Jennifer Shahade

Philadelphia

3x National Chess Champ, @PokerStars pro, author and host of the GRID https://t.co/NfDJpvUCiy Inquiries: [email protected] Views my own

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Articles

ChatGPT is Weirdly Bad at Chess

2 days ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

Last month, Nate Silver wrote a post on how “shockingly” bad ChatGPT is at poker, which he also discussed on the Risky Business podcast with Maria Konnikova. A lot of you might guess that any AI, even a large language model like ChatGPT is a lot better at chess than poker. After all, the top chess computers have dominated against the best human players for nearly three decades now.
The Grid 086 ft. Arlie Shaban- Three Four Offsuit

1 week ago | thepokergrid.com | Jennifer Shahade

PokerStars ambassador and Ontario crusher Arlie Shaban enters the GRID to discuss a hand from his first major online victory, the Hot 22. Holding 34 offsuit, he hit two pair on the flop? and was yearning for all that money to go in. Would his growing twitch crowd get one of Arlie’s epic celebrations? After the hand, Jen and Arlie discuss how to treat poker as a business, Big Brother inspired tips on how to nail a job interview, and extreme challenges.
Remixing Smothered Mate: From Fischer to Freestyle

2 weeks ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

Fischer Random Chess, now widely known as Freestyle Chess is seeing the rapid surge in popularity that Bobby Fischer hoped for when he invented the variant in 1996 “to keep chess going.” One of my favorite things about Freestyle Chess is the miniatures. Shuffling the pieces on the back row creates unusual patterns, which leads to more short games.
The Grid 084 ft. Eddy Goldman- Seven-Deuce Suited

1 month ago | thepokergrid.com | Jennifer Shahade

Eddy Goldman, founder of Chess Ninja London, poker pro and musician enters the GRID with seven-deuce suited. Eddy has had a very storied life, from a jail cell in Singapore, to streamed games at the Hippodrome. Eddy talks to us about a hand he played in April 2025 at the Irish Open cash games. With a bonus bounty at stake, Eddy was thrilled to turn trip deuces…only to get some bad news when his opponent showed.
The Grid 083 ft. Jeffrey San Gabriel - Kings

1 month ago | thepokergrid.com | Jennifer Shahade

Jennifer welcomes poker dealer and writer Jeffrey San Gabriel on the GRID to talk about dealing a famous hand at the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event. The fateful four-bet hand featured Will Berry (in the hijack) and Adrian Mateos (on the button). Jeffrey dealt a flop of Q♦️4♦️ 2♣️ and Berry bet 425,000 into a pot of 1.36 Million chips. Mateos called. The turn was the 10 of spades and Berry bet 1.3 Million into 2.2 Million. After a little thought, Mateos folded.
In Between Lies: Chess Lessons from the Latest Scandal

1 month ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

A toddler beating Usain Bolt in a race. A kindergartener writing Shakespeare. A chess streamer rated 600 playing a majestic series of precise moves. It’s so absurd, it’s funny. If everyone cheated like this it would be super easy to catch. But that’s what happened in Pogchamps 6, a star studded online chess event won by English Premier League footballer Ebere Eze.
The Grid 082 ft. Xuan Liu - King-Seven Suited

1 month ago | thepokergrid.com | Jennifer Shahade

Today we welcome to the GRID poker pro and a Global Poker Award winner Xuan Liu. Xuan is a powerhouse on the felt, earning over 2.4 Million dollars in live tournament earnings, including final tables at EPT San Remo and the PCA. Now she is a regular in high stakes cash games and streams all over the globe, including this hand, played at the WPT World Championship at the Wynn. The Squid game was in play, also known as the Stand-Up Game.
From 70 Hours to 70 Seconds: A Record Shatters in NYC

1 month ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

Time seems to slow down as you get lost in a chess position. It feels like seconds have passed, till you look up and see your fifteen minutes are up. Losing the sense of time can create an addictive flow state. Or it can be a burden: playing chess well requires so much time. What if time became the goal itself? A timed chess contest becomes a chess time contest. Chess masters Tunde Onakoya and Shawn Martinez took on that challenge, from April 16-20, right in the center of Times Square.
The Queen Stays the Queen, Again

1 month ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

I love tactics that involve pawn promotion. In the transformation of the weakest piece to the most powerful, so many counter intuitive moves become viable. And in this way, such tactics are akin to sacrificial checkmates. If you can make a queen, you can give up (almost) everything. And in Ju Wenjun’s case, staying the Queen (again) also meant converting her share of chess queens. Take this analysis variation from Ju Wenjun’s 8th round game against Tan Zhongyi.
The King's Gambit, or Queen Jack in the Hijack

1 month ago | jenshahade.substack.com | Jennifer Shahade

Lately my personal mission has clarified. I want people to feel smarter via games. Of course, I also want them to be smarter too, but A. naturally leads to B. To feel your brain working in new and exciting ways is addicting, and makes you want to study and do more so that you can replicate the feeling. It’s often a click: a chess puzzle solved, a poker concept snapping into place. What does not make people feel smart, in my experience, is struggling to remember preflop ranges or chess openings.