Greg Shahade is an international master of chess. He is the founder and commissioner of the U.S. Chess League, the only professional chess league in the United States, with teams in 16 cities across the country.
He’s also the founder and president of the U.S. Chess School, a nonprofit that provides top-level training at no cost to the best young chess players in the country.
Greg has worked as a professional poker player but is now a full-time chess professional. Since 2011, he has coached the chess team at his alma mater, Julia R. Masterman School, with his own former instructor Steven Shutt. In 2013, the Masterman chess team won the national middle school championship, a first for the school in over a decade. In 2014, Masterman took home top honors once again.
In his spare time, Greg provides individual chess lessons to a handful of students in Philadelphia, runs his own Scramble With Friends League (with more than 200 players from around the globe) and actively practices Crossfit, which he considers a healthy obsession.
He lives with his wife, Ronna, and two incorrigible cats in Philadelphia.
Would you be willing to comment on your blog about way stalemates are handled? I only recently learned that they have not always been considered a draw, and that some chess players advocate for changing that rule. Is it something that is actively discussed or debated amongst masters, or is it only ‘controversial’ on the fringes? What is your position on the topic?
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Hi Greg, I write from Italy, Rome and I read your interesting article on Swiss pairings that I agree in full “is discriminatory!”
I am in the CDN FNGO game Othello, and we use the “Swiss Perfect98” for the pairings and with this system we have a lot of games 64-0 (in Othello is important difference of the pieces) for the difference rating remarkable.
I think it is “discriminatory” because no one likes to lose so players with lower ratings,, move away from tournaments. A random draw in the first round (as I did 30 years ago) would be more incentive for everyone. you are in accord?
Thanks for reply,
Luigi Puzzo
puzzoluigi@hotmail.com
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Hi Greg, love your site and articles! Lot of good points in the “defeat aging” article. I saw you playing Yasser Seirawan in S-Chess and really enjoyed that one. Do you like chess variants in general? I have some of my own I want to bounce off a high-rated player like yourself. e-mail me if you can, let me know – I can share a couple of the variant description pages I’ve created.
Jeff
media specialist
age 34
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