Final Results for the Chess Femmes, Hales Corners Chess Challenge XXVI

[I updated the post at 8:31 AM on October 16th to reflect ALL of the female players in the Open Section (I had somehow managed to leave Megan Chen off the list yesterday, sorry Megan) and to update the percentage calculations for female participation.]

Hola everyone!

It seems the bad weather may have greatly depressed turn-out this year for HCCCXXVI overall, but we had a great turn-out of chess femmes yesterday and I'm thrilled to report their results here.  The Sun is back today (after much needed rain that pleased this gardener), hooray!

FIRST TIME EVER (if my failing memory serves me correctly) - A HALES CORNERS CHESS CHALLENGE HAS BEEN WON BY A CHESS FEMME!!!!!!!  Okay, so I'm over the Moon, LOL.  Anupama Rajendra (2105) won straight up with 4.0 outright, so she took home the HCCC first place prize money as well as an additional $200 of Goddesschess prize money for 4 Ws AND an extra $80 for the Goddesschess perfect score prize in the Open (awarded only to chess femmes).

My chess buddy and a great chess mentor in Sheboygan, WI, Ellen Wanek, who has played in the past several Spring and Fall HCC Challenges, sent me two photos of the chess femmes and there were 12.  Me bad, ladies, sorry - I only know who a few of you are with any certainty so I've left names off:

What a gorgeous group of chess femmes!

A total of 51 players registered (31 in the Open, 20 in the Reserve).  A ratio of 14 chess femmes to 51 total players yields a female player participation rate of 27.45%  Holy Cassia!  That's the best yet, ever ever EVER!

So, without further ado, here is how the chess femmes did (Goddesschess prizes):

OPEN 6/31 = 19.35% chess femme participation rate:

Anupama Rajendra (2105), 4.0.  $280 total - $200 ($50 x 4 Ws) plus $80 for perfect score prize.  She also will receive Goddesschess paid entry fee should she choose to play in HCCC XXVII in Spring, 2018.

Rachel Ulrich (2196), 3.0.  $100.

Susanna Ulrich (1851), 1.5.  $75.

Gauri Menon (1666), 2.0.  $100.

Madeline Weber (1569), 2.0.  $100.

Megan Chen (1673), 2.0.  $100.

RESERVE 8/20 = a whopping 40% chess femme participation rate:

Simran Bhatia (1554), 3.0.  $60.  Also will receive Goddesschess paid entry fee should she choose to play in HCCC XXVII in Spring, 2018. 

Aradh Kaur (1436), 3.0.  $60.

Sandra Hoffman (1428), 2.0.  $40.

Ellen Wanek (1273), 1.0.  $20.

Mansha Ghai (1220), 2.0.  $40.

Radhika Gupta (1100), 2.0.  $40.

Olivia Schaenzer (1164), 2.0. $40.

Runxin He (UNR), 1.0.  $10.

There are photographs from Round 3 at the Southwest Chess Club blog, many showing the chess femmes in action.  Full cross-tables at USCF.

The Don McLean Awards (for male players only in the October Challenges) were won by Anthony Parker (2225, 3.5) in the Open ($100) and Alexander Jentsch (1473, 3.5) in the Reserve ($50).