Mr. Don, Isis and I, my primary cohorts in things chessly, tentatively started looking around to provide some prize money to events in our respective home towns back in 2008. After researching local area chess clubs I discovered the Southwest Chess Club and it's twice-a-year Hales Corners Chess Challenges. The rest, as the saying goes, is herstory, darlings!
Our first sponsorship was for Challenge VIII, in October, 2008. Forgive the formatting of this post. When Blogger really blew it by changing their format to be decidedly hostile to anyone NOT using their Chrome thing, etc. etc. (I am not a big Google fan), every single paragraph return, indentation, etc. etc. was wiped out of every single one of my thousands of posts that had been made up to that point in time. Talk about being one
But this isn't about me, it's about the wonderful partnership that has developed between the great folks at the Southwest Chess Club and me as representative for Goddesschess. I love those people and - those people had better love me, that's all I have to say on the subject...
Joke! From our initial offering of $100 in prize money in Challenge VIII, we have experimented with various prize formats and amounts in subsequent Challenges, and have settled more or less on this: In the Open, all wins by female players earn $40, draws earn $20; in the Reserve section, the prizes for the chess femmes are $20 for each win, $10 for each draw.
Our goal has been to try and encourage more women to come out and play. I can't say it's been exactly successful, but the chess femmes who do play usually come back and play in another and then another... Last October (2011), Challenge XIV was held and, mad woman that I am, I decided to play in my second ever tournament (I had played in Challenge XII along with my chess buddie Shira Evans Sanford). LOL! I won't bore you with the gory details of my chess slaughter, but the really fun part was meeting Ellen Wanek and Pat Foat, who along with me are youthful in our hearts, minds and souls but on the outside, well, let's just say we're heading gracefully into middle age and leave it at that... There was a fair contingent of younger chess femmes, too.
Rachel Ulrich has played in several Hales Corners Challenges, and in Challenge XIV she played in the Open section and won $100 in Goddesschess cash plus paid entry to Challenge XV if she plays! YIPPEE! The Ulrich family made Challenge XIV a family affair. Susan Ulrich played in the Reserve section but for Challenge XIV we had decided to try and lure more ladies to play in the Open section and thus we did not fund prizes for the chess femmes in the Reserve.
Well, it didn't work to lure more chess femmes who I think really could play in the Open to actually play in the Open. Sigh. Susan scored 3.0/4 (3 wins) and would have won $60 in Goddesschess cash if we had maintained our "old" prize structure. So if she comes to Challenge XV I will expect her to win at least $60 because we've reinstituted cash prizes for ladies in the Reserve in Challenge XV!!! And if she does play in the Reserve I sure hope I don't have to play her! Nah, that won't happen. I'm so low down on the totem pole ELO wise, I expect to be defeated by 2 year olds sucking on pacifiers...
Anne Ulrich - I believe she is now a college student and had pretty much given up playing competitive chess to concentrate on her studies (but don't quote me on that) was also present at Challenge XIV and was a "house" player. I had no idea what that meant, but it was explained to me. Ahhhhh, little grasshopper, enlightenment...
I had met both Rachel and Susan Ulrich previously and at Challenge XIV I met Anne. They are all delightful chess femmes and very pretty too -- wonder if Dad is beating off the young men with a very big Knight???
Fast forward to today! I received an email from Janet Ulrich, mother of the three chessplaying sisters and it had just wonderful news:
Hello Jan!
Anne enjoyed going to Hales Corners last year and being a house player. So after she finished all of last year’s geography activities she decided to study chess. As this website shows she is at the top of the 2012 JGP list in the country. (I don’t know if she will be able to hold this spot but it is fun being there if just for awhile!) Anyway, I thought you might enjoy seeing this:
My girls are looking forward to seeing you at Hales Corners...
Here it is in print!
2012 Chess Magnet Junior Grand Prix Top Standings (Unofficial)
This unofficial list is based on USCF records and TD reports as of Wed Feb 29 19:30:41 CST 2012
For individuals not listed here , see our Member Services Area.
To see the details (events and players) for someone's JGP points, see JGP Detail.
There are 1396 players with JGP points
67 JGP-eligible events have resulted in points earned
For individuals not listed here , see our Member Services Area.
To see the details (events and players) for someone's JGP points, see JGP Detail.
There are 1396 players with JGP points
67 JGP-eligible events have resulted in points earned
| Top 200 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | State | JGP Points | Events |
| 13498420 | ULRICH, ANNE E | WI | 2752 | 1 |
| 14691732 | BEHAL, ADITYA | CA-N | 2726 | 2 |
| 14324527 | AZVOLINSKY, ARTHUR | PA | 2596 | 1 |
I am so happy now just writing about this, my little old heart is going pitter-patter tra la, tra la and I'm doing a happy dance in my chair.
I hope to see ALL of the Ulrich family at Hales Corners Challenge XV. Geez, I've got to print out a form and register...
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