The United States Chess Federation - The Queen Within Opens in Saint Louis

The Queen Within Opens in Saint Louis

By Jennifer Shahade
October 18, 2013
CLO editor Jen Shahade with Susan Barrett, director of the World Chess Hall of Fame at Flux, a pop-up shop at WCHOF. The Queen Within, Adorned Archetypes, Fashion & Chess opens on Saturday at the World Chess Hall of Fame. I wrote a piece in the Beacon on why I'm excited for this merging of two seemingly disimilar disciplines. I got a sneak preview last night and literally gasped at the beauty and extravagance of the exhibitions. I think it's impossible to capture in photos so I hope many readers will come to the WCHOF (in conjunction with a trip to the Chess Club, perhaps), before the show closes in April. Stars of fashion and art are in town for the Queen's Gala Friday night, including curator Sofia K. Hedman, author/photographer Anne Deniau and fashion columnist and author Derek Blasberg. GM Maurice Ashley, GM elect Irina Krush are also attending as well as Jean Hoffman, set to become the USCF executive director on November 1st. Hussein Chalayan's bubble dress from spring 2007 As I wrote in the Beacon, a major point of the show is to attract more girls to our game, through "Queen Power" initiatives. We kick off this concept on Saturday morning at the ribbon cutting ceremony (9:30 AM), where Irina and I will give a simul to girls in the STL area. I'll post more photos and news when the show is over. Till then, find details, links reviews (including this recent Glamour piece ) and photos on the WCHOF website and facebook.