Lauren Goodkind’s new book offers girls a path to chess mastery

Menlo Park resident Lauren Goodkind, who we first profiled in 2015, has written a new book about chess, Queen for a Day: The Girl’s Guide to Chess Mastery, that’s a particularly good fit for these days of sheltering in.

Edited by Woman International Master Alexey Root, who is a former US Women’s Chess Champion, the book takes readers through a complete chess game against Sophia, a girl who has just learned how to move the chess pieces. In the book’s game, players are asked to choose among a master level move, an okay move, and a third that’s just plain bad.

Explains Lauren: “I explain if their move is good, ok, or bad. For many moves of the game, we go with the good-okay moves. We never go with a bad move against Sophia! Readers  learn to make smart moves in their own real-life chess games.

“Younger kids can read the book with the help of their parent, guardian or chess teacher.
Regardless of the reader’s age, I’m hoping everyone will find the book instructive, informative, and entertaining.”

While Lauren  enjoys playing chess in team and all-female tournaments, she says teaching brings particular joy. “I believe that chess helps in other areas in life, such as having a plan, having confidence in yourself, taking your time to think, and more,” she says. “Recently, I restarted my YouTube channel in the hopes that it will inspire more girls and women to play chess.”

It’s not all about chess for Lauren. She’s been a member of a local USTA women’s 3.0 team for the last several years. She also enjoys crocheting scarves [maybe face masks next?], doing improv, and playing other board games like Scrabble.

Next up, she hopes to create more chess products for beginners and hopefully launch online chess classes. Her latest book is available on Amazon.

Photo by Robb Most (c) 2020