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Tournament Life Announcements

National News:
U.S. Chess Open House Draws Over 100

107th Annual U.S. Open Chess Championship - Oak Brook, IL - August 8-13, 2006

22nd Annual Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Chess Champions - August 6-11

3rd Annual Susan Polgar National Invitation for Girls Chess Championship - Aug. 6-11 - Oak Brook, IL

World News:
Three Tied for Lead in Dortmund Drawfest

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

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National News

U.S. Chess Open House Draws Over 100

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) played host to over one hundred visitors at the ribbon cutting ceremony and Open House this past Saturday, July 22.

The organization, which relocated operations March of 2005 had been working out of the county owned former First Baptist Church building on First and East Streets while awaiting completion of the new headquarters building on O’Brien Drive in Crossville.

Numerous local and regional dignitaries were in attendance, including TN Department of Tourist Development Commisioner Susan Whitaker who was representing Governor Phil Bredesen, State Senator Charlotte Burks, State Representative Eric Swafford, Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham III, Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill. Rob Safdie represented the Board of Education. The long term efforts of Randy Graham, Chairman, and Beth Alexander President & CEO of the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and longtime member, chess promoter Harry Sabine to support the relocation were successful.

The festivities also drew several USCF dignitaries. Former USCF Executive Board members President John McCrary, VP of Finance Frank Camaratta and VP Stephen Schutt. The Tennessee Chess Association (TCA) was represented by President J. Michael Cross, Vice President Allen Snow and TCA Chess News Editor Leonard Dickerson.

Three years ago, when the then 67 year-old U.S. Chess Federation began a search for a new home, Crossville quickly emerged as the prime candidate. Crossville’s Chamber of Commerce, city officials, and even Tennessee state officials played a role in bringing the USCF to Cumberland County.

Founded in 1939, The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing organization for chess in America. With over 80,000 paid members, its membership spans every state and territory of the U.S and beyond. There are nearly 2,200 USCF-affiliated chess clubs, and more than 100,000 chess players participate in USCF events every year. The official publication, Chess Life, has a monthly readership of approximately 100,000.

107th Annual U.S. Open Chess Championship - Oak Brook, IL - August 8-13, 2006

The U.S. Chess Federation’s (USCF) 107th Annual U.S. Open Championship will be held at the Double Tree Hotel in Chicago-Oak Brook, Illinois August 8 – 13, 2006. Over 500 players are expected to compete for this prestigious title and join the rankings of previous U.S. Open Champions.

The guaranteed prize fund is $40,000. There are three playing schedules offered in an effort to accommodate players: Traditional (9-Day), 6-Day, 5-Day. All players will be merged after having played five games.

The U.S. Blitz (quick chess) Championship will be held on August 12 with a guaranteed prize fund of $2000. The competition consists of 14 games, five minutes per player per game!

As is traditional, daily side events will also take place, each with their own prize fund.

The Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Championships will begin Sunday, August 6 at 11 am and conclude Friday, August 11. This event was started by Grandmaster Arnold Denker in 1985. The Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, a new event which was created in 2004 by GM Susan Polgar, will also begin Sunday, August 6 and conclude August 11. The Top age 13 winner from each event will receive the annual Ursula Foster Scholarship Award which involves each winner getting $500.00 to spend on chess related books and equipment.

Over and above these events, the U.S. Open also serves as our annual Delegate Meeting venue. Committee members meet at their respective workshops Wednesday, August 9 until Friday, August 11. The Delegates then meet Saturday, August 12 and Sunday, August 13.

On Saturday, August 12 between noon-2pm the annual Awards Luncheon will be held. At the luncheon the recipients of the special awards chosen by the USCF Executive Board will be recognized. The recipients are:

“Chess City of the Year” – Crossville, TN and Palm Beach Gardens, FL;
“Chess Club of the Year” – St. George CC from St. George, UT;
“Chess College of the Year” – University of Connecticut School of Engineering (Storrs, CT) and Texas Tech (Lubbock, TX);
“Committee of the Year” – International Affairs Committee, Michael Khodarkovsky – Chairperson;
“Distinguished Service” – Mike Nolan;
“Honorary Chess Mates” – Jim Warren, Dolores Wagner, Elizabeth Tanner;
“Gold Koltanowski Medal” – America’s Foundation for Chess;
“Meritorious Service” – Jim Brotsos, Jon Haskel, Wilder Wadford, Jon & Barbara Fortune;
“Organizer of the Year” – Cris Collinsworth ProScan Foundation;
“Outstanding Career Achievement” – Gus Gosselin, Fred Goldhirsch, Doug Bellizzi, David MacEnulty, Jerry Weikel;
“Scholastic Service” – Tim Redman;
“Special Services” – Kim Cramer, John Donaldson, Mikhail Korenman, Greg Shahade;
“Tournament Director of the Year” – Walter Brown;
“Special Friend of the USCF” – Phil Haley;
“GM (Grandmaster) of the Year” – GM Ildar Ibragimov and WGM Anna Zatonskih;
“Frank J. Marshall” – Shaun Alexander Foundation.

Also our 10th Annual golf tournament will be held at the US Open Chess Tournament. You have to play in the chess tournament to play in the golf tournament. Please email Mike Wojcio if interested: chessgolfmarathons@prodigy.net. There will be a Chess in Education Workshop - August 7-8, 2006 and the American Chess University Hosts FIDE Trainers Seminars August 11-12, 2006. Additional details can be found at: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2006/usopen/.

22nd Annual Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Chess Champions - August 6-11

The Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions was named after the late grandmaster Arnold Denker who supported this tournament through many years. This years championship will be held at the Double Tree Oak Brook located in Oak Brook, IL. His son Mitchell Denker has vowed to continue the dream in the name of his father. High school players, representing their state will be competing for not only the prestigious title but also for a four-year college scholarship from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), valued at $40,000.

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 UTD website.

In addition to the college scholarship, through the generosity of GM Denker’s son, Mitchell and the U.S. Chess Trust, scholarships totaling $2,200 will be awarded between the top ten finishers. Additional details can be found at: http://www.uschess.org/scholastic/denker.html.

On Sunday, August 6 at 9 am a reception will be held to welcome those below who have accepted the challenge:

Please contact Alan Kantor at (931) 787-1234 ext. 128 or e-mail: clubs@uschess.org for this event. Once we have received confirmations from the following states, all 50 states will be represented: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island, Texas, Wyoming.

3rd Annual Susan Polgar National Invitation for Girls Chess Championship - Aug. 6-11 - Oak Brook, IL

The third annual GM Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls (under 19) will begin August 6 at the Double Tree Hotel in Oak Brook, IL. This is a 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.

The young women chess competitors will be competing for the title and also for a full tuition and fees scholarship valued at $40,000, 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 UTD website.

This tournament is co-sponsored by The Susan Polgar Foundation and the U.S. Chess Trust. You can find information about The Susan Polgar Foundation 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.

On Sunday, August 6 at 9 am a reception will be held to welcome those below who have accepted the challenge:

Alabama: Hannah M. Hellwig
Alaska: Alison Parshall
Arizona: Amanda Mateer
Arkansas: Emi Stuart
Northern California: Louiza Livschitz
Colorado: Kaila Smith
Connecticut: Alexandra Wiener
Delaware: Alisa Spitelle
Florida: Eunice Rodriguez
Georgia: Ananya Roy
Hawaii: Marissa Al Wai
Idaho: Erica D. Barkell
Illinois: Cheryl Liu
Indiana: Krista Selby
Iowa: Dhrooti V. Vyas
Kansas: Blythe E. Buscher
Kentucky: Connie Wu
Louisiana: Jordana Williams
Maine: Margaret Bryan
Massachusetts: Jessica Wamala
Michigan: Ashley Carter
Minnesota: Cailin McGrath
Nebraska: Elizabeth Oliver
Nevada: Sandra Hernandez
New Jersey: Karsten A. McVay
New Mexico: Anna Smoak
New York: Elina Kats
North Carolina: Laura L. Lee
Ohio: Shizuyo Ichikawa
Oklahoma: Rachel Farell
Oregon: Taylor Bailey
Pennsylvania: Emily J. Chu
Rhode Island: Kathleen Coccio
Southern California: Jessica Zhu
Tennessee: Graham Gibson
Texas: Courtney Jamison, Anjali Datta, Katherine Qiu, Evan Xiang, Victoria Zhang
Utah: Alice Chen, Janice Chen
Vermont: Tanya Avilova
Virginia: Abby Marshall
Wisconsin: Tracie Klauer

Please contact Mr. Paul Truong at (212) 748-9587 or e-mail PaulTruong@aol.com for this event. Once we have received confirmations from the following states, all 50 states will be represented:

District of Columbia, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.