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National News:
Exciting Finish at the 2005 U.S. Open Chess Championship

Three Tie at Denker Tournament of High School Champions

Record Set For Second Year Chess Tournament For Girls

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Anand, Svidler Winners in Mainz

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National News

Exciting Finish at the 2005 U.S. Open Chess Championship

This press release originally appeared on the USCF website.

(CROSSVILLE, TN) With Grandmaster Larry Christiansen, from Massachusetts, leading the field until the very last round, Grandmasters Joel Benjamin, from New Jersey, and Vadim Milov, from Switzerland, surged through the field of 455 participants in Phoenix, Arizona to win the 106th Annual U.S. Open with 8 points out of a total of nine. Milov bested Christiansen while Benjamin ran through Grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky.

Finishing close behind with 7.5 points were Grandmaster Alek Wojtkiewicz, from Maryland, Christiansen, International Master David E. Vigorito, from Nevada, Amon Simutowe, from Texas, and International Master and newly elected Executive Board member Greg Shahade, from New York. With more than just prize money and the title at stake, six people qualified to play in the U.S. Championship by paying a $75 fee before the tournament started and be near the top of the tournament. Those that qualified were: Christiansen, Vigorito, Shahade, Grandmaster Gregory Serper, from Washington, Elizabeth Vicary, from New York, and Women’s FIDE Master Hana Itkis, from New Jersey.

Along with the main events there were many side events including the 2005 GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Championships Official Denker PR and the 2005 GM Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls Official Polgar PR. The 2006 U.S. Open will be held August 6-13 in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Three Tie at Denker Tournament of High School Champions

This press release originally appeared on the USCF website.

Desert creatures notwithstanding, 45 high school champions gathered in Phoenix, Arizona from August 6 through 14 to see who would rise to the top of the cactus. When it was all over, Josh Bakker, from Massachusetts, Zhi-Ya Hu, from Maryland, and Trevor H. Jackson, from Louisiana, became co-champions. All three finished with five points; Bakker’s loss was to Jackson. While Bakker recovered from that loss nicely by winning his final three games, Hu and Jackson drew with each other in round four. With first place on the line, Hu was nicked by a draw in round six by Nicolas A. Yap, from California, who finished with 4.5 points and Jackson was slowed down with only a half point by drawing Deepyaman Datta, from Texas, who also finished with 4.5 points.

There was a lot at stake including four-year college scholarship from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Besides being an outstanding college, UTD has also been known to be highly competitive as far as chess is concerned. For information about the college, please contact The University of Texas at Dallas, 2601 North Floyd Road, Richardson, TX 75083-0688 or call at 972-883-2111. You can also visit them at their website at http://chessweb.utdallas.edu/chessclub.htm.

The GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Championship was named after the late grandmaster Arnold Denker who supported this tournament through many years. His son Mitchell Denker has vowed to continue the dream in the name of his father. High school players get ready for next year as the venue will be August 6-11, 2006 in Oak Brook, Illinois!

Record Set For Second Year Chess Tournament For Girls

This press release originally appeared on the USCF website.

The second annual GM Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls (under 19) brought a fantastic turnout to Phoenix, Arizona. This was the culmination of a series of regional and state qualifying events over the past 12 months that involved over 3,000 vying to represent their respective states. 48 girls (as young as 11) took part in this historic event.

Three players tied for first with the score of 5-1 (4 wins and 2 draws). Women FIDE Master Alisa Melekhina, from Pennsylvania, Abby Marshall, from Ohio, and Women Grandmaster Anya Cork, from California, were declared co-champions. They were also the top three seeds of the tournament. Each champion was awarded a full tuition and fees scholarship to the University of Texas in Dallas (UTD), a prominent supporter of scholastic chess. For more information on UTD please contact, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2601 North Floyd Road, Richardson, TX 75083-0688 or call at 972-883-2111. You can also visit them at their website at http://chessweb.utdallas.edu/chessclub.htm.

Louiza Livschitz, from California, Amanda Mateer, from Arizona, Emily Lau, from Hawaii, and Anjali Datta, from Texas, tied for 4th place with the score of 4.5.

A record $155,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships were awarded to the 48 young ladies. The third annual GM Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls will be held in Chicago, Illinois from August 6-11, 2006. This tournament was co-sponsored by The Polgar Foundation and the U.S. Chess Trust. You can find information about what The Polgar Foundation is all about by visiting http://www.susanpolgarfoundation.org. Also check out http://www.uschess.org/org/patrons1.php for information on the U.S. Chess Trust. Several side activities for the Polgar attendees rounded out the week of fun and competition for the girls.