Photo by Andreas Kontokanis from Piraeus, Greece, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
WGM Katerina Nemcova is the 2 time Women’s Champion of the Czech Republic and the winner of the 2008 European Youth Chess Championship. She now resides in the U.S. and is a frequent competitor in the US Women’s Championships, and has played for the Olympiad teams of both the U.S. and the Czech Republic. Katerina is also quite busy away from the chessboard, as she has a BA and a Masters, and is currently getting a Ph. D. in Communications at the University of Arizona. Katerina also finds time to teach chess classes, and is a regular and beloved lecturer for US Chess Women’s "Girl's Club" Zoom series of classes. We discussed all aspects of Katerina’s career, and of course we were eager to get the perspective of this top female player on the hit Netflix miniseries Queen’s Gambit. Please read on for more details and timestamps!
Click here to download the Episode
0:00-
You can subscribe to the new feeds of Cover Stories with Chess Life here:
Or on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1mNUGWcVB3GADGoy2k5kJ0
2:45- We begin by getting Katerina’s perspective on the Netflix breakout hit, The Queen’s Gambit.
Mentioned: Jen Shahade in Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-chess/2020/11/20/529fb63a-2a79-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html
Also Mentioned: WGM Marsel Efroimski, GM Susan Polgar,
Sign up for Jen Shahade and Adia Oyango’s Mad Woman’s Book Club here:
https://new.uschess.org/news/madwomans-book-club-announced-kick-book-queens-gambit
And girls can join the mailing list for girls’ classes here (classes are free to US Chess members):
https://forms.gle/zZw4sNCjGGCLkws57
For other US Chess Women related inquiries, email Jen Shahade at: jshahade@uschess.org
17:00- What was Katerina’s most difficult loss? What was it like to play GM Anatoly Karpov?
Mentioned: GM Valentina Gunina, Nemcova-Gunina 2007-https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=ACtgo9U2xWMaCrAi8ZQY7Opg/p5tXquV8kfmX9pETgFfzhm7p75HWdKc+hWQkrSB
Nemcova-Karpov 2008
23:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. There is a brand new course out from GM Yasser Seirawan , Winning Chess Brilliancies:
24:00- What lessons does Katerina try to impart to the students of various ages in her classes for the US Chess School, US Chess Women, and the St. Louis Chess Club?
Mentioned: The Chess Steps Method: https://www.chess-steps.com/home.php, The Mammoth Book of Chess
36:30- Check out our new sponsor Aimchess.com, which gathers your games from the major chess sites and generates reports to let you know which aspects of your game need work. If you decide to subscribe, use the promo code Chess30 to save 30%.
37:30- What is the status of Katerina’s chess playing career?
Mentioned: 2019 World Team Championship, WGM Tatev Abrhamyan, WGM Carissa Yip, WIM Rochelle Wu, GM Darius Swiercz, GM Alexander Onishcuk, GM Robert Hess, GM Yasser Seirawan
50:30- Why didn’t Katerina play in the US Women’s chess championship this year?
Mentioned: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Jesse Kraai, The Chess Dojo YouTube Channel
55:30- What does Katerina envision for herself professionally in the coming years?
Mentioned: Anna Sharevich, IM Eric Rosen, Perpetual Chess Episode 36 with IM Eric Rosen GM Le Quang Liem, GM Ray Robson, GM Alex Shimanov, GM Ilya Nyznhyk, IM Greg Shahade
1:06:00-- Thanks so much to Katerina for joining the show! Here are the ways you can reach/keep up with her.
Follow her on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/Kate_Nemcova
Chess.com: PragueQueen
LiChess: KaterinaNemcova
Chessity: PragueQueen
ICC: PragueQueen
If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here:
https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess