The Field
Irina Krush
Irina Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion and current #1 last year’s winner of the 2022 Women’s American Cup. Originally from Ukraine, Krush immigrated to the United States at the age of five in 1989, and has represented the U.S. Women’s National Team since 1998, winning team silver in the 2004 Chess Olympiad and team bronze in 2006. In 2013, Krush became the first and only American woman to earn the Grandmaster title.
Carissa Yip
Carissa Yip is an International Master and former U.S. Women’s Champion originally from Andover, Massachusetts. She is currently ranked #2 among U.S. girls under 21 and #3 among women overall. Yip’s tournament achievements include winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship three straight years (2018, 2019, 2020), as well as the 2021 U.S. Women’s Championship. Yip also set records for being the youngest American woman to achieve the titles of Expert, National Master, and International Master in history.
Alice Lee
Alice Lee is an International Master-elect and 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion. She is currently ranked #1 among U.S. girls under 21 and #2 among women overall. Lee is also a three-time World Youth Champion, winning the Girls’ U10 in 2019 and then back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 in the Girls’ U12. Recently Alice earned her final IM norm, making her the youngest American woman ever to achieve the IM title.
Anna Zatonskih
Anna Zatonskih is a 4-time U.S. Women’s Champion and former Ukrainian Women’s Champion. She represented Ukraine in two Olympiads before switching to the United States in 2004, winning team silver for the U.S. in the 2004 Chess Olympiad, team bronze in 2006, and an individual gold medal for the first board in the 2008 Chess Olympiad. Zatonskih recently won the 2023 Cairns Cup, one of the strongest ever all-female tournaments held on U.S. soil.
Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova
“Begim” Tokhirjonova is a Women’s Grandmaster and current #5 ranked woman in the United States. Originally from Uzbekistan, she is a former Asian Girls Champion U20. In 2021, Begim finished second in the U.S. Women’s Championship, while in 2022 she placed fourth in the Women’s American Cup. In 2022 Begim also made her debut appearance as a member of the U.S. Women’s National team, which earned fourth place in the 2022 Chess Olympiad. Tokhirjonova currently attends the University of Missouri and is a member of their chess team.
Nazi Paikidze
Nazi Paikidze is a two-time U.S. Women’s Champion and current #8 ranked woman in the United States. She is also a four-time European Youth Champion and two-time World Youth Champion (Girls U14 & U16). In 2006, Paikidze moved to Moscow where she achieved a number of excellent results, including winning the Moscow Women’s Open, Moscow Women’s Championship, and Russian Women’s Higher League all in 2010. After moving to the U.S. in 2012, Paikidze won the 2016 and 2018 U.S. Women’s Championship. She has also represented the U.S. at multiple olympiads and team events.
Jennifer Yu
Jennifer Yu is an American Women’s Grandmaster and reigning U.S. Women’s Champion originally from Ashburn, Virginia. She is a former Girls U12 World Youth Champion and won the National Girls Tournament of Champions three times. She also scored a bronze medal in the 2017 World Junior Girls’ Championship and earned an individual bronze medal while representing the U.S. at the 2018 Women’s Chess Olympiad. In 2019, Yu won her first U.S. Women’s Championship with a score of 10/11. She then won the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship as well as the 2022 U.S. Women’s Championship after defeating GM Irina Krush in a tiebreak playoff. Jennifer is currently a student at Harvard University.
Atousa Pourkashiyan
Atousa Pourkashiyan is an Iranian-American Women’s Grandmaster and current #7 ranked woman in the United States. She is a former Girls Under 12 World Youth Champion, four-time Asian Youth Champion, and seven-time Iranian Champion. Pourkashiyan was also the winner of the 2010 Asian Women’s Championship, and represented Iran in nine straight chess olympiads from 2000-2016.
Ashritha Eswaran
Ashritha Eswaran is an American FIDE Master originally from Northern California. She is currently ranked #16 among women in the U.S. as of August 2023. In 2015, Eswaran took first place in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship with a score of 6.5/9. She then took bronze in the 2015 Pan-American Youth Chess Championship, and went on to win gold at the 2015 Pan-American Junior Championship. This will be Eswaran's 7th U.S. Women's Championship. Recently, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a Master's Degree in Data Analytics for Science. Currently, Eswaran is a data analytics engineer working full-time at State Farm.
Tatev Abrahamyan
Tatev Abrahamyan is an Armenian-American Women’s Grandmaster and current #10 ranked woman in the United States. In 2006, she won the Girls Under 18 section of the Pan American Youth Chess Festival with a perfect 9/9 score. Tatev has come close to winning the U.S. Women’s Championship multiple times, with second place finishes in 2004, 2010, and 2011. Abrahamyan is also a longtime member of the U.S. National Team, and was part of the bronze medal winning squad in the 2008 Chess Olympiad.
Thalia Cervantes
Thalia Cervantes is a Cuban-American Women’s Grandmaster and current #3 among female juniors in the United States. Originally from Havana, Cervantes moved to Saint Louis in 2014 at the age of 11. Her tournament achievements include earning first place in the 2018 Pan-American Championship Girls U20, second in the 2022 U.S. Girls Junior Championship, and a team silver while playing for the U.S. team in the 2021 Online Chess Olympiad. Thalia currently attends Saint Louis University, where she is pursuing a degree in sports business.
Ruiyang Yan
Ruiyang Yan is a FIDE master originally from Northern California. She is currently ranked #4 among U.S. Girls under 21 and #13 among women overall. Yan’s tournament achievements include winning the 2021 Ruth Haring National Tournament, as well as finishing third in the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, followed by second place finishes in both the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior.