandmasters, male and female.

(intense classical music) But it was the youngest sister, Judit, who was recognized today as the greatest female chess player of all time.

Judit also blossomed from the beginning.

In 1991, she achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 and 4 months, the youngest at the time to get that award.

Playing and beating the male players was her focus.

Just some of Judith's accomplishments include being the only woman ever to be rated in the top 10 in the world of all chess players, and she is the only woman to win against a reigning world champion.

The legendary story of the Polgar chess family continues today, as both Judit and Susan have taken on the teaching and coaching of young chess players.

Susan ran the very successful program at Webster University in St. Louis, and in 2012, was named College Coach of the Year.

Susan retired from Webster University in 2021.

From an experiment in psychology, to world class chess players, it is the Polgar name that still stands out.

Laszlo's theory worked.

Judit was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2021.

Susan was inducted in 2023, and is the only woman to be inducted into both the U.S. and World Chess halls of fame.

(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

In this lesson, we'll learn how to do back rank checkmate.

In this position, we're gonna play rook C8, checking, and at the same time, attacking the rook.

King cannot escape, because pawns, its own pawns, are blocking.

And if you are gonna move the king to F8 or H8, rook is still attacking.

That's why only move black can make in this position is to take rook on C8.

And we are gonna take it back with our rook to C8, and it's checkmate, because, as I mentioned before, king's pawns are blocking its place to escape.

That's why it's important for black king to have a place to escape.

I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

Thank you, see you next time.

- The 2024 tournament schedule is in full swing.

Many of these competitions feature the highest rated women players in the world.

Throughout the year, we'll be showcasing these elite competitors battling over the board.

It's gonna be a thrilling year in women's chess.

(bright music) - [Announcer] The 2024 tournament season is underway, and with it begins an exciting year of Women's Chess here in the United States.

The American Cup is in full swing, with eight of the top American female chess players battling it out in a double-elimination knockout tournament that includes classical, rapid, and blitz time controls.

Top seat, Irina Krush, is looking to cement her legacy in the tournament by going for her third consecutive title.

Coming up in June is one of the top women's events in the world, the Cairns Cup, featuring 10 of the world's leading female players, and one of the most substantial prize pools for a women-only competition, the Cairn's cup is rapidly becoming a prestigious tournament.

Last year, bottom seated, Anna Zatonski, shocked the field by winning the event with a round to spare.

It's an where anything can happen, and one that shouldn't be missed.

Then in July, the young stars get to show off in the U.S.

Junior Girls Championship Tournament.

Alice Lee looks to go back to back after a dominating performance last year.

With a spot in the U.S. Women's Championship on the line, these young girls go for it every game, and never back down from a fight.

Finally, in October, the U.S. Women's Chess Championship will be held to crown a national champion.

Established legends, like Irina Krush and Nazi Paikidze, and young phenoms, like Alice Lee, and Carissa Yip, will meet to battle over the chess board to see who can come out on top with the title.

These events represent the pinnacle of competitive chess in the United States.

No competitor can be counted out too soon.

The women's game has grown immensely here in the United States, and these tournaments are a spectacle no one will want to miss.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Irina Krush is the youngest ever U.S. Women's Chess Champion, gaining her first title at the age of 14.

She's since gone on to win an additional seven national titles, proving that there are no barriers that can't be broken.

There's one title Irina's always had her heart set on, to be the winningest U.S. Women's Chess champion in history.

Irina's Next U.S. Championship will be her 21st appearance in the event, having won eight, a ninth win will tie the record, and a 10th will put her over the top.

The tough-as-nails competitor from Brooklyn pushes through and keeps fighting, leaving many to believe it's only a matter of time until that incredible record is hers, leaving her alone on the mountaintop of U.S. women's chess, and cementing her as one of the best women chess players of all time.

- I hope you enjoyed this episode of "Today in Chess," featuring some of the women who have helped make chess a worldwide phenomenon.

There are so many compelling stories around this exceptional game.

(punchy music) We'll be back next month with many more.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time on "Today in Chess."

(punch music continues) - [Announcer] This has been a presentation of the St. Louis Chess Club.

Any reproduction or distribution of this content without the express written consent of the St. Louis Chess Club is prohibited.