Salt Lake area welcomes women's chess championship this weekend

MURRAY — At the end of her middle school years in India, Jayashree Sekar realized she had to stop playing chess to focus on her studies.

It was not an easy decision to make. Sekar enjoyed playing chess with her friends, even though she had no idea what the rules were. As the years flew by, she thought about returning to chess, improving upon what she knew and just having a good time.

After 10 years, she immigrated to the United States and returned to the game she loved. It was a good move.

This year, she was invited as one of 12 players to participate in the U.S. Senior Women's Chess Championship this weekend in Murray. To say she is excited is an understatement.

"There are legends of the game who are here this weekend," Sekar said. "I'm excited and nervous. I don't know how I'll do, but I'm really happy to be here."

Chess lovers from across the Wasatch Front are expected to watch Sekar and 11 other women, who each play chess at such a high level that they were invited to participate in this national competition.

Of course, they want to win, but this weekend is about so much more. It is about showing girls and women of all ages that they, too, can enjoy the fun of playing chess.

Last year, the U.S. Chess Federation opened the inaugural national championships for senior women — ages 50 and older — for the mere fact there had not been one. There had been open championships for years, but invitations were based on ratings; since men always had the higher ratings, they were invited to participate and the women were not.

But the women wanted to play chess, too.

As discussions were held about creating a world senior women championships, American women and members of the U.S. Chess Federation organized a state-side version of the tournament, first held in Berkeley, California, in 2023.

Many of the women who participate in these competitions can remember a time when girls were not encouraged to play chess. They each learned through a variety of means — teachers, neighbors and family members taught them how to play and enjoy the game of chess. They did not have women's world and national championships to inspire them and other girls to reach the heights of competitive chess, and they hope these competitions will do precisely that for younger generations.

"At all levels, there are a lot more men playing chess than girls and women. But at all levels, there is also an increase in girls and women playing chess," said Maureen Grimaud, the championship organizer and supporter of bringing it to the Salt Lake area. "Chess is extremely good for developing young minds. Young girls can benefit from this, too."

Competitions between two women will take place in various rounds throughout the weekend, with a winner named on Sunday. There is an $8,000 winning purse, but there is also a chance for the winner and other ranked women to represent the U.S. in the World Senior Women's Chess Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, in February.

The competition encourages older women to play chess to exercise their brains, making space to welcome new people to the game and showing men and women that women can also play at a competitive level. Organizers also hope more people attend the competition than in the past.

"I just plan to play the best I can," said Beatriz Marinello, a chess player originally from Chile who currently lives in New York City. "And see people — this is the second year, but it's really quite remarkable."

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