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Chess Titles and Scholarships on the Line

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National News

2005 US Open Update

For more information on the 2005 US Open, visit the USCF website.

With a guarenteed prize fund of $40,000 and qualifying spots for the US Championship, the US Open promises to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. The tournament, scheduled for August 6th through August 14th, will be held in Phoenix, Arizona.

If that much wasn't enough, two invitational tournaments will be held alongside the US Open. The Denker Tournament of High School Champions will pit state high school champions against each other, while the Polgar Invitational Tournament for Girls will allow the nation's top young female players a chance to match wits across the chess board. These events will award scholarships to outstanding chess talent, so they can more easily continue both their chess and academic careers.

There will also be a large number of side events during the main tournaments. A blitz championship is scheduled for August 7th, and for the 9th time, the Annual U.S. Chess Open Golf Tournament will be held. In addition, many other activities will take place during the week, including:

• Committee workshops
• USCF Delegates Meeting
• USCF Award Luncheon
• The opportunity to receive a free copy of "Test, Evaluate and Improve Your Chess"

All this and more make the 2005 US Open one of the premier events on the national chess calendar. We will continue to provide information on the 2005 US Open leading up to and through the tournament. For more information, including a list of entries already recieved, click here.

Chess Titles and Scholarships on the Line

This press release originally appeared on the USCF website.

The Denker Tournament of High School Champions (August 7-12) and the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls (August 7-11) will spotlight the nation’s upcoming chess talent, in Phoenix. Ninety plus students from across the country will vie for college scholarships provided by the University of Texas at Dallas, the Susan Polgar Foundation, and the U.S. Chess Trust.

The events are scheduled at the site of the U.S. Open, the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix. Six games – one round played each morning – will determine the winners of each tournament. The Denker Tournament gathers the champions of each state’s high school competition to determine “the best of the best.” The Polgar Tournament is designed to promote chess among girls and attracts each state’s best female talent. Girls qualify for the event either by winning a state’s girls’ championship or by having the state’s top player rating for girls 19 and under.

While the titles of Susan Polgar National Invitational Champion and Denker National High School Champion are honors in themselves, coveted scholarships are on the line as well. The U.S. Chess Trust will award $1200 in scholarships to the top four places ($500-300-200-200) at the Denker Tournament. The Susan Polgar Foundation will provide $1250 to its top four spots ($500-300-250-200). U.T. Dallas will offer a four-year, full tuition and fees scholarship to the highest finishing player who has not graduated from high school by August of each of the Denker and the Polgar tournaments. For an out-of state student, that scholarship is currently valued at $30,000.

The following students are schedule to play:

Denker Players

Alaska -- Ryan Cassidy; Alabama -- Keenan Olson; Arkansas -- Caleb Taylor; Arizona -– Vaishnav Aradhyula; Southern California -– Francis Chen; Northern California -– Nicholas Yap; Colorado -– Tyler B. Hughes; Connecticut -– Ryan D. Goldenberg; District of Columbia -– Jose E. Lopez; Florida -– Francisco Guadalupe II; Georgia -– Ignacio Becerra-Licha; Hawaii -– Danton T. Lee; Idaho -– Phil Weyland; Illinois -– Kayin Barclay; Indiana -– Ben Inskeep; Iowa -– Jeremy M. Madison; Kansas -- Maxx W. Coleman; Kentucky -- Davis M. Whaley; Louisiana -- Trevor H. Jackson; Maryland -- Zhi-Ya Hu; Massachusetts -- Joshua Bakker; Michigan -- Aaron Kahn; Minnesota -- Conor A. Moe; Missouri -- Joseph A. Garnier; Montana -- Jarred L. Schantz; Nebraska -- Kevin Swartz; Nevada -- Michael G. Patraw; New Hampshire -- Justin N. Elkherj; New Jersey -- Mackenzie N. Molner; New Mexico -- Peter Montgomery Calhoun; New York-Robert Cousins; North Carolina -- Nelson M. Lopez II; Ohio -- Andrew Kobalka; Oklahoma -- John R. Cope; Oregon -- Blake Salisbury; Pennsylvania -- Michael Guber; Rhode Island -- Cristian O. Izurieta; South Dakota -- Alexander C. Young; Tennessee -- Matan Prilleltensky; Texas -- Deepyaman Datta; Utah -- Tyler McIntosh; Vermont -- Oliver Chase; Virginia -- Robert A. Brady; Washington -- David A. Wyde; West Virginia -- Jason Young; Wisconsin -- Jeremy Kane

Polgar Players

Arkansas -- Emillia Ann Stuart; Arizona -- Josephine Valenzuela, Amanda R. Mateer; Northern California -- Louiza Livschitz, Elisha Garg; Colorado -- Natasha Deakins; Connecticut -- Alexandra Wiener; Delaware– Alisa R. Spitelle; Florida -- Eunice Rodriguez; Georgia -- Jessica E. Harris; Hawaii -- Emily J. Lau; Idaho -- Emily R. Nicholas; Illinois -- Elina Chertok; Indiana -- Krista Selby; Iowa -- Dhrooti V. Vyas; Kansas -- Blythe E. Buscher; Kentucky -- Stephanie Friedman; Louisiana -- Liz Hassig; Maryland -- Annie A. Larson; Massachusetts -- Jessica N. Wamala; Michigan -- Ashley Carter; Minnesota -- Cailin McGrath; Nebraska -- Rose E. Lombard; Nevada -- Rio Patraw; New Hampshire -- Shosha Saidel-Goley; New Jersey -- Rachel Jatovsky; New Mexico -- Deanna B. Kristek; New York -- Anna Ginzburg, Elina Kats; North Carolina -- Amelia A. Wheeless, Laura L. Lee; Ohio -- Abby Marshall, Brianna Conley; Oklahoma -- Destiny Sawyer; Oregon -- Taylor Bailey; Pennsylvania -- Alisa Melekhina; Rhode Island -- Kathleen M. Coccio; South Dakota -- Taryn N. Gerdes; Tennessee -- Suad Yoon; Texas– Anjali Datta, Stephanie Ballom; Utah– Janice Chen; Virginia -- Yang Dai; Washington -- Gabriella Rader; West Virginia -- Katherine E. King; Wisconsin -- Amy C. Vogedes

Check http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2005/2005USOPEN for additional details related to all events taking place at the US OPEN - August 6-14, 2005!

GM Susan Polgar Foundation: http://www.susanpolgarfoundation.org.