At the 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship, three people told me that I lack fighting spirit. And that I have a peaceful nature. They are right. I like to offer draws, and I like to accept draw offers. Therefore, the best tournaments for me to play in would be those that prohibit offering draws. Then I would be forced to fight in my chess games, and my chess skills would likely improve.
Saint Louis Chess Club
At the U.S. Senior Championship, U.S. Junior Championship, and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, held each year at the Saint Louis Chess Club, draw offers are prohibited. Here’s a quote from rules posted in 2023, “No Draws by Agreement: To promote competitive play, it will not be permitted for players to offer or agree to a draw in any game, including playoff games. In the event of a claim for a draw under Article 9.2 of the Laws (three-fold repetition) or under Article 9.3 of the Laws (50 move rule), one of the Event Arbiters must be asked by the players to verify the claim.”
2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship
The 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship was held November 14–16, 2025, in Murray, Utah. Last year, when the event was across the street from this year’s site, I never left the site hotel. I was too busy playing chess and writing articles for Chess Life Online.
This year was almost a repeat of staying indoors. After arriving late Thursday night, November 13, I hadn’t stepped outside on Friday. But on Saturday morning, thanks to my draw offer after move 5, WCM Natasha Christiansen and I walked around the park that adjoins the Residence Inn (Murray, UT). That walk is one of my nicest memories of the event, and one that I would have missed had our game continued.
After our walk, we were the first to sample the snacks from Costco and the lunches from Jimmy John’s. Assisting tournament organizer Maureen Grimaud with lunch orders each day were sisters Shaylyn and Shanetta Sheffield. In addition to lunches, breakfasts were also provided.
Thanks to Maureen, her husband David, and Precision Tune Auto Care (event sponsor) for the U.S. Senior Women’s Championships in 2024 and 2025. The first U.S. Senior Women’s Championship was in 2023, sponsored by FM Jim Eade and hosted by Elizabeth Shaughnessy (Berkeley Chess School). The Grimauds continued what began in Berkeley, making the U.S. Senior Women’s Championship an annual event. US Chess also deserves credit for encouraging the development of this new national championship.
Upset Prizes
Christiansen and I were the only players to have made a quick draw in this year’s championship. Since she had the lowest FIDE rating in the field, even her draws counted for upset prizes. A win is evaluated as the rating difference between players; a draw is counted at half that difference. She won the upset prize in four out of the five rounds, for her three draws and one win. She didn’t win the upset prize for the one round she lost. Each upset prize was a $50 certificate good at US Chess Sales.
The donor of the upset prizes, Mike Mulford, told me just before round 3 that a minimum number of moves for each round’s upset prize might have been a good idea. A simpler solution to his concern would have been to have a “no draw offers” rule in place. Thank you to Mulford for sponsoring upset prizes at both the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championships.
Just Say No
Although I find it hard to do, it is possible to say “no” to a draw offer. I was White against Jennifer Skidmore Smith in round 5 of the 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship. Thanks to the Chessable course Lifetime Repertoires: Giri’s 1. e4 − Part 1, I was prepared for her Philidor Defense. But she seemed more knowledgeable about the resulting middlegame and endgame positions. She also had fighting spirit and turned down my draw offers on move 9 and on move 26.
Five Games, then a Playoff
The 10 players in the 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship played one game Friday, two games Saturday, and two games Sunday. The time control was G/90 with a 30-second increment. Several games lasted for well over four hours. Byes were prohibited. And, as mentioned, the only game that ended quickly was my round 2 draw with Christiansen.
Christiansen and Skidmore Smith finished half a point ahead of me, tying for fifth and sixth places in the event. Tying for first and second places in the five-round Swiss system tournament were WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia and WFM Natalya Tsodikova.
Exhausted from playing for many hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Belakovskaia and Tsodikova asked the organizers and the US Chess Executive Director to be declared co-champions. Their request was denied. On Sunday night they played three playoff games under protest.
Tsodikova won that playoff for the trophy and the title. Tournament director (TD) Karen Pennock and organizer Maureen Grimaud presented her trophy and check. Belakovskaia and Tsodikova split the $4,000 first prize and $2,000 second prize, earning $3,000 each. For more results, see Chess Life Online.
