"Despite the documented evidence of chess historian H.J.R. Murray, I have always thought that chess was invented by a goddess." George Koltanowski, from Women in Chess, Players of the Modern Game
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Friday, May 18, 2007
2007 U.S. Women's Chess Championship - 2
Details for the 2007 Frank Berry U.S. Women's Chess Championship have been announced (finally) at the USCF website. It will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma July 16-20, 2007. Total prizes are $25,000. The top ten rated women from the May list will be invited for a round robin. Here is the schedule:
Rounds 1+2- Monday at Noon and 6 PM
Rounds 3+4-Tuesday the 17th at 11 AM and 5 PM
Rounds 5+6- Wednesday the 18th 11 AM and 5 PM
Rounds 7+8- Thursday the 19th-11 AM and 5 PM
Round 9- Friday the 20th at 11 AM
Here are the prizes: 1st $7000; 2nd $5000; 3rd $3000; 4th $2500; 5th $2000; 6th $1500; 7th $1000; 8th $1000; 9th $1000; 10th $1000.
There are three women's zonal qualifying spots for US players this year. If the top woman in the regular US Championship makes at least an even score (4.5), she will obtain one spot and the other two spots will be determined in the Women's Championship. If all women in the US Championship make minus scores, all three zonal spots will be determined in the Women's Championship.
Here are the top 15 women on the April, 2007 list. At this point I don't know how much the May list will change:
1 Polgar, Susan Zsuzsa NY USA 2597
2 Zatonskih, Anna NY USA 2491
3 Krush, Irina NY USA 2480
4 Goletiani, Rusudan NY USA 2392
5 Baginskaite, Camilla CA USA 2361
6 Rohonyan, Katerine MD USA 2346
7 Abrahamyan, Tatev CA USA 2289
8 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg CA USA 2259
9 Ross, Laura R NY USA 2251
10 Battsetseg, Tsagaan MD USA 2234
11 Marinello, Beatriz NY USA 2211
12 Zenyuk, Iryna NY USA 2199
13 Airapetian, Chouchanik WA USA 2188
14 Epstein, Esther MA USA 2180
15 Melekhina, Alisa PA USA 2149
We know that Susan Polgar won't be playing. Will Zatonskih play? And what about Goletiani? Will Krush, Zenyuk and Airapetian get a second kick at the cat and be allowed to play in the women's event, after having competed in the - well, they're not calling it the "men's" event but essentially that's what it is, otherwise the women would NOT be having a separate event! At stake are those three places in the zonal for the Women's World Chess Championship. Now I understand what Zatonskih was talking about in the letter Susan Polgar posted at her website.
What is fair under the circumstances? My first inclination is that it's not fair these three women would have a chance to play in the women's championship. On the other hand, if the women did not know beforehand about the three qualification spots prior to accepting the invitation to the "men's" championship, it's also not fair that they might be foreclosed altogether from earning those spots in the zonal if they cannot compete in the women's championship. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do. Once again it has come down to a case of "who knew what and when." It seems that USCF decided to allow the three women the opportunity to play in the women's championship, if they accept their invitations. The USCF put itself in a very hard spot - given the circumstances, there are going to be some very unhappy female chessplayers.
Nothing like adding a layer of drama to the championships. I've been following the women's performances closely because I'm interested in women's chess; now it will be even more interesting to see how the women do in the "men's" event, knowing that one zonal spot is at stake. And, instead of 10 women competing for 3 zonal spots, there will be 10 women competing for 2 zonal spots; their odds decreased by the decisions made by USCF from a 1 in 3 shot to a 1 in 5 shot. Yeah, I guess I'd be just a little upset about that.
With the prize purses so small in this tournament, it would surprise me that any of the woman can afford to participate. The cost of travel, food, lodging, and shopping expenses;-), could not be covered with the purses offered.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if more money were to be added to the prizes would help develope better tournements, and encourage more young women to play chess competively.
Hi 'Sis,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. A big problem facing chess in the U.S. is getting sponsorship from corporations/businesses/people. There are 36 players competing in the 2007 U.S. Chess Championship ("Men's") event right now and the bottom prize is $700. Not even enough to cover airfare, hotel and meals for the 10 days those players will be in Stillwater, OK playing in the tournament! Some of those players would probably say it's not fair that the lowest prize in the Women's Championship will be $1,000!!!
Unfortunately, it seems that the United States Chess Federation is no good at obtaining adequate sponsorship for the Championships. There would not have been 2007 championships at all if the Berry brothers had not stepped forward. They advanced $50,000 for the "Men's" Championship and $25,000 for the Women's Championship, they are not taking any fees for organizing the event and since the USCF doesn't have any money, the Berry brothers are also probably paying rent for the playing venue at the hotel in Stillwater out of their own pockets. It wouldn't surprise me if the Messrs. Berry are out of pocket $100,000 for the two events. That is not chump change. On the other hand, the prize funds are small when you consider we are the richest country in the world. That is sad. Our best players cannot keep playing very long under these circumstances, because they cannot make a decent living playing chess.
Susan Polgar is doing a lot to encourage more young girls to play (and stay) in the game. And now, with Texas Tech establishing the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, perhaps we will have comprehensive programs developed all across the country to encourage female teenagers and young women to stay in the game.