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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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Team Canada at the 14th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational
Team Canada at the 14th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational
The most prestigious All-Girls event in North America, the Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational (SPFGI) will be held at Webster University in St-Louis, MO, on July 22-27, 2017. The event that has become immensely popular and attracts participants from as far away as Europe features over $200K in scholarships and $7.5K in cash prizes.
Thanks to the tireless work of FA Andrei Botez, the SPF plenipotentiary representative for Canada, for the second year in a row the representatives of Canadian provinces were invited to take part in the SPFGI. This year, Team Canada features an amazing collection of talent led by three titled players:
Code:
1 Lucy Chao Alberta
2 WGM Qiyu Zhou Ontario
3 WIM Maïli-Jade Ouellet Quebec
4 Linda Shi Quebec
5 Sophia Yu British Columbia
6 Abigail Sorgard Saskatchewan
7 Rachel Zihan Wang Quebec
8 WFM Svitlana Demchenko Ontario
9 Andrea Botez British Columbia
The Chess 'n Math Association had been a valuable partner in this project. The CMA determined the official player from Quebec through a FIDE-rated qualification tournament and generously provided, for the second year in a row, transportation subsidies for one representative from Quebec and one representative from Ontario.
Let's wish good luck to our Canadian contingent and their parents! Stand by for dispatches from the field.
I see some provinces have multiple representatives.
Are there perks provided by the organizers for the "official" reps ?
Is the event now "open" ?
First thing that I need to mention is that is no entry fee to participate in the 2017 SPFGI events: 6 rounds FIDE and USCF (maybe also CFC) rated regular tournament, Blitz, Friends & Family (USCF rated), Bughouse and Puzzle Solving Championship and training and games analysis provided by the members of Webster chess team.
Additional cash scholarships this year!
1st place = $2,500
2nd place = $1,500
3rd place = $1,000
Top under 13 = $500
Top under 10 = $500
Triple-crown champion (main event, blitz, and puzzle solving) = $1,000
Biggest upset prize (each round) = $50 x 6 = $300 gift certificate
Best dressed player = $100 gift certificate
Best written essay about the SPFGI experience = $100 gift certificate
The event is invitational, and as part of SPGFI board member responsible for Canadian selection, my goal is to have all ten provinces represented. Some of the players from the same province are alumni and some been awarded wild cards invitations.
All the representative players will receive free accommodation. 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. There is no mandatory stay in the Webster campus. Players are responsible for their own travel.
Re: Team Canada at the 14th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational
New announcement by Susan Polgar regarding the Invitational:
A new tradition at SPFGI
It was my dream to revolutionize chess for young people, especially girls. I strongly believe that chess can and will help kids of all ages, in many different aspects. Naturally, some will want to take chess seriously, maybe to become grandmasters. But for most, chess will be a fun game which can teach them many valuable life lessons.
15 years ago, I fought very hard to create a brand new all-girls event, the first ever in the United States. I faced many objections and challenges to this idea. Eventually, the USCF gave in and approved the SPF Girl's Invitational in 2002-2003. The 1st ever all-girls event took place in 2004. Many young ladies who took part in the early SPFGI went on to college, have families, and wonderful careers. Many became doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, engineers, bankers, entrepreneurs, etc. Some are starting to teach their own kids chess.
Because of the SPFGI, today there are countless all-girls tournaments and girl's chess initiative across the country. Not only more girls participate in chess, the level went up dramatically! SPFGI remains the richest all-girls event in the world, with over $207,500 in scholarships and cash prizes. In addition, ALL qualifiers and official state/national representatives receive free housing and meals. We expect over 70 players from all over the US and 13 countries in North, Central and South America this year. The tournament budget is about $250,000.
We are starting a new tradition at SPFGI!
Beginning this year, we are inviting some alums of this event back to talk to the current group of participants, about how chess played a major role in their lives. Here are the four alums this year:
Alexandra Wiener
Alex is an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Division, where she is part the Financial and Strategic Investors Group. Alex graduated with a BA in Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (BEO) from Brown University in 2016.
At Brown, she was the Chief Recruitment Officer and an Executive Board Member for Kappa Alpha Theta, traveled frequently to play for the Brown Women's Club Soccer team, and served as the President of Brown’s Chess Team.
Selected Chess Highlights:
- Peak: Expert Titled player (USCF: 2021) and U.S. Women's ranking: 40 (Oct-2013)
- U.S. Junior Girls U21 Closed Championships: Qualified as one of ten nationally (Jul-2014)
- U.S. Girls Junior Open Champion (18 years & under - Jun-2012)
- USCF Scholar Chess Player Award/Scholarship (Apr-2012)
Seven time Connecticut State Female Scholastic Champion
Five time CT representative to Susan Polgar National All-Girls Invitational
Alexandra Botez
Alexandra Botez started playing chess when she was six years old. She became the US Girls National Champion at 15 and is a three-time member of the Canadian Women’s Olympiad Team.
Alexandra recently graduated with a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. As an undergrad, Alexandra founded a startup and raised a little under $1M in venture capital funding.
She is now working on her company full time but continues to engage with the chess community over social media and in-person lessons
Rebecca Lelko
Two time Ohio representative to SPF Girls’ Invitational and former member of SPICE while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Texas Tech University.
After graduating with a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, joined trading firm Radix Trading in summer 2016 as a quantitative researcher.
Emily Tallo
Emily Tallo grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Canterbury High School in 2013. She then attended Indiana University Bloomington as a Herbert Presidential Scholar, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science in International Studies concentrating in diplomacy, security, and governance.
She also completed certificates in Global French and Applied Research and Inquiry and spent considerable time abroad during her undergraduate career, including a five-month study abroad experience in Aix-en-Provence, France and a two-month internship in New Delhi, India. Emily now works on international education programs at Indiana University’s Office of International Development and is seeking a career in international relations in Washington D.C.
Emily Tallo is a Candidate Master who has competed in many national and international chess tournaments, including the 2011 World Youth Chess Championships in Brazil. Though Emily stopped competing while pursuing her undergraduate degree, she instructs chess students of all ages and strengths and still loves to attack with the Smith Morra Gambit. She owes her success in chess to her former coach Jim Dean.
Re: Team Canada at the 14th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational
A dispatch from the trenches by Team Canada captain Andrei Botez:
News from St.Louis:
Top Canadians in the 2017 SPFGI Puzzle Solving Results:
Ling Yun Shi (Quebec) - 9th place, followed by Svitlana Demchenko (Ontario) -12th place.
I have to mention that the fastest to finish was Qiyu Zhou (Ontario) in just 7:42 but some notation problems made her miss the first place.
Team Ouellet (Canada) - Kamtekar (USA) wins SPFGI Bughouse Championship! In order to make new friends and have a balanced team average, this year, the teams were created by pairing 1 with n (highest rated with lowest rated), 2 with n-2 and so on.
Round 1 victory for Qiu, Maïli-Jade, Linda Shi, Svitlana, and Andrea. A draw and first round upset prize for little Sophia in her game against WFM RACHEL MILLER who resides in Ottawa. Great games fot Lucy, Rachel and Abigail who all played against higher opponents.
Bd Res White Res Black
1 WFM MELANIE SALAZAR (1.0) 0-1 FM QIYU ZHOU (1.0)
2 WIM MAILI-JAD OUELLET (1.0) 1-0 WCM MINDA CHEN (1.0)
6 WFM ANAHI ORTIZ VERDEZOTO (1.0) 1-0 ANDREA BOTEZ (1.0)
11 APARNA YELLAMRAJU (1.0) 0-1 WFM SVILTLANA DEMCHENKO (1.0)
15 WCM STEPHANIE VELEA (1.0) 1-0 LING YUN SHI (1.0)
18 WCM SOPHIE VELEA (0.0) 0.5-0.5 SOPHIA YU (0.5)
25 KATHERINE EISENMAN (0.0) 0-1 RACHEL ZIHAN WANG (0.0)
32 SANMATI THANGAVEL (0.0) 1-0 ABIGAIL SORGARD (0.0)
Round 3
Bd Res White Res Black
1 FM QIYU ZHOU (2.0) JULIA SEVILLA (2.0)
2 WFM SVILTLANA DEMCHENKO (2.0) WIM MAILI-JAD OUELLET (2.0)
10 LING YUN SHI (1.0) AMBICA YELLAMRAJU (1.5)
14 RACHEL ZIHAN WANG (1.0) GLORIA FRIEDMAN (1.0)
15 ANDREA BOTEZ (1.0) NIGINA ARIPOVA (1.0)
21 SOPHIA YU (1.0) JULIA KA MIYASAKA (1.0)
32 OLIVIA HOP COOPER (0.0) ABIGAIL SORGARD (0.0)
Is there any way you can get a photo of the scoresheets? e.g. I'd like to get the Demchenko - Ouellete game from rd 3, and any future games between the Canadian players?
The 12-year-old WFM Nastassja Matus from Minnesota, a familiar face for many Canadian NAYCC / WYCC participants, became the youngest-ever winner of the Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational. As the newly crowned champion with 5.5/6 points, she won approximately $110,000 in scholarship and cash prizes.
Individual achievements of Team Canada members:
Bughouse Champions: WIM Maili-Jade Ouellet (CAN) – Saey Kamtekar (UT)
Blitz Champion: WIM Maili-Jade Ouellet (Canada)
Brilliancy prize: Linda Shi (Canada) won against Miyasaka – Special prize
The 12-year-old WFM Nastassja Matus from Minnesota, a familiar face for many Canadian NAYCC / WYCC participants, became the youngest-ever winner of the Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational. As the newly crowned champion with 5.5/6 points, she won approximately $110,000 in scholarship and cash prizes.
Individual achievements of Team Canada members:
Bughouse Champions: WIM Maili-Jade Ouellet (CAN) – Saey Kamtekar (UT)
Blitz Champion: WIM Maili-Jade Ouellet (Canada)
Brilliancy prize: Linda Shi (Canada) won against Miyasaka – Special prize
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