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Gisela Kahn Gresser

9 Times
USA Women’s Chess Champion!

by

John Bain

Gisela Kahn Gresser won the title nine times between 1944 and 1969.

Gisela Kahn Gresser was born February 8, 1906 in Detroit, Michigan and died December 4, 2000.

Gresser studied the classics at Radcliffe, where she won a Charles Elliott Norton fellowship that she used to continue her studies at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.

In 1927, she returned to New York, where she married William Gresser, a New York City attorney and musicologist. She was a housewife, and raised their two sons, Ion and Julian.

Gresser was also an accomplished painter and musician, as well as a classical scholar. She went on safari in Africa many times, even in her eighties.


Gisela Kahn Gresser black and white portrait wearing striped beaded head covering sitting at chess board behind white pieces

Gesila Learned Chess at 32 Years Old!

She learned chess while on an ocean cruise in 1938 when she was 32 years old. Two years later, at 34 years old, she played in her first USA Women’s Chess Championship.

Four years after she played in her first U. S. Women’s Championship, she won it for the first time in 1944!


Gisela Kahn Gresser black and white portrait older wearing pearl necklace

A Gifted & Accomplished Woman!

As a young girl Gisela had passion for Greek and in a 1945 interview stated, “When the other children were out playing, I used to study Greek. I loved it just the way I love chess now.”

She was also somewhat of a Renaissance woman who knew several languages, could paint like the old Flemish masters and could play Bach and Handel on the flute.

Gresser dominated women’s chess for more than 30 years. She won nine USA Women’s Chess Championships between 1944 and 1969 and was the first woman in the USA to earn a the chess Master title.


Next in Line?

8 Times
USA Women’s Chess Champion!

Irina on the Santa Monica pier in California

Irina Krush on Santa Monica Pier, California

Irina Krush

Covid-19 Survivor
2020 U.S. Women’s Chess Champion!

Irina Krush has won her 8th U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, edging 2nd Place 17-year-old Carissa Yip by a half point. Krush scored an undefeated 8.5/11 points in a 12-player single round-robin.

Irina has now won the title eight times! Irina Krush won the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship seven times between 1998 and 2015–once winning the title four times in a row between 2012 and 2015!

Irina now needs only one more title to tie Gisela Kahn Gresser’s record of nine titles.


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Beginner’s Book – Chess Rules For Students

Chess Rules For Students workbook

“Knights Battle”

Chess Rules For Students is a workbook for students learning the game of chess and for beginning students returning to the game. No previous knowledge of chess is necessary. Parents unfamiliar with chess will find this booklet a valuable guide to their child’s new interest.

Chess Rules For Students is designed with students, coaches, and parents in mind. Reading level is appropriate for grade-school use. All major rules of chess are covered, and algebraic notation worksheets are included. Each page is in easy-to-use worksheet format.

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Beginners & Intermediate Book – Checkmate! Ideas For Students

Checkmate! Ideas For Students

“Knight Checkmates King!”

Checkmate! Ideas For Students is a workbook for beginning and intermediate students. Checkmate! covers the tactics used in checkmate attacks with clear explanations, diagrams and arrows to pinpoint the key features.

Unlike many other basic checkmate books, Checkmate! categorizes the checkmates by the tactics used to force the checkmate–like Pins, Sacrifices, Removing the Guard, Attraction, Clearance and Attacking Flight Squares–rather than only the checkmate pattern itself.

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Intermediate & Advanced Book – Chess Tactics For Students

Chess Tactics For Students workbook

“Profiles Face-Off in King’s Shadow”

Chess Tactics For Students contains 434 carefully selected problems in worksheet format.

Chess Tactics has been extensively field tested with elementary, middle-school, and high-school students over a four-year period. This book is ideal for independent seat work as well as for homework and classroom instruction.

The worksheet format and Answer Key enable self-correction with minimal dependence or direct help from a chess teacher, coach, or parent.


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Checkmate In One Prize
Chess Rules For Students Workbook
An instructional workbook designed for students learning the game of chess. Click here to learn more!
Checkmate In Two Prize
Checkmate! Ideas For Students
An instructional workbook containing tactics in worksheet format used to checkmate--like Pins, Sacrifices, Removing the Guard, Attraction, Clearance, and Attacking Flight Squares!
Checkmate In Three Prize
Chess Tactics For Students
An instructional workbook containing 434 carefully selected problems presented in worksheet format.

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