5th Polgar National Invitational for Girls

Lubbock welcomes top young American female chess talents Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sunday, July 20, 2008Story last updated at 7/20/2008 - 2:02 am The fifth annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, the most prestigious all-girls national chess championship in the United States, will commence next Sunday right here in Lubbock. This prominent national championship will take place over six days, from July 27 to Aug. 1, at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion on the Texas Tech campus. Each state can nominate one talented young female chess player, the top 18-year-old or younger from the state. Thousands of girls compete annually in local, state, regional, national and world events to earn the esteemed invitations. Tech will host this esteemed event for the next 10 years. In addition, TTU will award a four-year academic scholarship each year to begin the following year to the highest-finishing player who has not graduated from high school by August. The rules and conditions of this event can be found at http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/06/rules-and-conditions-for-spni.html. In addition, thanks to the generous sponsorship from the Provost's office, all players will receive free accommodation (based on double occupancy) on TTU's campus, as well as all meals during the six-day national event. Past champions are: • 2007: Julia Kerr (New York) and Eunice Rodriguez (Florida) • 2006: Abby Marshall (Virginia) • 2005: Anya Corke (California), Alisa Melekhina (Pennsylvania), Abby Marshall (Virginia) • 2004: Roza Eynullayeva (Massachusetts) Below are the 50 participants in this year's championship: • Alabama: Hannah Hellwig • Arizona: Sayaka Foley • Arkansas: Crystal Qian • California (Northern): Rebekah Liu • California (Southern): Nisha Deolalikar • Colorado: Alexandra Lasley • Connecticut: Alexandra Wiener • Delaware: Ann Marie Fitch • Florida: Rita Mirchandani • Georgia: Ananya Roy • Hawaii: Ashbea Oyadomari • Idaho: Erica Barkell • Illinois: Sonya Vohra • Indiana: Emily Tallo • Iowa: Dhrooti Vyas • Kansas: Katrina Pritchard • Maine: Sorel Edes • Maryland: Fiona Lam • Massachusetts: Michelle Chen • Michigan: Ashley Carter • Minnesota: Morgan Mahowald • Mississippi: Melanie Newell • Missouri: Joanna Gossell • Nebraska: Elizabeth Oliver • New Jersey: Eve Zhurbinskiy • New Mexico: Rebecca Anne DeLand • New York: Linda Diaz • North Carolina: Amelia Wheeless • Ohio: Rebecca Lelko • Oklahoma: Michelle Farell • Oregon: Taylor Bailey • Pennsylvania: Shinan Jin • South Carolina: Hannah Whatley • South Dakota: Kaitlynn Loos • Tennessee: Autumn Douthitt • Texas: Sylvia Yang • Texas: Rheanna English • Texas Alternate: Sarah Garza • Utah: Jamie Olsen-Mills • Virginia: Susan Brown • Washington: Leanne Hwa • Wisconsin: Mira Ensley-Field • Wild Card: Victoria Bian • Special Invitation: Georgia Olvera • Special Invitation: Courtney Jamison • Special Invitation: Brianna Conley • Special Invitation: Angel Bohannon • SP National Open Qualifier: Claudia E. Munoz • SP World Open Qualifier: Annie Wang • SP World Open Qualifier: Alisha Chawla Here is the tournament schedule: July 26 • 6 p.m.: "Warm-Up" Quads (G/30) in the Lubbock Room of the STU building. July 27 • 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Opening ceremony. • 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Round 1 of SPNI. July 28 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 2 of SPNI and round 1 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Chess Puzzle Solving Championship. • 7:30 p.m.: Free chess lecture by Susan Polgar. July 29 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 3 of SPNI and round 2 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Blitz Championship. July 30 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 4 of SPNI and round 3 of Parents/Friends Open. • 7 p.m.: SPNI Bughouse Championship. July 31 • 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Round 5 of SPNI and final round of Parents/Friends Open. Aug. 1 • 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Round 6 of SPNI. • 2:30 p.m.: Closing ceremony. I would like to invite everyone to come by the Frazier Pavilion during the event to check out the exciting championship and meet some of the top young talents of America.