Introducing the Pittsburgh Women’s Chess Club

This spring, Queenside Ventures is launching the Pittsburgh Women’s Chess Club - a weekly space designed for women to learn, play, and grow through the game of chess.

For too long, chess has not always felt accessible or welcoming to women. That has shaped who enters the game, who stays, and who ultimately sees themselves in it. The Pittsburgh Women’s Chess Club is designed to change that.

The club will meet weekly, creating a consistent environment where women can build confidence on the board, develop strategic thinking skills, and connect with others who share an interest in chess. Some participants will be learning for the first time. Others will arrive with experience. Both are essential to the space.

Chess is one of the most powerful tools for developing how people think. It teaches patience, decision-making, and the ability to anticipate what comes next. Over time, those skills extend far beyond the board—into leadership, work, and everyday life.

This club brings those benefits into a setting that is welcoming, accessible, and grounded in community.

Hosted by Queenside Ventures and led by Ashley Lynn Priore, the Pittsburgh Women’s Chess Club is part of a broader effort to expand who has access to chess and how the game is experienced.

The club will meet on Mondays from 6:00–8:00 PM, beginning May 4, 2026, at Field Day Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville.

All experience levels are welcome.

Participants are encouraged to come as they are - curious, experienced, or somewhere in between and to take their seat at the board.