BIO
WGM|| KATERINA NEMCOVA
Katerina Nemcova is an International Woman Grandmaster who was born Nov. 14, 1990 and grew up in Prague, Czech Republic. She comes from a chess family of seven children where all play chess. Learning chess at the age of four, she won Czech Girls U8 Championship in 1998 and later defended her Girls' Champion title nine more times (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). She became Czech Women Champion in 2008 and 2010, and Czech Women Speed-Chess Champion in 2009.
Katerina found her international stride after a second-place showing in the 2007 World Youth Championship (Antalya, Turkey), best score on the third chessboard 10 points out of 11 games at Arctic Cup in 2007, following up with a win at the 2008 European Youth Chess Championship. She earned her WIM title in 2007 and WGM title in 2008. She is an IM-elect since 2010, yet in need to surpass the 2400 rating barrier.
Katerina represented the Czech Republic between years 2007-2012 in one World Team Championship (2007), three World Team Olympiads (2008, 2010, 2012) and three European Team Championships (2007, 2009, 2011). During the 2007 event, Katerina earned 7.5 out of 9 points, the highest score of the event and her highest performance rating ever: 2548.
Switching federations in 2013, Katerina has represented the United States in three World Team Championships (2015, 2017, 2019), two World Team Olympiads (2014, 2016) and four U.S. Women's Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). Katerina tied for 2nd place at the 2015 U.S. Championships, finished 3rd at the 2016 Women's Continental Championship in Colima, and competed in the 2017 FIDE Women's World Championship in Tehran.
Katerina graduated from Pope John Paul II. High School for Nurses in 2010, in Prague, Czech Republic, and continued with all her higher education in the United States. She attended the University of Texas in Brownsville and played for their UTB Chess Team during years 2011-2014. Following her graduation in B.A. in Communications, she transitioned for her graduate studies to Webster University in St. Louis. She competed for Webster University SPICE Team at Webster under the direction of former World Women's Champion, Susan Polgar. She graduated Webster University in 2016 with a M.A. in Public Relations, and the University of Arizona
in 2023 with a Ph.D. in Health Communication. Her teaching/research portfolio is available here.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Katerina got back to chess coaching with efforts to support U.S. youth and other chess enthusiasts. She's been teaching Girls' Classes organized by Jennifer Shahade, U.S. Chess School classes organized by Greg Shahade, and private sessions for players all ages and level. In June 2021, Katerina started her YouTube Channel and Twitch Channel PragueQueen.