Governor's Letter

Young star heading to Lubbock event

Young chess star headed to prestigious Texas tournament

Kaitlynn Loos has found success and friends through game
By Peter CentineoThe Weekly News
Published: Thursday, July 17, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Three years ago, Kaitlynn Loos decided she wanted to play chess.

Her father Doug had no idea why she wanted to play, but he and his wife Karen encouraged her and the 12-year-old has had great success.

She’ll be an eighth-grader at South Middle School this fall, and she’s also done well in the classroom, sporting a 4.0 GPA.

Doug Loos believes chess has had a direct impact on his daughter’s success in the classroom.

“She’s very competitive to start off, and she’ll tell you exactly how she feels. She doesn’t mince words,” he said. “But she’s also very analytical, and that comes from chess. I think it’s really had a great impact on her.”

Kaitlynn has won a number of tournaments, including the 2008 K-12 South Dakota State Championship this past winter. That victory earned her an invitation to the Susan Polgar Chess Invitational, being played in Lubbock, Tex., July 27 through Aug. 1.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s very exciting,” Kaitlynn said. “I started playing back in 2005 when we moved here and I started at Grandview. I didn’t have a lot of friends when we moved and chess really helped me meet some good kids.”

Kaitlynn and her family were living on the west side of town and she was attending Corral Drive Elementary School back in 2005, but she never got the chance to play chess because of the distance between the school and her home.

“My dad wanted to make sure I could get home OK and he thought it was too far to walk. It was pretty far but when we moved it all worked out,” Kaitlynn said.

She was extremely happy knowing she could pursue chess, and meet other kids with the same interest.

“When we moved and I found out I’d be able to play chess I was really happy. I played at Grandview and still go there and play,” she said.

“During the school year we play every day and go to at least one tournament a month.”

Her next tournament will probably be her biggest to date. She did go to nationals last year in Denver, but the Susan Polgar Chess Invitational is one of the most prestigious in the country.

The event is for girls in grades K-12, and just one girl from each state is invited. Polgar is a grandmaster in chess and has won four women’s world championships and five Olympic gold medals. To get the opportunity to play in such a competitive event is something Kaitlynn has been wanting for a long time.

“I think I’ve gotten some good experience from the different tournaments I’ve been to. This tournament is going to be very hard. There are going to be very good players,” she said. “But I should do OK.”

Karen Loos said Kaitlynn has what it takes to win it, it’s just a matter of getting there and seeing what the competition is like. She said Kaitlynn is very serious about chess, and said her daughter will probably be playing for some time.

“She’s been going to the Susan Polgar Web site and there’s a lot of good information there for her. The thing is when she goes to these tournaments she could be playing 18-year-olds in high school, but she does well,” Karen said.

The tournament will be played on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Here is the full story.

Representing California

Chess champion finds kindred spirits with new club

By JENNIFER DEAN
The Press-Enterprise

Chess lovers have a new home at the Riverside Public Library thanks to a Poly High School student, who also happens to be a nationally ranked chess competitor -- No. 60 in his age group.

Sunil Deolalikar, 15, began playing in kindergarten. Just in time for his sixth birthday, he took second place in his age group at the National Elementary School Championships in Phoenix.

Riverside had a chess club for almost 40 years, but it disbanded in the 1990s, said the previous club director James Williamson. There hasn't been another chess club in the area -- until now.

"We wanted a place to play," Sunil said.

Sunil grew up in Seattle, where chess clubs were common in elementary schools. His sister, Nisha, 17, began playing chess in second grade. She will represent California at the Susan Polgar National Invitational Tournament for Girls at Texas Tech on July 27-Aug. 1.

"I like that chess is so much more than a regular board game -- other games you can memorize the strategy," Nisha said. "You have to put your whole self into the game -- it's just you, the board and your opponent."

The family moved to Riverside when Sunil was in fifth grade and found, to their dismay, that there were no scholastic chess tournaments in the area.

"When the kids moved here, they got to playing adult tournaments," said Pama Deolalikar, Sunil and Nisha's mother. To improve their national ratings, the children had to compete. So they began to compete with adults.

"I think chess has been good for my kids," Deolalikar said. "The club meetings are open to everyone -- all levels of play."

Here is the full story.

SPICE Cup makes history!

The 2008 SPICE Cup will take place from September 19-28 at Texas Tech University (Student Union Building) in Lubbock, Texas.

The field for the 2008 SPICE Cup is now completed. I am pleased to announce that former World Junior Champion GM Harikrishna Pentala (India) has confirmed his participation in the 2008 SPICE Cup! The average rating is over 2605 which is FIDE Category 15. This makes the 2008 SPICE Cup the highest rated 10 person International RR event in U.S. history!


Here are just some of GM Harikrishna's accomplishments:

- World under-10 championship, 1996, Menorca (Spain), Gold
- World under-12 rapid championship, 1996, Paris, Silver
- Children's Olympiad, 1998, Istanbul, Gold
- Commonwealth championship, 2000, Sangli, Gold (under-18)
- India's youngest International Master, 2000
- Asian under-14 championship, 2000, Tehran, 2000-01, Gold
- Chess Olympiad, 2000, Istanbul, First Grandmaster (GM) norm
- Corus tournament, 2001, Wijk Aan Zee, Second GM norm
- Asian junior championship, 2001, Tehran, Silver
- Asian championship, 2001, Kolkata, Qualified for World championship; Final GM norm
- India's youngest GM, 2001
- Ron Banwell MSO Masters tournament, 2001, London, Gold
- Commonwealth championship, 2001, London, Gold
- World Junior Champion, 2004
- Tiayuan Chess Tournament (FIDE Category 15) in China on 20 July 2005, Clear First
- 9th Essent Tournament Hoogeveen, 2005, Clear First
- Bermuda Invitational Tournament, 2005, Shared First with Boris Gelfand
- Pamplona International Tournament, 2005, Shared Second with Ivan Cheparinov
- Reykjavik Open, 2006, Shared First
- 4th Marx Gyorgy Memorial tournament in Hungary, 2006, Clear First
- Defeated Arkady Naiditsch in Mainz to become Chess960 World Junior Champion
- Number two ranked junior under 20 in the world in 2006
- Top 50 overall in the world 2007 - 2008
- Member of 5 Indian Olympiad teams, including the 2008 Chess Olympiad
- Highest FIDE rating: 2682
- Highest FIDE ranking: #2 Junior in 2006 (Jan - Sept 2006) / #25 overall in the world (Apr - Sept 2006)

Here are the full list of players in the 2008 SPICE Cup:

USA - GM Onischuk, Alexander 2734 USCF / 2670 FIDE
IND - GM Pentala, Harikrishna 2724 USCF / 2668 FIDE
GER - GM Kritz, Leonid 2667 USCF / 2610 FIDE (Will attend TTU in the fall of 2009)
USA - GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2660 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2664 USCF / 2605 FIDE
USA - GM Becerra, Julio 2640 USCF / 2598 FIDE
ISR - GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2679 USCF / 2592 FIDE
POL - GM Miton, Kamil 2703 USCF / 2580 FIDE
ISL - GM Stefansson, Hannes 2597 USCF / 2566 FIDE
USA - GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2619 USCF / 2555 FIDE (Defending Champion)

Average FIDE: 2605
Average USCF: 2669

The SPICE Cup Invitational will be the main attraction of the annual SPICE Cup Festival. Other activities will include the 2008 Texas Women's Open Championship, SPICE Cup Grand Prix, SPICE Cup Scholastic, SPICE Cup Pro-Am event, etc. Our goal is to add a group B next year and even more activities.

A historic event coming to TTU

The 2008 SPICE Cup will take place from September 19-28 at Texas Tech University (Student Union Building) in Lubbock, Texas.

Here are the players:

USA - GM Onischuk, Alexander 2734 USCF / 2670 FIDE
GER - GM Kritz, Leonid 2667 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2660 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2664 USCF / 2605 FIDE
USA - GM Becerra, Julio 2640 USCF / 2598 FIDE
ISR - GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2679 USCF / 2592 FIDE
POL - GM Miton, Kamil 2703 USCF / 2580 FIDE
ISL - GM Stefansson, Hannes 2597 USCF / 2566 FIDE
USA - GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2619 USCF / 2555 FIDE (Defending Champion)

Average FIDE: 2605
Average USCF: 2663

The 10th player with a FIDE rating over 2650 has tentatively agreed to take part in the 2008 SPICE Cup. The average rating will be over 2605 which is FIDE Category 15. This will make the 2008 SPICE Cup the highest rated 10 person International RR event in U.S. history. The average USCF rating will be around 2663.

The SPICE Cup Invitational will be the main attraction of the annual SPICE Cup Festival. Other activities will include the 2008 Texas Women's Open Championship, SPICE Cup Grand Prix, SPICE Cup Scholastic, SPICE Cup Pro-Am event, etc. Our goal is to add a group B next year and even more activities.