Tuesday, May 27, 2008

MATE: A thrilling upcoming feature film


The upcoming feature film MATE is psychological thriller of mystery and suspense in the vein of MEMENTO and THE USUAL SUSPECTS.

About MATE:

In a world of corruption and deceit, two former world chess champions cross paths and are unsuspectingly drawn into a deadly game of mystery and suspense. Michael Foster and Kyle Kessler are long time archrivals in the highly competitive game of sixty-four squares. Each has staked his claim to be the best grandmaster of his time. Each has arguably been deemed the greatest chess champion to ever play the game.

Yet, beneath the surface of tactics and strategies, there is a truth that engulfs them beyond their calculated geniuses; a truth that suddenly turns their world upside down; a truth that unfolds and forces them on the run from a group of killers who have coerced them into a dangerous game of intrigue.

In the world of sixty-four squares, where lies intersect the truth, nothing is what it seems. Inside the mind of a chess king, reality is merely an illusion.

I have signed on as a co-producer and I will also have a featured appearance in the film. The press release for the full cast will be released very soon. I was a chess consultant for the off-Broadway show "Fit to Kill" back in 2005. It was a blast! I am very excited about this project and I am looking forward to being a part of this movie.
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Local youngster wins National Championship


Lubbock boy wins national chess title
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Story last updated at 5/13/2008 - 1:45 am


Tom Polgar-Shutzman, a third-grader at Ramirez Charter School, won his third national chess title at the National Elementary Chess Championship in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Polgar-Shutzman was among 2,200 young chess players who competed for national titles during the event Friday through Sunday.

He scored 6.5 points in seven games, earning six wins and one draw. He shares the first-place title in the K-3 section with Danny Angermeier of Massachusetts.

Polgar-Shutzman is the eldest son of Susan Polgar, director of Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence and Knight Raiders head coach.

Two weeks ago, Polgar-Shutzman represented the Ramirez Charter School and captured first place in the first Lubbock Open (third- through fifth-grade section) with a perfect 4-0 score.

He also helped his school team win the third-through fifth-grade first-place team trophy.

Source: Avalanche Journal
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Monday, May 12, 2008

Young Polgar captures national title for Lubbock


Written by Paul Truong

Tommy Polgar, a third grader at Ramirez Charter School, the eldest son of TTU SPICE Director and Knight Raiders Head Coach Susan Polgar, has just captured his third national chess title at the National Elementary Chess Championship in Pittsburgh, PA.

2,200 young chess hopefuls from across the United States competed for the coveted national titles. The event took place from May 9 to 11 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Tommy scored 6.5 points in 7 games (6 wins, 1 draw, and no loss) to share the first place title in the K-3 section with Danny Angermeier of Massachusetts.

This victory almost did not happen at all. After the first day of competition, Tommy got sick. He woke up on Saturday morning not feeling well. He almost had to withdraw from the tournament.

At the last minute he decided to give it his best shot and gutted it out. After drawing round 4 which cost him ½ point in the point standing, he had to win his remaining 3 games against very tough opponents to even have a shot at the title.

Feeling a little better on Sunday, Tommy had to make a big come back and pulled off an almost impossible feat. He scored two huge upsets against two of the top five seeds in back to back games to earn a share of the national title. He dedicated his championship to his mother as a Mother’s Day present.

He thanked the Texas Tech / SPICE Chess Club and the members of Texas Tech Knight Raiders Chess Team for practicing with him and taking him under their wings. He also thanked everyone at the Ramirez Charter School for supporting him.

Two weeks ago, he represented the Ramirez Charter School and captured 1st place in the first ever Lubbock Open (3rd – 5th grade section) with a perfect 4-0 score. He also helped his school team captured the 3rd – 5th grade 1st place team trophy. His younger brother Leeam was a member of the 1st place K – 2nd grade team in the same event and he finished tied for 2nd in the individual competition.
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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Big boost for SPICE and Chess in Lubbock


SPICE and chess in general in Lubbock get big boost from benefactor
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Story last updated at 5/11/2008 - 4:01 am


Last week, I mentioned the record-breaking participation at the first Lubbock Open Chess Championship. The Lubbock Open took place on April 26 at Monterey High School. The local support for the event was overwhelming, and we are very excited about organizing the event every year.

Now there is more good news for Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and chess in Lubbock. A number of schools in Lubbock ISD already offer chess as an after-school program. The Lubbock Area Foundation recently awarded SPICE a substantial grant to introduce chess in schools that do not have such programs.

The LAF is a tremendous resource for Lubbock and West Texas citizens. My hope is to be able to raise enough financial support to begin or support chess programs in every school in Lubbock and surrounding cities. Chess is such an effective and inexpensive tool to enhance young people's educational and life experiences.

Also, a few days ago, SPICE announced an extremely generous pledge from a private donor. The gift will provide $320,000 for TTU scholarships beginning this fall and spread out over the next five years. This support follows $25,000 in support already given to Texas Tech's chess program by the same benefactor in 2007. Get your guns up, chess fans!

There's more. Additional funds will support the installation of three double-sized concrete chess tables between Texas Tech's Student Union building and library to support the increased enthusiasm for chess on campus.

Texas Tech has enjoyed a large number of inquiries from student chess players in the past year. In the fall, some of the top chess players in the United States, and indeed the world, will enroll at Tech. Rising water raises all boats, and it sure has been raining a lot this past week! Soon, Lubbock will be known as the center of chess in the United States.

Here is the full article.
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SPICE and Chess get big boost


Polgar: SPICE and chess in general in Lubbock get big boost from benefactor
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Story last updated at 5/11/2008 - 4:01 am


Last week, I mentioned the record-breaking participation at the first Lubbock Open Chess Championship. The Lubbock Open took place on April 26 at Monterey High School. The local support for the event was overwhelming, and we are very excited about organizing the event every year.

Now there is more good news for Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and chess in Lubbock. A number of schools in Lubbock ISD already offer chess as an after-school program. The Lubbock Area Foundation recently awarded SPICE a substantial grant to introduce chess in schools that do not have such programs.

The LAF is a tremendous resource for Lubbock and West Texas citizens. My hope is to be able to raise enough financial support to begin or support chess programs in every school in Lubbock and surrounding cities. Chess is such an effective and inexpensive tool to enhance young people's educational and life experiences.

Also, a few days ago, SPICE announced an extremely generous pledge from a private donor. The gift will provide $320,000 for TTU scholarships beginning this fall and spread out over the next five years. This support follows $25,000 in support already given to Texas Tech's chess program by the same benefactor in 2007. Get your guns up, chess fans!

There's more. Additional funds will support the installation of three double-sized concrete chess tables between Texas Tech's Student Union building and library to support the increased enthusiasm for chess on campus.

Texas Tech has enjoyed a large number of inquiries from student chess players in the past year. In the fall, some of the top chess players in the United States, and indeed the world, will enroll at Tech. Rising water raises all boats, and it sure has been raining a lot this past week! Soon, Lubbock will be known as the center of chess in the United States.

Click here to see the full column.
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A tête-à-tête with Yvonne Lai


An article in POST MAGAZINE in Hong Kong

24 Hours

Chess grand master divides her time between two great loves – her children and chess. In a tête-à-tête with Yvonne Lai, the Hungarian-born player clears up some misconceptions about the game.

“I usually wake up around 6.30am. I get my kids up and drive them to school around 7.15am. Then I start my own day. I have a new position at the Texas Tech University [in the US] as the director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (Spice).

I go to my office, which is right across the street from the campus, and I usually have a lot of e-mails to answer and arrangements to make. For example, I recently organised a major international chess competition.

Before I showed up, the university only had an amateur club. One of the reasons I was [hired] was to put Texas Tech on the world map of chess. I interact with the chess playing students and meet them once a week.

We are still formulating [ideas], everything is very new. I’m starting a whole new life. We are recruiting some accomplished chess players who want to study at the same time. Two international students have applied and are very likely to join Texas Tech – not only to study but to represent the university in chess competitions.

One third of the time I have business lunches with various departments or within the chess group. If not, I have a late lunch or even skip lunch, depending on how my day goes.

One of the most important aspects of Spice is the research. We look into how chess can help and influence life. It’s been known for years that chess is a wonderful tool to enhance the minds of youngsters and prevent or delay Alzheimer’s.

An average chess grand master knows about 20,000 game patterns. I’ve seen millions of chess positions in my life. That said, one of the biggest misconceptions about the game is that it requires a wonderful memory.

Pattern-recognition is much more important, as is being able to react quickly and accurately to a situation you have seen before. It’s not the same kind of memory required to memorise a phone book. It’s like air travel: for an inexperienced traveller, the airport in Dallas may look totally different from the one in Hong Kong.

But there are patterns or similarities such as security checks, lounges and signs. For an experienced traveller, one airport is like another. They focus on the important points; let’s say, getting from terminal A to B and finding gate 25.

For speed and accuracy, calculation skills are extremely important. Also, the difference between an amateur chess player and a champion, besides the knowledge of putting the puzzle together with efficiency, are the psychological elements. It’s a matter of self confidence and dealing with pressure during the game.

There are many talented young players who could go much further if they kept it together. There are no postponements in matches, and something like a break-up in a personal relationship, or a cold, could affect the outcome of a game.

I was raised in a disciplined and result-oriented environment and with a very strong work ethic, which is one characteristic many people lack. They give up too easily; they are not diligent enough. In order to excel at anything, be it art, sport or business, one has to make a lot of sacrifices, especially with one’s time. I dedicated most of my childhood and teenage years to my career.

I have no regrets but I understood even back then that others my age were going to the movies more often or going on dates or going dancing, things most girls do during their teens. I was replacing that for the large part with practising for chess competitions.

My boys are seven and eight, so now it’s different. I hardly compete any more. I dedicate my time to them and to my job. I learned a lot from my father [in terms of childrearing techniques] and I certainly use some of them with my children but, unfortunately, their situation is a little different from mine when I was growing up.

....I clearly remember an incident in 1986, when I was living in Hungary. I qualified to represent my country in the world championships but was not allowed to participate because I am a woman. The reason they stated was because the competition was called the Men’s World Chess Championship, therefore a woman could not play. Later that year, they changed the rule, eliminating the word “men”.

Deep Blue [a chess-playing machine developed by IBM] was a huge monster of a supercomputer. It was a lot of computers connected together. I went to the lab and saw it. I would have liked the opportunity to challenge Deep Blue and show that I could have done better than [Russian chess grand master] Garry [Kasparov; who lost a six game series against Deep Blue two to one, with three draws] but IBM declined my request, saying they had nothing to gain from it.

Chess helps young people learn about life in a fun and playful way. We use computer programs to teach chess, especially at higher levels. Computers are especially useful for players from smaller towns, who don’t have a master chess player around them.

I hope more people discover Spice. We hope to prove a lot of theories through research about how chess is a useful tool in the education system. Ideally, chess should be a part of the regular school curriculum. It is such an accessible and inexpensive way towards better focus, organising skills, maths and literature. My children know the basics of chess and they learn a lot better because of that. At school, they are at the top of their class.

I pick up my kids between 3pm and 4pm. Sometimes I go back to the office if I have some more things to take care of, or we come home, we eat together and I spend some time with them. After I put them to bed later in the evening, I work on the computer. I usually go to bed around midnight or 1am.

This article appeared in POST MAGAZINE in Hong Kong last year.
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

TTU announces substantial donation to SPICE


News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: May 5, 2008
Contact: Cory Chandler
http://news.ttu.edu/browse/newsRelease/1599

Texas Tech Chess Institute Announces Donation
Pledge will fund scholarships, build public chess tables.

Texas Tech University’s Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence announced a more than $320,000 pledge that will fund scholarships for recruiting chess talent and pay to install three public (double) chess tables on campus.

The gift, given by an anonymous donor, will provide $320,000 for scholarships in which Knight Raiders team coaches Susan Polgar and Paul Truong can use discretionally to attract chess players to Lubbock. It builds upon $25,000 already given to Texas Tech’s chess program by the benefactor in 2007 and will provide revenue over five years beginning in the fall.

Additional funds will support the installation three concrete chess tables between Texas Tech’s Student Union Building and Library in hopes that the public setting will create more exposure and enthusiasm on campus for the game and attract more student players.

SPICE leaders hope the money will spur further support for the fledgling program. Texas Tech has enjoyed a growing number of inquiries from student chess players as it built its program over the past three years; Polgar’s hiring in 2007 broadened the university’s recruitment reach as she garnered interest from an international pool of potential checkmaters.

“Our benefactor feels that chess is an outstanding surplus preparation for the real world, such as the marketplace,” said Haraldur R. Karlsson, associate professor in geosciences and faculty advisor to the Knight Raiders. “Chess helps nurture and develop critical thinking skills. He hopes that other donors will follow his lead and help build SPICE into a world renowned institution.”

“The amazing attention SPICE has received from potential students from around the world is testimony to Grandmaster Polgar’s reputation,” said James E. Brink, associate vice provost of the Heritage Consortium for the Natural and Historic Southwest, who coordinates SPICE efforts. “Outstanding chess players are most often outstanding students, and this scholarship support will greatly assist us in recruiting a world-class chess team.”

SPICE promotes chess as academic and outreach tool and provides an almost unprecedented forum for academic research on the game.

CONTACT: Hal Karlsson, advisor, Knight Raiders Chess Club, hal.karlsson@ttu.edu; Paul Truong, director of marketing and public relations, paul.truong@ttu.edu, SPICE, Texas Tech University, (806) 392-0758 or chess@ttu.edu.
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