Katie Dellamaggiore made her feature film directorial debut with Brooklyn Castle, an award-winning documentary about inner-city junior high school students achieving chess success despite financial obstacles. Now Dellamaggiore is working on a new film called Queen’s Castle, profiling young women worldwide who are achieving chess success. One of those young women is Palestine’s top female player, 17-year-old Woman FIDE Master Eman Sawan.
Chess Improver
Woman FIDE Master Eman Sawan has gained almost 1000 FIDE rating points in the past three years. At the 2024 Chess Olympiad, Eman scored 7 wins, 2 draws, and no losses. Here is one of her wins.
Obstacles
According to an email, sent on October 28 by Katie Dellamaggiore, Eman faces many obstacles. Dellamaggiore wrote:
Katie Dellamaggiore
As a refugee living in Jordan, Eman juggles her studies with her love for chess while worrying about her friends and family in Gaza. She can’t compete in the same tournaments as Jordanian players, and her family’s financial struggles make coaching and international travel even more challenging.
Links
A GoFundMe has been organized for Eman by The Gift of Chess, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization which transforms lives through the universal language of chess. To contribute, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/eman-sawan
To learn more about filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore and her documentary Brooklyn Castle, go to https://www.rescuedmedia.com/. In 2013, The University of Texas at Dallas picked Dellamaggiore as its Chess Educator of the Year. To view her presentation, and presentations from other years (2004–2024), go to https://chess.utdallas.edu/education-programs/chess-educator-of-the-year/
