2013 SPICE Cup Open - $11,000 guaranteed

2013 SPICE Cup Open 
Sponsored by Webster University 
and the Susan Polgar Foundation

St. Louis, Missouri
October 15-19, 2013 

GM/IM norm opportunity - Minimum rating (FIDE) 2100 
Limited to first 50 entries  

4 IM/GM norms were earned last year: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com

PRIZES: $11,000 guaranteed 

$4,000-$2,000-$1,500-$1,000-$500
U/2400 FIDE $500-$250-$125
U/2300 FIDE $500-$250-$125
top female $250

October 2013 rating will be used

ENTRY FEES: 

Free to all GMs, IMs, WGMs and all FIDE rated players over 2300, if registered by September 30, 2013. $50 later or on site.

$100 to others if received by September 30, 2013. $150 later or on site.

VENUE: 

Crown Plaza Clayton Hotel 7750 Carondelet Ave, St Louis, MO 63105 (FREE shuttle from the Lambert–St. Louis International Airport) $109/night, FREE Breakfast/Internet 

Send entries to  

Webster University - SPICE

470 E. Lockwood Ave 

St. Louis, MO 63119

Questions? Email: spice@webster.edu or call 314-246-8075

Rules & Conditions for the 10th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational ($200K in prizes and scholarships)

Rules and Conditions for the 10th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational (SPGI)
July 20 – 25, 2013 at Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri)

- Approximately $200,000 in chess scholarships, chess prizes, and iPad mini, etc. (Full tuition and fees scholarship to the top finisher! *)

- Webster University will provide complimentary room and meal accommodation on campus for qualifiers!
 
The annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational, the most prestigious all-girls event in the United States, will be held at Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri).

• There will be an intense training session with Susan Polgar, followed by a 6 round (g/90+30) championship tournament.
• The traditional Blitz, Puzzle Solving, Bughouse events will stay the same as in previous years.
• There will be many chess prizes awarded, including iPad mini, and scholarships to Webster University.

Each state is allowed one representative to be nominated by June 1, 2013. Official representative alternates may be substituted no later than June 15. (Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may allow the host state to enter an additional qualified player.) Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may allow exceptions to the June 1 entry/alternate deadline. Should the state affiliate fail to respond to the notice for this tournament, Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may determine the candidate from that state.

Players must have been enrolled in a school (up to 12th grade) located in the state they represent, also of the year in which the tournament is held. Home-schooled students who are under the age of 19 on July 25th of the year in which the event is held or students who have never attended college on a full time basis prior to June 1 of the year in which the tournament is held, are eligible to represent the state in which they reside.

Exception: If a player graduates from high school early and is already attending college, she may still represent her state if nominated. This is the decision of each state affiliate.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The participants of the Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational DO NOT have to be high school students. Any qualifier under the age of 19 (by July 25th of the year in which the tournament is held) is eligible!

Special invitation for this year only: All past participants of the SPNI and SPGI (Susan Polgar National Invitational/Susan Polgar Foundation Girls’ Invitational 2004-2012) are invited to participate in the 2013 SPGI. The idea is to have the past participants learn my method of training so they can go back home and share their knowledge with the younger players. However, registration MUST be made ASAP since space is limited. There will be mutual training sessions for all, however separate section & prizes for alumni participants over the age of 19.

Players are required to furnish the organizer an emergency phone number and the e-mail address of a parent/guardian. 

There is no entry fee to participate in the 2013 SPGI; however, players are responsible for their own travel. For all state representatives, and qualifiers from the SPNO or SPWO, Webster University will provide complimentary room and meal accommodation on campus. 

For alumni participants, wild card/special invites, coaches, parents, or other family members, inexpensive accommodations are available for housing and dining on Webster’s campus. Please note that all reservations and registrations MUST be made (and accommodation expenses prepaid) no later than June 25, 2013.

Prizes: Trophies / plaques will be awarded to the winners of the Susan Polgar Foundation Girl’s Invitational Puzzle Solving, Blitz, and the SPGI Championship. Co-champions are recognized in the case of a tie, with each champion receiving a Champion’s Plaque or Trophy. The Champion (or Co-Champions) will automatically be invited to defend her/their title (must meet age requirement).

Champion: Webster University scholarship (approximately $23,000+ per year x 4 years *) + iPad mini + Champion's Plaque / Trophy
2nd and 3rd place: Webster University scholarship (approximately $13,000+ per year x 4 years *)
Top under 13: iPad mini
Top under 10: iPad mini

* The scholarship must be exercised no later than the Fall of 2016.

The New Polgar Committee’s goal is to have all 50 states (including two representatives for California, two for Texas, and two for Missouri) and the District of Columbia represented. We strongly encourage each state and the District of Columbia affiliate to hold a scholastic championship tournament to determine each state’s champion and representative. Failing this, rating criteria may be acceptable. A scholastic girls’ champion or the highest rated girls’ scholastic player in a state who has no state affiliate of the USCF should contact the Polgar Committee as soon as possible.

Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee and its members may elect to award wild cards each year for the Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational.

Special qualifying events: The Polgar Committee will award automatic qualifying spots to the reigning winners in each section of the annual Susan Polgar NO for Girls (New Orleans) and the Susan Polgar World Open for Girls (Chicago).

The new SPGI Chairperson is Martha Underwood (AZ).

NOTICE TO ALL STATE OFFICIALS: Please send the nomination from your state to the Polgar Committee (PolgarCommittee@gmail.com).

Contact info: Polgar Committee (PolgarCommittee@gmail.com)

The Susan Polgar Foundation can be contacted at 806-281-7424 or through info@PolgarFoundation.org.

Webster University is located at 470 E. Lockwood Avenue Webster Groves, MO 63119

BIG THANKS to President Dr. Beth Stroble and Webster University for hosting and sponsoring this very prestigious event for girls!

* Scholarships may be upgraded but may not be stacked. For previous winners of partial scholarships, a maximum of $1,000 per year may be added to the previous scholarship.

An unprecedented move

The ‘Queen’ Wants to Turn Chess Into a Spectator Sport 
By Jason Fagone 
02.12.13 6:30 AM 
Wired Magazine

Julian Schuster first heard the rumor a year and a half ago. Susan Polgar, the legendary grand master known to journalists as “the Queen,” was unhappy in her current position as Texas Tech’s chess coach. She was feeling unappreciated. She had made this known to certain people in the tight-knit world of chess, and the news had traveled from one of these confidants, a foreign grand master living in Texas, to the ears of Schuster, a passionate fan of the game, in St. Louis.

He knew her story, of course; it had achieved the status of legend. Her father raised her and her two sisters to be chess prodigies. In the 1980s, the three Polgar sisters began showing up at tournaments and crushing all comers, men and women alike. At age 21, Susan, the eldest of the three, became the first woman to earn the title of grand master in the way men always had, by proving she could hold her own in competition against other grand masters. Once, over the course of 16 hours and 30 minutes, she played 326 chess games simultaneously, winning 309 of them—a world record at the time. She blazed a trail for women in the game.

Beyond her career at the board, Polgar had made a name for herself as a dominant coach—arguably the dominant coach—in the thriving if mostly invisible world of American collegiate chess. In 2007, at the age of 38, she took her first coaching job, at Texas Tech, whose team was then unranked. By 2010 she had led the Knight Raiders’ all-male squad to the President’s Cup, known as “the Final Four of college chess”; the following two years the Raiders won it all, topping not just Yale and Princeton but the two traditional chess powerhouses, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

But the conflicts between Polgar and Texas Tech over the kind of issues usually associated with big-time football programs—scholarships, resources, the future of the team—were real, as Schuster, provost of Missouri’s Webster University, would soon learn. A small private school with an unusually dense network of international campuses, Webster lacked a chess team, despite the fact that its main campus was located just outside the city limits of America’s new chess capital. St. Louis is home to the top-ranked player in the US, 25-year-old Hikaru Nakamura, as well as one of the game’s most deep-pocketed benefactors, 68-year-old multimillionaire Rex Sinquefield, who stepped up to build the most opulent chess venue in the country and probably the world, the 6,000-square-foot, $1 million-plus Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

In the summer of 2011, Schuster, a native of the former Yugoslavia who grew up hearing tales of the Polgar sisters’ heroics, invited Susan to St. Louis. He gave her a tour of the Webster campus and, later, talked to her about the resources the school could provide if she decided to coach there. Polgar liked what she heard. In February 2012, she announced that she would be transferring to Webster as its new chess coach. But not only that; eight of her players would be transferring too. Webster would be picking up their scholarships. It was unprecedented: A college chess coach was shifting allegiance from one university to another and bringing a significant chunk of her team with her. No volleyball coach, no tennis or baseball coach, had ever done anything close. News of the deal made The New York Times, USA Today, National Public Radio, and even that custodian of the sporting zeitgeist, ESPN.com.

Polgar’s sudden departure from Texas Tech surprised her fellow collegiate chess coaches, but they couldn’t deny that the move made sense for Webster; they knew how useful chess could be for a school looking to boost its intellectual reputation. 

Full 11 page article here.

Webster University: What's Next: "100 Years"

SPWO with over $100K in chess prizes (including iPad Mini) and scholarships

Susan Polgar World Open for Boys and Girls 
www.polgarworldopen.com 

November 2 – 3, 2013
Special 3 hour Camp – November 1, 2013
Crowne Plaza Hotel – Northbrook, IL (near Chicago)

Over $100,000 in Chess Prizes (including iPad Mini) and Scholarships to Webster University 

(Home of the #1 ranked College Chess Division 1 team in the nation!) 

The winners of the Girls K-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12 will receive automatic invitations to the Susan Polgar Foundation Girls’ Invitational
(late July 2014 at Webster University in St. Louis), which includes free room and board.

All winners from the 2012 SPWO (Boys and Girls) receive free entry to the 2013 SPWO

6R-SS in 8 sections: (K-3), (4-5), (6-8), (9-12) 
Time Control (all sections): Game-45 w/5-sec delay 
Round Times (all sections): Sat & Sun: 11:00am, 1:30pm, 4pm 

Side Events: 

Puzzle Solving – Saturday 6:00pm
Simul * – Saturday 7:00pm
Blitz – Sunday – 9:00am

*Simul is limited to 30 participants with maximum 10 adults as available 

Book Signing with GM Susan Polgar: Saturday 3:00pm 

Q&A with GM Susan Polgar: Saturday 12:30pm 

Special 3 hour chess camp with GM Susan Polgar: Friday 11/1 – 5:30pm – 8:30pm 

Unrated Tournament*: Must be unrated, No USCF membership required

K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 sections
Boys and Girls together
4R-SS Game-45 w/5-sec delay
11am, 1:30pm, 4pm, 6:30pm
Trophies 1st thru 5th per section and top 2 teams 

Prizes (Boys and Girls - rated sections)

9th-12th Grade Section 

1st – Webster University  Scholarship
2nd – $150 value of chess prizes
3rd – $100 value of chess prizes
4th – $75 value of chess prizes 

4-5, 6-8 

1st – iPad Mini
2nd – $150 value of chess prizes
3rd – $100 value of chess prizes
4th – $75 value of chess prizes 

K-3 

1st – $250 value of chess prizes
2nd – $150 value of chess prizes
3rd – $100 value of chess prizes
4th – $75 value of chess prizes 

Trophies (in all rated sections) 

Trophies to Top 10 individuals
Trophies to Top 3 school teams 

Tournament Entry Fees: 

$40 by October 12, 2013
$50 by October 26, 2013
$60 thereafter and onsite

Side events – $15 each or $40 for all three if purchased by 10/26; $20 each thereafter and onsite
1/2 day camp – $40 in advance, $60 onsite – camp limited to 40 participants 

Unrated Tournament Entry Fee 

$10 by October 12, 2013
$15 by October 26, 2013
$20 thereafter and onsite

Questions: sevan@nachess.org or call 847.423.8626 and mention Polgar tournament in your message. 

Chess Vendor Onsite with Huge Selection! 

Payments to be mailed to (payable): 

North American Chess Association
4957 Oakton Street Suite 113
Skokie, IL 60077
All equipment will be provided (boards, sets, clocks). Organizer provided equipment must be used.

Crowne Plaza Chicago-Northbrook Hotel  
2875 N. Milwaukee Avenue 
Northbrook, IL 60062
847.298.2525
$99 room rate; must call hotel directly and ask for CHESS rate.

SPNO to return to beautiful New Orleans! Over $100,000 in scholarships and prizes!

Information and online registration here.

Mar. 1-3 SPNO Boys & Girls Championships

at Holiday Inn Downtown/Superdome, New Orleans, LA. 6 Rd. SS G/45 d/5 scholastic up to 9 sections: USCF Rated Secs. grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 & 9-12, sep. for Girls & Boys; 1 Unrated K-12 Reserve sec. Side events: 3 hour chess camp (max. 30); GM Polgar Simul (max 25 bds.); Blitz Championship, 2 secs., K-6 and 7-12; Bughouse; Puzzle Solving Championship; "Breakfast with Susan" at Brennan's Restaurant (former home of World Champ. Paul Morphy).  

Schedule: Rds. Sat., 3/2 - 10 a.m., 12, 2 p.m.; Sun 3/3 - 11 a.m., 1, p.m., 3 p.m.;  

Side events: Fri 3/1 - Camp 2-5 p.m.; Puzzles, 6 p.m., Bughouse 7 p.m.; Sat. 3/2 - Blitz 4.p.m., Simul 7 p.m.; Sun. 3/3 - Breakfast 8:30 a.m.; side event awards before rds 4 & 5; main event awards 4:45 p.m.  

Prizes: Over $100,000 in Webster U. Scholarships, tablet computers & chess prizes; Trophies to top 5 ea. sec. (more poss. in lg secs.; top 20% based on pre-reg. as of 2/10); Side event awards: Blitz - top 3 boys & top 3 girls ea. sec. Bughouse - top 3 teams. Puzzles - top 3 Boys & Girls in rating gps. Under 800, Under 1500 & Open. All players receive commemorative medals. Team awards: top 3 school & top club team ea. sec. of main event & blitz (Student may rep. only 1 team; commit by rd 2).  

Reg. fees: All secs. of G/45 Main Event: $45 by 1/10/13 ; then $55 by 2/1/13; $65 thereafter. Camp - $40 by 1/10/13; then $50. Puzzles $10 by 2/1/13; then $15. Bughouse - $20/team by 2/1/13; then $30. Blitz - $15 by 2/1/13; then $20. Simul - $25: "Breakfast with Susan" Sunday Brunch at Brennan's Rest. (Paul Morphy home) $55 adults; $30 children.   

Host hotel: Holiday Inn Downtown Superdome, King or 2 Doubles $149/nt, 2 night min. til sold out or 1/18/13. Overnight Parking $15; free wi-fi, fitness center, pool; 10% food & bev. disct. if staying on-site. To reserve call 1-800-535-7830 & request Polgar Chess Rate. Alt./Overflow hotel: SpringHill Suites downtown, 301 St.Joseph St., (1 mile from Holiday Inn): King + sofa sleeper or 2 Queens + sleeper, $209/nt. til sold out or 2/8/13. To reserve call 1-888-364-1200 & request Polgar Chess Rate. 

Email questions to: ChessNOLA@yahoo.com. 

Susan Polgar New Orleans Commemorative Tee-Shirt with Players' Names Printed on Back 

A commemorative Tee-Shirt will be available for $18 at the tournament with the Players' names printed on the back. In order to have your name printed on the shirt you must place your order by February 1, 2013. Those who do not order by that date may not have their names added to the shirt, so please order early by clicking the link below:

Susan Polgar New Orleans Championship Commemorative Tee-Shirt

It helps to know that you’re not alone

Whatley Wanes at Webster, Pulls Through at Purdue
Web posted August 6, 2012

MERRIWETHER – In a hard-fought midwestern series, S.C. Chess Champion, Tori Whatley, suffered a few setbacks in a Missouri tournament and then battled fiercely for a trophy finish in Indiana. As an official invitee to the 9th Annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational, Tori Whatley walked across the stage at the Loretto Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University in St. Louis to accept her medal from the Susan Polgar Foundation.

The invitational tournament was played from July 22nd through July 27th, and was one of the most competitive Polgar tournaments in recent years. The tournament featured a blitz match, in which, she won 3.5 out of 7 games. In the main event, she scored 2 out of 6 games, with a round 5 mistake costing her the opportunity to match her Polgar series best of 3 points. “We left one on the table in round 5”, reported Merriwether Mavericks chess coach, David Whatley. “Tori was firmly in control of the game, but a miscalculation swung it in favor of her opponent”, he said.

Missouri’s Zoe Lemon took round 1 in an exhausting King’s Indian Defense (E61) that lasted for 67 moves. Another Missourian, Kendra Fee, fell to Whatley on her 38th move in round 2. Jiaying Cai from Maine won round 3 in 50 moves. Arizona’s Bria Castro would win the round 4 Reti Opening (A04) in 32 moves. The round 5, Pirc Classical (Two Knights) System (B08) went to Yvonne Ward of Utah. Tori faced Gisele Delgado of Texas for the final 6th round. Gisele played a valiant Reti, but came up short against the Palmetto state champion. Whatley gave all of her opponents a Frisbee with the South Carolina state flag printed on them.

Tori commented on how much she enjoys the strong field of female competition. “Not enough girls play chess, but when you come to the Polgar, you can see that there are many strong female players. It helps to know that you’re not alone, and I want to thank Susan for giving us the opportunity to play and for showing us that we can achieve anything we put our minds to.”

Tori’s first opponent in her 2008 Polgar debut, Michelle Ferrell from Oklahoma, flew in from Washington, D.C. to root for her younger sister, Hannah, who is the current Oklahoma champion. Upon sight of one another, Tori and Michelle jumped up for quick hugs and some catch-up conversation. “Their reunion embodies the spirit of this competition. When these girls leave here, they are friends for life”, said Mr. Whatley.

Before leaving St. Louis, the Whatleys visited the City Museum, the Gateway Arch, the World Chess Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Chess Club & Scholastic Center, where Tori was photographed with International Grandmaster Ben Finegold.

After an evening drive, the Whatleys arrived in West Lafayette, Indiana where Tori played the following day in the “Summer Knight” chess tournament, a five-round scholastic event, on the campus of Purdue University. She “galvanized” during the drive, according to her father. The determination resulted in her going 3 out of 5 against a sturdy field and securing the fifth place trophy.

Swinging back over to Springfield, Illinois, father and daughter spent a little time visiting one of Mr. Whatley’s former shipmates who was kind enough to take them on a tour of Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb. They also visited Mr. Lincoln’s Presidential Museum and the village of New Salem, where the 16th president resided for several years.

Tori and her dad, David, are looking forward to coaching the Merriwether Mavericks Scholastic Chess Club, which will celebrate its 10th year this coming school year. Tori’s sister, Mandy, serves as club secretary and coordinator, making the club a real family affair. The club is open to all Merriwether elementary and middle school students. Mr. Whatley’s association with national chess author, John Herron, will result in this years club being the first in the country to use “Total Chess - Learn, Teach and Play the Easy 1-2-3 Way” as its curriculum.

For more information you can send an email to Mr. Whatley at whatleydavid@bellsouth.net, or visit their Facebook page at Merriwether Mavericks Scholastic Chess Club to see more about the program. Mr. Whatley can also be reached at his home phone, 803-442-9060.

Source: http://www.edgefielddaily.com