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In four swift moves, the 4-year-old claims her first victory over her father in a game of chess. For Pittsburgh native Ashley Lynn Priore, the gifts and passion for the board game showed up early and they haven’t slowed down yet.��

Priore (A&S ’22) was a nationally ranked chess player for 10 years, often checkmating gender barriers in the male-dominated competitions. In 2014, as a teenager, she founded Queen’s Gambit, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that uses free chess programing to teach life skills to children and teens. Last year, she established Queenside Ventures, a consulting firm using chess to brainstorm strategy for businesses, nonprofit organizations and even her beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.��

It was as a student at Pitt that she found supportive administrators and opportunities for chess-related outreach, giving her the confidence to introduce the game to the professional world.��

From hosting “Chess Fest,” Pittsburgh’s first chess festival, to holding board positions at local nonprofit organizations, Priore has taken a hands-on approach to promoting chess as a tool for self-discovery.��

Her latest venture is perhaps her most ambitious: to teach one million women how to play the game of chess and — in the process — the game of life.��

The goal is rooted in Project d4, an initiative launched by Priore that uses virtual and in-person sessions to teach fundamental game skills and leadership concepts, guiding women in decision making and problem-solving. The inspiration lays in the fact that only 1% of the top 100 chess players are women, an issue that Priore and her team are also tackling head-on by sharing their passion for the game.����

Chess has this “superpower to teach adaptability,” says Priore, it cuts across every discipline and field. Priore is using that power to help chess change lives.��

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