Play Like a Girl!

This Play Like a Girl! is an English-language hardcover chess book by Jennifer Shahade that explores tactical play through the games of leading women players, with 322 combinations to solve and study.

What the book covers

Shahade brings together tactical positions from fifteen outstanding female players across different eras, including Judit Polgar, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Abby Marshall and Hou Yifan. The selection is organised by theme and difficulty, so you can use it for regular tactical training or as a focused collection of practical examples from women’s tournament chess.

The material ranges from simple one-move shots to deeper combinations with several variations. That makes it easy to work through the book step by step, return to specific motifs and practise recognising tactical patterns in real play.

Why it stands out

This book is aimed at players who want to sharpen their tactical vision and at readers interested in women’s chess. It combines exercise material with a clear sporting perspective, making it useful both for solving and for study.

All author royalties go to the non-profit organisation 9Queens in Tucson.

Key details

• Product type: hardcover chess book
• Author: Jennifer Shahade
• Language: English
• Subject: chess tactics
• Pages: 100
• Number of combinations: 322
• Featured players: Judit Polgar, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Abby Marshall and Hou Yifan
• Charity link: all author royalties go to 9Queens in Tucson