Let's Play Shess: Succeed in Your Game of Life and Business by Playing Chess: from Pawn to Queen

By Wendy Oliveras

Lets Play SHESS is written to inspire and shake up women of all ages and backgrounds to take a chance, learn something new and believe in their abilities. This book provides a fresh entertaining approach to exploring every womans inquisitive mind and entrepreneurial passion by playing chess. The fascinating and realistic correlation between transferring the chess-playing skills into your real life is revealed, as well as the invaluable rewards and benefits you gain as a result.

SHESS is an all-encompassing term which represents your game of life. All of the circumstances which exist in your life, including challenges relevant to business development represent your individual battlefield. Whether on a personal or professional level, SHESS relates how you think, react, analyze and solve problems, and make decisions. While this book is dedicated to women, everyone is certainly welcome to explore its wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477216828

Wendy Oliveras

Wendy Oliveras is an entrepreneur, small business owner, published author, columnist, search consultant, and motivational career mentor. She is Founder and CEO of Oliveras & Company, Inc., a prominent full-service search firm specializing in the recruitment of intellectual property attorneys in New Jersey since 2001. Oliveras brings 30 years of combined hands-on experience in intellectual property law firms and attorney placement. Her vision and passion to help others has been her motivation to create a successful staffing company, as well as create the SHESS concept and worldwide brand. Oliveras is also the Founder and CEO of SHESS Global Alliance, LLC. Oliveras has found yet another avenue in which to mentor and motivate girls and women to believe in their abilities and achieve their goals. The entire concept of SHESS and its brand, including the subsequent line of products to follow, is one of her greatest creative business endeavors. This inspirational SHESS movement is designed to encourage women of all ages and backgrounds to play a fun game of chess and transfer the chess-playing skills into their real life activities, including business development. Aside from managing her two companies, Oliveras is the President of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJWABO) Hudson County Chapter, since 2010. In this leadership role, she continues to mentor and guide women business owners in their start-up endeavors and business development. Oliveras holds a Master of Science degree in Human Resources Management and a post-Master’s Certification in Career Development and Planning from The New School in New York City. Follow author at http://www.twitter.com/LetsPlaySHESS; http://www.facebook.com/LetsPlayShess; or visit the SHESS website at www.playshess.com. Wendy Oliveras recently appeared on Fox MY9NEWS with Brenda Blackmon to discuss women-owned small businesses and shopping locally. She is a well sought after motivational speaker and is available to speak at schools, universities, corporate functions and community groups. For media inquiries and more information please contact Wendy Oliveras at [e-mail].

Book preview

let’s play

SHESS™

Succeed in your game of life and business by playing chess:

from Pawn to Queen

Wendy Oliveras

FOREWORD BY RUTH I. HARING

PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION (WIM) International Woman Master, 1975

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2012 by Wendy Oliveras. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/26/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1680-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1681-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1682-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910532

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover Design by Will Nickley

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

PART ONE: PLAYING CHESS IS FUN

1 A Low-fat Version of the Basics

2 The Pieces and How They Move

3 Three Main Stages

4 Recommended Skills to Play

5 Rewards and Benefits

PART TWO: LET’S PLAY SHESS

6 What is SHESS?

7 Anatomy of a SHESS Player

8 Intellectual Weaponry and Battle Basics

9 Playing SHESS on Your Battlefield

PART THREE: FROM PAWN TO QUEEN

10 A Pawn in Life

11 A Queen in Business

12 Mastering Your SHESS Business Strategies

13 Analogy of a SHESS Business Structure

PART FOUR: IT’S YOUR FUTURE—AND NEXT MOVE

14 Open, Middle, and End Phase

15 10 SHESS Tips for Business Success

16 Final Game Analysis

17 Become a SHESS Mentor

About The Author

Resources

Appendix A

Appendix B

Dedication

For my beloved dad, my beautiful mother, family, friends, and fellow SHESS players throughout the world.

Every girl and woman has a dream and every dream stems from an inspiration. This book is my dream come true and I dedicate it to all the fascinating women in the world. Believe in yourself, learn something new, and aspire to succeed in everything you do. Remember, a SHESS player never considers herself a victim, but rather a victorious warrior in her game of life.

Special Thanks

I would like to thank the following individuals who have been instrumental in helping me shape my vision for the SHESS concept and brand. Thank you for your unconditional support, professionalism and creative talents.

Ruth I. Haring, President, United States Chess Federation (USCF); (WIM) International Woman Master, 1975

Acknowledgements: FOREWORD and professional chess suggestions (A Low-Fat Version of the Basics)

Sveltana Mirkis, Esq., Business and Legal Advisor

Lisa Y. Bullard, Founder & CEO, OnPoint Communications, LLC and Author of A Ripple Effect

Sally Deering, Editor

Will Nickley, Designer

Stephanie Matos, Illustrationist and Creative Advisor

Honorary Mention

2011 World Chess Hall of Fame Inductee:

World’s First Women’s Chess Champion

VERA MENCHIK (1906-1944)

Thank you for paving a sacred road for every girl and woman to pursue her chess journey.

Also by Wendy Oliveras:

EXECUTIVE REPORTS

"The Use of Business Ethics to Create Corporate Compliance: Strategies to Combat Unethical Corporate Behavior"

Published by Aspatore, Inc. (Aspatore Books—A Thomson Reuters business)

ISBN-10: 1596225815 | ISBN-13: 978-1596225817 | Publication Date: September 1, 2006

This 28-page report written for executives guides its readers down the six intertwining roads of corporate compliance. Starting with a summary of the key terms, the author navigates the complex course of business ethics with an overview of the current laws and regulations and how to find the right balance of corporate self-regulation and governmental regulation. A comparison of good and bad companies is provided, along with examples of each one. This report describes the factors that lead to unethical corporate behavior and the role that Human Resources plays in facilitating corporate compliance. A list of the events that led to the signing of Sarbanes-Oxley and rules of professional responsibility for attorneys can be found in the appendices. The author successfully demonstrates how ethical training and enforcing a code of conduct and ethics will help combat the growing problem of fraud and corruption in corporate businesses. Other topics include change in leadership, corporate culture, The Society for Human Resources and Management (SHRM), Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), SEC Acts of 1933 and 1934, whistleblower provisions, the noisy withdrawal rule, the American Bar Association (ABA), legal industry and lawyer ethics, ethics in the healthcare industry, the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), a collective balance system, NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ.

CHAPTER PUBLICATION

A Back-Door Perspective on the Attorney Job Search and Legal Market

Published by Aspatore, Inc.(Aspatore Books—A Thomson Reuters business)

ISBN-10: 1596220333 | ISBN-13: 978-1596220331 | Publication Date: March 15, 2005

Wendy Oliveras has been selected by Aspatore, Inc. and its Editorial Board as a leader in legal recruiting and as an author in the new book "Inside the Minds: The Art & Science of Legal Recruiting: Legal Search Experts on What Recruiters, Clients, & Candidates Need to Know to Win Successful Placements in Today’s Legal Market."

Foreword

If I were to write a book on chess and the benefits which I personally gained as a result of my experience as a teenage chess phenom, my book would be very similar to the story told here. It is important to me that as an evangelist for chess I spread the word that there are tangible benefits from certain disciplines whether they be categorized an art or a sport. In the case of chess, arguably, some of the skills learned are skills not taught to females or males in a formal manner. But males learn these lessons and females do not, thereby leaving females at a disadvantage in certain kinds of academic, competitive and business situations.

When a school child learns that a friend or acquaintance plays chess that usually results in a label of the Brain or he’s nerdy. Given that the female social mechanisms in childhood are much different than those for males, we see fewer females staying with chess and excelling. Were we able to break through these social barriers, I suspect we could also solve the problem of why we do not have more female engineers and rocket scientists.

In terms of numbers, looking at the tournament chess-playing population in the United States, approximately three percent of our membership is female. So this is a numbers game. It is obvious that if we had equal numbers of tournament players, then statistically speaking, we would also have equal numbers of female super grandmasters. Therefore, our question today is how to keep our girls playing chess and more generally, how to keep girls in advanced math classes and interested in engineering degrees.

Let’s get back to chess and talk a little about what skills you learn when you enter a serious scholastic chess program or decide to compete in chess tournaments. First and foremost, chess is a game of rules and tradition.

The rules are complicated, but no more than your average video game. In the school setting this is an important component since following rules and facing consequences when not following rules results in better discipline in the classroom setting.

Tradition in chess involves the famous face-offs such as that of Fischer vs. Spassky. After all of the preliminary drama and political posturing and maneuvering for favorable match conditions, every game played on the international stage starts with a handshake with your opponent. Every game ends with a handshake. This teaches respect for others.

Chess is a game of strategy and tactics. The moves to the game are recorded for later study and analysis. A typical chess game with a time control of 40 moves in two hours and thereafter the game in one hour results in the possibility that each player will use all of their time and the entire time on the match will be six hours. That is six hours sitting in a room full of others playing chess, and it is silent, so silent you can hear a pin drop.

Many times at scholastic tournaments, when teachers and educators who have never been to a tournament first come to observe and see a room full of 300 6-8 year olds absolutely silent playing chess they are stunned, and likely if you had asked them in advance if 300 6-8 year olds could sit silently working on a problem for 45 minutes they would say no.

Students learn the discipline of sitting still and concentrating on solving a problem. It’s no surprise that once students start