Jovanka Houska (born 10 June 1980)[1][2] is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).

One of England's most active professionals, she first represented her country at the World Youth Championship for Girls (under 10) in Timișoara 1988, finishing fifth after a disastrous start and despite being years younger than most of her opponents.

Then, at Avilés in 2000, her previous efforts were eclipsed by a return visit to the European Junior Championship—capturing the gold winner's medal, ahead of Viktorija Čmilytė.

Despite her time-consuming academic studies, the next few years were notable for Houska's unstinting contribution to the England Women's team at various major competitions around the world.

Her task was much more difficult at the fifth Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament, held at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, where she faced some of the world's top grandmasters and finished in last place.

Her second Liverpool visit resulted in a third share of the women's best performance prize (jointly with Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant and Yelena Dembo) at the EU Individual Open Chess Championship.

A second book, covering the Scandinavian Defence, was published in 2009 and there followed a collaboration on 2010s Dangerous Weapons: The Caro-Kann, with fellow English masters John Emms and Richard Palliser.