Nava Starr (née Shterenberg; born April 4, 1949) is a Latvia-born Canadian chess player. She holds the title of Woman International Master (WIM). Starr is an eight-time Canadian ladies' champion and has represented Canada 13 times in the Women's Chess Olympiad. She competed six times in the Women's World Chess Championship.

Nava Starr
Starr at Interzonal tournament in Bad Kissingen, 1982
CountryCanada
BornApril 4, 1949 (1949-04-04) (age 75)
Riga, Latvia
TitleWoman International Master
FIDE rating2127 (September 2015)
Peak rating2220 (January 1990)

Biography, chess achievements and style

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Starr was born Nava Shterenberg in Riga, Latvia. She is Jewish. She has lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada since the mid-1970s. She is married to Sasha Starr; they have a daughter, and two grandchildren. Sasha Starr is also a Master-strength chess player.

Starr's chess style is sharp, offensive and always looking for combinations. She favours sharp and unusual openings, such as the Grand Prix Attack (Sicilian), b2-b3 against the French, ...f7-f5 variations in the Ruy Lopez, and the Philidor Defence. She received the WIM title by winning her first Ladies' Canadian Chess Championship in 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia. The best players she has defeated are Pia Cramling, Milunka Lazarević, Barbara Hund, and Roman Pelts. Starr wrote an article in En Passant magazine titled "Why men are superior to women in chess". She is a member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.

Major tournament and match results

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Totals in Olympiad play for Canada: 147 games (all-time Canadian record, for women and men), +73 =42 −29, for 63.9 per cent.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Bartelski, Wojciech. "Women's Chess Olympiads: Nava Starr". OlimpBase.org. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
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