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Natasha Regan

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Natasha Regan
Full nameNatasha Katherine Regan
Country England
Born (1971-06-12) 12 June 1971 (age 53)
London, England
TitleWoman International Master (WIM)
Peak rating2208 (July 2004)

Natasha Katherine Regan is a chess player and an award-winning chess author including the book: Game Changer. She has represented the UK at 2 Chess Olympiads.[1]

She is also an accomplished game all-rounder. Partnering with Matthew Cocke (5 dan) has won the British pair Go championship 7 times and has taken bronze in European Pair Go Championship.[2] Natasha has represented the UK at Go at the first World Mind Sports Games in Beijing 2008 and again in 2012[3][4]. At the Mind Sports Olympiad, her medals include silver in the Women's Pentamind in 2018.[5]

Personal life

Natasha studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge University [6] and is a professional actuary with twin daughters and a son Oscar Selby. She taught Oscar math leading to him become the youngest person to ever obtain the maximum grade for a GCSE of A* in 2010 for Mathematics.[7]

Chess

While at Cambridge University she became the first female player to play above Board 8 (formerly known as the ladies’ board) in the 1992 Oxford and Cambridge Varsity Chess Match.[8][9] Natasha represented England at the 1992 Chess Olympiad in Manilla and the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow. Natasha was awarded the FIDE rank of Woman International Master in 2002. [8] In September 2019, she was elected to the Board of the English Chess Federation (ECF).[10]

Books

Natasha has co-authored two chess books alongside English chess Grandmaster Matthew Sadler. Their first colloboration Chess For Life won ECF book of the year.[11] It interviews and details the way several notable chess players' styles and games evolved throughout their chess careers.[12]

Game Changer

Natasha Regan came up with the idea for her and GM Matthew Sadler's second collaboration Game Changer [13] which won the FIDE chess book of the year[14]. It details the lessons that can be learnt from how DeepMind's revolutionary computer program AlphaZero plays chess[15]


The book has been influential upon competitive chess. At the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2019, after a draw with Teimour Radjabov, number 1 ranked chess player and world champion, Magnus Carlsen commented about Game Changer:

"I found the book quite inspirational. I was thinking at several points during the game: How would AlphaZero have approached this?"[16]

Bibliography

  • Regan, Natasha; Lalic, Susan (1997). Trends in the Smith-Morra Gambit. Tournament Chess. ISBN 978-1859320730.
  • Regan, Natasha; Lalic, Susan (1998). Trends in the Bird's Opening. Trends Publications. ISBN 978-1859320372.
  • Sadler, Matthew; Regan, Natasha (2016). Chess For Life. Gambit. ISBN 978-1910093832.
  • Sadler, Matthew; Regan, Natasha (2019). Game Changer. New In Chess. ISBN 978-9056918187.

References

  1. ^ British Chess News page about Natasha Regan retrieved 1 December 2020
  2. ^ BGA Pair Go results retrieved 1 December 2020
  3. ^ BGA WMSG team page retrieved 1 December 2020
  4. ^ BGA results summary from WMSG 2012 retrieved 1 December 2020
  5. ^ MSO Results page navigate to player retrieved 1 December 2020
  6. ^ Cambridge University results website retrieved 1 December 2020
  7. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-11069666 "Seven-year-old maths whizz-kid gains A* in GCSE exam", BBC, 24 August 2010
  8. ^ a b Matthew Sadler website page Chess for Life retrieved 1 December 2020
  9. ^ 1992 Varsity Match results
  10. ^ ECF officers webpage, retrieved 1 December 2020
  11. ^ ECF page on award presentation retrieved 1 December 2020
  12. ^ ECF awards page
  13. ^ ChessBase interview with Natasha Regan and Matthew Sadler, retrieved 1 December 2020
  14. ^ [FIDE Averbakh-Boleslavsky Award 2019 webpage retrieved 1 december 2020
  15. ^ [Chess Base article on FIDE book of thew year 2019 retrieved 1 December 2020
  16. ^ Hans Schut book of the year review and chess.com, retrieved 1 December 2020

Category:Living people Category:Chess woman International Masters Category:English chess players Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:Go players Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge