Hales Corners Chess Challenge X!

It will be here before we know it! (Photo: Nicole Niemi, one of the winners of a Goddesschess prize in Hales Corners Challenge IX) Information and a link to the registration form below. Goddesschess would like to see the Hales Corners Challenge X be the biggest and best Challenge yet! And we want to see a record-breaking number of chess femmes come out and play.

HALES CORNERS CHALLENGE X October 17, 2009

FORMAT: Four Round Swiss System - Four Games in One Day USCF Rated Two Sections – Open & Reserve (Under 1600) TIME LIMIT: Game in One Hour (60 minutes per player) ENTRY FEE: $35 – Open; $25 – Reserve (both sections $5 more after October 14, 2009) Comp Entry Fee for USCF 2200+: Entry fee subtracted from any prizes won SITE REGISTRATION: 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. ROUNDS: 10 am -- 1 pm -- 3:30 pm -- 6 pm Pairings by WinTD---No Computer Entries---No Smoking PRIZES OPEN RESERVE 1st—$325* 1st—$100 2nd—$175* 2nd—$75 A—$100 D—$50 B & Below—$75 E & Below—$40 * guaranteed Goddesschess prizes for top performing females: Open Section: 1st - $60, 2nd - $40; Reserve Section: 1st - $40, 2nd $30, 3rd $20 Tournament Director: Tom Fogec Assistant Tournament Directors: Robin Grochowski & Allen Becker SITE: Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel—4747 S. Howell Avenue—Milwaukee— Telephone 414-481-8000 (formerly known as Four Points Sheraton, across street from airport) ENTRIES TO: Allen Becker—6105 Thorncrest Drive—Greendale, WI 53129 allenbecker@wi.rr.com QUESTIONS TO: Tom Fogec—414-425-6742 (home) or 414-405-4207 (cell) USCF I.D. Required -- Bring your own clocks – Sets and Boards Provided Half point bye available in Round 1, 2 or 3 if requested prior to round 1; not available in Round 4. Registration form See the announcement in the September, 2009 print edition of Chess Life Magazine under Grand Prix.

Hales Corners Challenge IX: Goddesschess Prize Winners

Hola! Here is Nicole Niemi, the winner of the Goddesschess cash prize (chess femmes only), Open Section, in the Hales Corners Challenge IX, deep in concentration during a game.

Hales Corners Challenge IX

From USCF, here are excerpted final standings for the Open and Reserve Sections (full final standings) - and I hope I did not miss any of the chess femmes! Final standings, Hales Corners Challenge IX (April 25, 2009): Open Section (56 players) (4 rounds): 1 MESGEN AMANOV 3.5 (IL 2391) 22 NICOLE NIEMI 2.0 WI (1861) (Winner of Goddesschess prize $65) Reserve Section (51 players) (4 rounds): 1 ADEM MUSIC 4.0 IL (1594) 5 SANDRA R PAHL 3.0 WI (1372) (50% of Goddesschess prize $20) 10 ELIZABETH CATHERINE EMERY 3.0 WI (877) (50% of Goddesschess prize $20) 13 JOANNA HUANG 2.5 WI (1462) 27 ALENA HUANG 2.0 WI (1260) 29 RACHEL J ULRICH 2.0 IL (1187) 37 DANAE MALISSA ALEXANDER 1.5 WI (810) 43 STEPHANIE MARIE YAHR 1.0 WI (881) 45 CLAUDIA JOY SCHNEIDER 1.0 WI (718) 46 SUSANNA KRIVULIS 1.0 WI )662P5) 49 ISABELLA ILCHENKO 0.5 WI (425P25) Congratulations to the winners of the Goddesschess prizes! Assuming I have all of the chess femmes named above who participated in the HCC IX (11), there was an overall participation rate of 10.28% for the chess femmes, with strong participation in the Reserve section of 19.61%. Hmmm, with so many chess femmes playing in the Reserve section, we may need to rethink our prize structure a bit. Well, with our Goddesschess anniversary get-together coming up shortly in New York (May 12-19), that will be added to our agenda for discussion. We would really like to see more chess femmes participate in the Open, but we were absolutely delighted to see so many chess femmes come out to play in the Reserve. What to do, what to do... Stay tuned for the Hales Corners Challenge X!!!