Brianna Conley
The Pan-American Youth medalist, 16, is 3-0 after three rounds – posting a win Tuesday over Sayaka Foley of Arizona. Two other players are also 3-0: Brianna Conley of Ohio and Alexandra Wiener of Connecticut – the 22nd and 23rd seeded players respectively in the 52-girl field.
Wiener overcame a 200-point rating difference to defeat Janice Chen of Utah Tuesday. Conley bested Sylvia Yang of Texas, the tourney’s second highest-rated player. For Conley, 15, her fast start had a simple explanation.
“My opponents are making mistakes. I’m just there taking advantage of them,” she said.
In the fourth round Wednesday, Jamison will face Conley, while Wiener will square off against Rita Mirchandani of Florida, who has 2.5 points. Mirchandani drew with Ohio’s Rebecca Lelko in the third round.
A total of seven players are lurking close by with 2.5 points – including Angel Bohannon of Texas and Rebekah Liu of California, who drew in this third-round encounter.
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The tournament has a total of six rounds and will wrap up Friday. The overall winner will receive a scholarship to Texas Tech University, which is hosting the event. Read an article about the event in the University newspaper, the Daily Toreador. Check out further results on Polgar’s blog.
Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls
Standings after three rounds
1-3. Courtney Jamison, Texas, Brianna Conley, Ohio and Alexandra Wiener, Connecticut- 3/3
4-10- Angel Bohannan, Texas, Michelle Chen, Massachusetts, Linda Diaz, New York, Rebecca Lelko, Ohio, Rita Mirchandani, Florida, Amelia Wheeless, North Carolina and Rebekah Liu, California
Liu was the winner of Monday night’s puzzle-solving contest. She correctly solved 10 chess puzzles in 5 minutes, 26 seconds for the fastest time.
On Tuesday night, Ashley Carter of Michigan and Janice Chen from Utah shared the blitz crown with a 4.5/5.0 score.
Randy Wheeless is president of the North Carolina Chess Association.