(CROSSVILLE,TN)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:

State -- Denker Player
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

State – Polgar Player
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.

******************

The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization nearing 90,000 members. For additional on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.