USCF Press Release

US Chess Federation PRESS RELEASE – April 2, 2008

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) announces the 2008 U S Senior Championship to be held at the Marriott Hotel, Boca Raton, Florida from April 28 to May 3.

Concurrent with the Championship will be the Chess Collectors International (CCI) annual meeting. More than 150 world-famous chess sets will be on display. Also on display will be several sets from the world acclaimed “Dean Collection.” Dr. George Dean will be giving a talk on his collection, the evolution and historical significance of the chess pieces and some anecdotal tales about how he acquired some of the sets such as the world’s only two Farbage chess sets.,

Among scheduled events during this chess week, will be an auction of chess sets at the Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach. The auction will include worldwide participation over the Internet and eBAY. Information on the auction will be on the Galleries website www.agopb.com.

The closing banquet and awards presentations will be on Saturday, May 3rd. World Women’s Chess Champion Susan Polgar will be the featured speaker. Three new inductees to the US Chess Hall of Fame will be honored at the dinner.

CCI will be holding a "Chess Fair" with chess sets, chess books and chess ephemera for sale , OPEN and FREE TO THE PUBLIC, at the Marriott Hotel in Boca Raton on Friday, May 2d, from 1 to 3 PM

BANQUET AGENDA

Boca Marriott Hotel – Sat., May 3 @ 7:00pm,

Opening - Floyd Sarisohn, Don Schultz

Pledge of Allegiance - Joel Channing

New Hall of Famers - Al Lawrence

Special Awards USCF - Don Schultz

Senior Open Champion Presentation - Susan Polgar.

Special Awards CCI - Floyd Sarisohn

Closing Remarks - Susan Polgar

Music - Arun Bhagwat

For more information/reservations, please contact Donald Schultz at (561) 243 2932 or email him at chessdon@aol.com

SPICE News

Tech chess champ honored for Women's History Month

World chess champion and Texas Tech employee Susan Polgar was honored during a Women's History Month celebration hosted by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr.

Polgar, director of Texas Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence and coach of the Knight Raiders chess team, was one of six distinguished honorees at the event, also hosted by the Women's City Club of New York and the New York League of Women's Voters.

Source: Avalanche Journal

Knight Raiders

Tech's Knight Raiders Chess Team flies high at competition
By Ashley Simpson AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Friday, March 14, 2008
Story last updated at 3/14/2008 - 2:18 am

The Knight Raiders Chess Team took second place at the 2008 Southwest Collegiate Championship in Houston last weekend - the best ever showing in team history.

Nearly 1,500 players statewide attended the competition. Texas Tech's team placed ahead of the University of Texas in Austin and behind the University of Texas in Dallas.

"We were playing against the No. 1 team in the nation, so I'm really stoked about (our win)," said Chase Watters, president of Tech's chess team. "We're hoping to get some international masters and grandmasters next year."

Team members Stephanie Ballom, Walter Albeldano and Bryan Pernes, along with Watters, brought home the second-place award.

Susan Polgar, head coach and director of Tech's Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, said the award is a significant accomplishment for the community.

"It was a wonderful achievement for our students," said Polgar. "I'm very proud of them."

Polgar, winner of four Women's World Chess Championships, 10 Olympic medals and Women's World Chess Cup, said she hopes her team will continue to make Lubbock proud.

Ballom said Polgar is always there for the team to provide help and encouragement.

"Susan is an amazing coach," she said.

The team prepared for the event with relentless practice and weekly tournaments, said Albeldano.

"We've been working hard," he said. "I'm excited to be part of it."

Source: Avalanche Journal

The Knight Raiders met Dr. Brink

L to R: Dr. Jim Brink, me, Dr. Hal Karlsson, Walter Albeldano, Chase Watters, Bryan Pernes and Stephanie Ballom

The Knight Raiders honored

L to R: Dr. Hal Karlsson, Chase Watters, Dr. Jim Brink, Walter Albeldano, me, Bryan Pernes and Stephanie Ballom

The Texas Tech University Knight Raiders chess team recorded its best finish in team history at the prestigious Southwest Collegiate Championship held last weekend (March 8 – 9) in Houston.

Team members Chase Watters, Bryan Pernes, Stephanie Ballom and Walter Albedano earned second-place honors over teams including the University of Texas at Austin and the Lone Star College. (Cory Chandler)

The globe behind us has a very rich history. This is Texas Tech University 1688 Coronelli Terrestrial Globe, one of only three in North America. It was designed and constructed in the Venetian workshop of the Franciscan Father Vincenzo Coronelli.

In 1920, it was purchased by American newspaper magnate and tireless art collector William Randolph Hearst from a Paris antiques dealer. The globe was left crated until 1941, when Hearst auctioned it off. Texas Tech University purchased the globe in 1968 from Dallas oilman Robert B. Moody as the library's one millionth acquisition.

Due to its deteriorating condition, the 300 year old globe was removed from public display in the mid 1980's. Realizing the globe's historic and aesthetic significance, then Texas Tech Regent James E. Sowell provided funding for an extensive conservation treatment. This restoration, which was dedicated to First Lady Laura Bush in May 1997, has made it possible for the Coronelli Globe to be on permanent exhibit in the Southwest Collection / Special Collections Library.

CBS TV Chess Video Clip

Click here to see the CBS TV Chess Video clip with Emmy Award winner anchor Cindy Hsu.

Chess giant recognized during Women's History Month

Susan Polgar Honored in New York City

Chess giant recognized during Women’s History Month event.

Written by Cory Chandler

International magnate and Texas Tech University chess ambassador Susan Polgar was a featured honoree during a Women’s History Month celebration hosted by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr.

Polgar, director of Texas Tech’s Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and coach of the Knight Raiders, was one of five city leaders honored at the event, co-sponsored by the Women’s City Club of New York and The League of Women Voters of the City of New York.

“Ms. Polgar captured her first world title by winning the World Chess Championships for girls under 16 at the age of 12 in 1982,” Thompson said.

“In 1986, Ms. Polgar broke the gender barrier in becoming the first woman in history to qualify for the Men’s World Chess Championship at the age of 16. Though she qualified, her gender kept her from participating, and in response the World Chess Federation eventually was forced to change its rules and admit women players. She earned a men’s Grandmaster title five years later.”

Here is the full article.

Knight Raiders finished 2nd at Southwest Collegiate Championship

The Knight Raiders Chess Team finished 2nd at Southwest Collegiate Championship!

The 2008 Texas Scholastic Championship and Southwest Collegiate Championship were held in Houston at the Hilton Americas on March 8-9. The event drew 1,437 players statewide from primary to college.

The Knight Raiders Chess Team from Texas Tech University had the best ever showing in team history. The team finished in 2nd place behind the University of Texas in Dallas and ahead of the University of Texas in Austin!

Congratulations to the Knight Raiders for the fine showing and UTD for winning another championship!

Team members:

Chase Watters
Stephanie Ballom
Bryan Pernes
Walter Albeldano

Head Coach:

Susan Polgar

Texas State Chess Association website: http://www.texaschess.org/

Special essay by Grandmaster Imre Hera

Special essay by Grandmaster Imre Hera of Hungary

This is from my column in ChessCafe this month
http://www.chesscafe.com/polgar/polgar.htm

People often ask me about what it takes to become a grandmaster and how they differ from a typical chess player. Here is an enlightening essay by Hungarian grandmaster Imre Hera. He is the first GM to receive a scholarship to Texas Tech University, and he hopes to attend in the fall of 2008.

How was a grandmaster born?

Everyone who wants to do something in a professional way knows well that success does not come easy. One has to work hard to achieve his goals and has to give up some of the comforts he is used to. When I was a child, the situation was quite the same and I learned this lesson at an early age.

I started playing chess at the age of 4. First, I learned the basics: the name of the squares, the pieces, the openings and the endings from my father. I was only 6 years old when a friend of our family asked me to give a simultaneous for a group of journalists during an event. Everybody was surprised when I defeated six of the eleven players and drew with three others. A daily newspaper wrote an article about the event and the official Hungarian chess magazine Sakkélet gave a full-page of coverage about me.

These first tastes of success encouraged both me and my father to put more effort into chess. When I turned 7, my father searched for a personal trainer to help develop my skills. As we were not a rich family, we had to save money for the trainer’s wage. Therefore, we did not buy as much clothes, toys, or accessories as other families did. First I was going to school in the mornings and had chess lessons in the afternoons. But as I developed more in chess, I needed more and more training sessions. My parents decided to put me in a ‘private pupil’ status, so that I had more time for chess. This meant having exams in Math and other subjects during the summer when other children were on their vacation.

My very first adult Hungarian team championship came in 1996. My debut couldn’t be better: I won the championship. Everybody who has achieved an aim for what he had worked for many years knows it well – that sweet taste of victory. And when one has tasted it for the first time, he wants it again. That success – still at the age of 10 – made me even more determined to become a better player.

My second big challenge was the 1996 world championship finals at Menorca. It was my second time traveling abroad. Traveling through Barcelona was a huge experience for me. My whole family supported me all the way – my mother accompanied me to Spain. In the end, I finished fifth in the tournament. Many of the competitors who appeared there already had their master or grandmaster titles by then.

After Spain things sped up: I was signed by a club participating in the Hungarian First Division - Matador – and was immediately given the third place in rank. In that same year I was invited to the ‘98 Rapid World Championship Finals in France. In the end, I won the world championship, which is one of the most favorite memories of my life so far. This can be better understood if one imagines that he is in EuroDisney – one of the children’s favorite places in Europe for free and finishes a competition with a perfect of 8 points out of 8 games. I was even interviewed by the Chinese National Television. When I finally got home, I was on the front page of the national sport newspaper and several other newspapers. For a while I felt like a star. In those days I also learned a lot about how to deal with success and how to put behind achievement when I had to go forward.

Though it seemed that success followed success in my life, there were always lows to bring me back to reality. Meanwhile I had graduated from primary school and started my secondary school in which they did not allow me to continue my studies as a private student. For that I had to focus less on chess for a long time. Little successes – like participating in the secondary school’s team – cheered me up during that time. Our school won the first place in the national “student Olympic” championship twice. For the second championship I requested from our trainer to share my knowledge with my teammates in order to help them develop into better players. I was also invited to other schools to give simultaneous exhibitions, but I did not take part any active tournaments. I just played team games.

School was not the only problem during those days. Two other shocking events happened to me: my parents divorced and our club went bankrupt – which of course meant that we had to give up participating in the First Division. I had to look for a new club for the first time in four years. Fortunately, my father not only taught me how to face success but failures as well, so I could get back on my feet.

Three years passed with practicing and I continued my path of collecting new championships. I won the European Rapid Championship trophy in Graz 2000. After secondary school, I decided to return to chess. I wanted to be an IM, as I had one norm before at the age of 11. I reached the international master level unexpectedly quickly in two months in 2005, which opened the gates for me to foreign championships. I got signed by a Polish, a Slovakian and a new Hungarian club. I had my first league victory with my Slovakian team (Komarno) in 2006 and in 2007 we repeated the victory.

My biggest challenge was to become an international grandmaster, which I reached at the 2007 European Individual Championship in Dresden. I even received an invitation to the final 128 in the World Cup in Khanty Mansysk, Russia. I saw some of the top players in the world there and had to fight against grandmaster Rublevsky. Unfortunately, he was a too big of a ‘fish’ for me to defeat.

Now, in the 14th year of my professional chess career, I have almost attained all that I wanted. I have signed with several clubs, earned the grandmaster title and several titles as well. But I am still far away from being number one in my sport and I still have plenty to learn. I saw many players who got stuck in development at my level. This happened because of laziness in some cases, while with some others it was because they could not set up new challenges for themselves. I do not want to lay back in my armchair because I feel that I can reach whatever I want in chess.

On the way home from Russia I was wondering on the plane whether all these efforts were worth it all. I have to say: totally. I have learned a lot about how to appear, how to communicate and how to behave among foreign people. I even learned how to live on my own – for a week or more – in a foreign country and be away from my family. Sometimes I feel like I should regret the many things that I gave up for practicing chess when I was a child, but the success that I have achieved has compensated that feeling.

With my short autobiography I wanted to show that one can achieve success (or even more) that one has dreamed of, but only if he works hard and brings his best to the game. That is the only way to become a ‘grandmaster’ in any aspect of life.

This was in my ChessCafe column this month. Click here to read my column this month.

Women's History Month

Lubbock Open Championship

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE)
and The Susan Polgar Foundation

present

Lubbock Open Chess Championship
Saturday, April 26, 2008
A 4 Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/30)

Event Site: Monterey High School Lubbock, TX
Contact Info: 806-742-7742 E-mail: Susan.Polgar@ttu.edu or Chess@ttu.edu

Description of Tournament: A USCF rated Open event.

There is a total of 30 minutes maximum per player per game.

On-site registration and check in 9am-10:30am. All players must check in by 10:30am.

Round schedule:

Round Start time

1 - 11:00 AM
2 - 1:00 PM
3 - 2:30 PM
4 - 4:00 PM

Entry Fee: $20 received by 4/18. After 4/18 or on site $30. USCF membership required (available on site).

Prizes: Trophies to top 3 finishers. Cash prizes: $100-$75-$40, Top U-1600, Top U-1200, Top Unrated $40 each. All cash prizes are based on a minimum of 20 paid entries.

Please send Entry form and Fees to 6923 Indiana Ave. #154 Lubbock, TX 79413.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entry Form: Please PRINT all information and make check / money order to Susan Polgar Foundation.
Name: ___________________________ Phone: (___) _________
Address: ______________________ City/State:______ Zip:______
Email:_____________ DOB: __________Section_____________
USCF Rating (if any) ____USCF ID#:____ Amount Enclosed $____
(No cash, please)

SPICE article in Techsan

SPICE article in Techsan

Page 24-27 (March 2008 - Techsan)

Stephanie Ballom

Stephanie Ballom in “Sweet 16″ magazine back in 2005

The above article is not from NEW IN CHESS, but Guideposts Sweet 16 magazine. More on the NEW IN CHESS later. This article was titled, “Queen of the Board” and written by Lisa Freeman. It was about Stephanie Ballom who (at the time) had just won the 1st All-Girls National Championship in Chicago, Illinois. The article written stated that she had troubles in school until she picked up a book on how to play chess in the bookstore. She stated when she read the strategies in the chess book, something clicked and her grades started to improve.

Stephanie Ballom was a standout at Mansfield Highschool in Mansfield, Texas and won a $30,000 scholarhip to University of Texas-Dallas. Despite winning this opportunity, she decided to attend Texas Tech University. Now a sophomore, she is able to keep chess as one of her activities since GM Susan Polgar took a position there run SPICE, the Susan Polgar Insititute for Chess Excellence.

Here is the full article from the Chess Drum.

Chess: It's a Girl thing Summer Camp

Announcing:

First annual CHESS: It’s a GIRL thing Special Summer Camp

(in conjunction with the famous Science: It’s a Girl thing Camp and the Susan Polgar All-Star Girl’s Chess Camp) at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX

July 21-24, 2008

For information, please email: Chess@ttu.edu
Phone: 806-742-7742

The Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls will be held on July 27-August 1 at Texas Tech University.

Texas Tech Knight Raiders recognized

AUSTIN - Texas Tech men's basketball coach Bob Knight, who recently earned his 900th victory when the Red Raiders defeated archrival Texas A&M, is well-known for being the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.

Knight, other LISD-related winners get awards
By Enrique Rangel
A-j Austin Bureau

Wednesday, January 30, 2008Story last updated at 1/30/2008 - 1:40 am

AUSTIN - Texas Tech men's basketball coach Bob Knight, who recently earned his 900th victory when the Red Raiders defeated archrival Texas A&M, is well-known for being the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.

But what many basketball fans may not know is that Knight also has a long history of involvement in reading programs for low-income youngsters.

The Texas Association of Partners in Education wants to make sure that the whole world also knows about Knight's work with those kids.

On Tuesday night, the association, better known for its acronym, TAPE, recognized Knight at an Austin banquet for his work with Knight Readers, the program he started in 1994 while coaching at the University of Indiana.

"This means a lot to him because that is what he's tried to do," said Steve Downing, Texas Tech senior associate athletic director for sports programs, who received the award on behalf of Knight because the Red Raiders had a practice.

One of the other six other winners were:

• Texas Tech Chess Club (Knight Raiders): "This after-school club is unique in that it allows any student to participate in the sport no matter their physical or mental abilities," the program said.

Here is the full story.

TCA Chess in Education Workshop

TCA Chess in Education workshop, March 8, 2008, 1-5 p.m. (Houston), co-organized by Dr. Alexey Root and Luis Salinas.

Sponsors: Texas Chess Association (TCA), The University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB), Texas Tech University (TTU), and The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).


KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: RUSSELL HARWOOD (UTB) and Grandmaster SUSAN POLGAR (TTU)

Press release contact: Alexey Root alexey.root@gmail.com. Release date: January 30, 2008.

The TCA Chess in Education workshop is open for registration. Participant fee information: $15 for participants in advance, $20 at the door. Refreshments will be served. Advance fees to: TCA Treasurer Barb Swafford, 2709 Longhorn Trail, Crowley, TX 76036-4719; 214-533-0061, barbrounds@gmail.com.

Workshop Location: Held in conjunction with the Texas Scholastic Chess Championships, March 8-9, 2008. Hilton Americas-Houston & George E. Brown Convention Center 1001 Avenida de las Americas Houston, TX 77010. 1-800-236-2905 and ask for chess rate.

Workshop Schedule:

1:00-1:30 Dr. Steve Lipschultz, Think Like A King School Chess Software, presents a Demonstration of An Interactive System to Establish Chess At Any School.
The Think Like A King School Chess Software System is used in 1500 schools nationwide, and has become the Official Scholastic Software of the US Chess Federation. See an in-depth demonstration of how it can be used to quickly build chess programs throughout an entire school district.

1:30-2:30 Keynote Speaker Russell Harwood, Chess Program Director UTB/TSC, presents, The Chess Boom in Brownsville, Texas, and Tips for Duplicating it Where You Live.

Scholastic chess is booming in Brownsville, Texas, and the surrounding communities. Of the 50 schools in the Brownsville Independent School District, at least 35 have active chess programs. Six different Brownsville ISD schools have won national chess championships, led by Dr. Americo Paredes Elementary’s seven national titles. Two elementary school students have tied for individual national championships, and many others have finished in the top five. The chess success of our local schools got the attention of Dr. Juliet Garcia, President of The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, who formed a chess program at UTB/TSC so that area students would have the opportunity to earn scholarships and compete in chess at the university level. The Brownsville Independent School District has gotten onboard, and now allocates about $400,000 per year to their chess program. Chess has become a source of pride to BISD, UTB/TSC, and our community, and is now part of our identity. How did all of this come about? How can these results be duplicated elsewhere? Are there other successful models in our area? How does the future look? These questions and more will be addressed during this informative presentation.

2:30-3:00 Keynote Speaker Susan Polgar, Director of SPICE at Texas Tech University, presents her experiences in chess and education.

Grandmaster Polgar is the only person – male or female- to win chess’ Triple Crown, comprised of Rapid, Blitz and Classical World Championships. She is the top-ranked woman player in the United States and was the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title. Susan currently is the director of SPICE at Texas Tech University and the head coach of the Knight Raiders’ chess team. She is arguably the most active promoter of scholastic chess in the United States, visiting countless schools and communities across the country. After a short presentation a Q&A session will follow.

3:00-3:30 Refreshment Break. During the refreshment break, Dr. Alexey Root, author of Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving, presents an activity from her book.

Looking to combine educational goals with chess? Dr. Root presents an activity from her most recent book that teaches the geometry of the board along with the particular way in which knights move, all wrapped up in a fun story. Come hear, and participate in, “Coco Can’t Wait.”

3:30-4:00 Jerry Nash, Scholastic and FIDE Director for USCF, presents Strategies to Introduce Chess as an Educational Tool: Coordinating the Five Communities.

Scholastic chess has seen a dramatic increase within the last twenty years. In 1988, the United States Chess Federation’s youth and scholastic members totaled approximately 7000. By 2002, the two age groups combined for over 53,000 members. The state of chess in education may be characterized by its status as two types of programs: after-school and curriculum instruction. By far the majority of scholastic chess programs fall within the after-school category. The coordination of four communities – educational, civic, business, and political communities – along with the chess community is critical for the development of opportunities to demonstrate the value of chess for instruction.

4:00-4:30 Thomas Johnston, scholastic chess coach and former president of the Gateway Chess League, presents Keeping Chess Fun! Activities for Your School’s Club.

Participants will learn how to get organized, where to find some great resources at little or no cost, how to get parents involved and how to get your school involved in chess and your club involved in the life of your school. “Fun” sometimes involves hard work so we will also explore a few ideas about how to increase the work and fun at the same time. We will also consider a few fun ways and places to play and teach chess. Mr. Johnston has been a scholastic chess coach at Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis for more than 17 years and is currently a member of the advisory council of the Gateway Chess League, the largest scholastic chess organization in Missouri.

4:30-5:00 Clemente Rendon, TCA Vice President, presents The Future of TCA.
TCA continues to be one of the country’s strongest state chess organizations, with unprecedented growth and opportunities. In order to accommodate this growth, strategic planning is critical. An eagle eye’s view will be given, which includes the current status, goals, and focus that the organization will have for the next few years.


About UT Brownsville

The University of Texas at Brownsville has been a member of The University of Texas System since 1991. In cooperation with Texas Southmost College, The University serves more than 12,000 students at its campus located in Brownsville, Texas. In Partnership with Texas Southmost College, The University offers a wide range of courses from Associate and Baccalaureate degrees to graduate classes and continuing education. For additional information about UT Brownsville, please visit the University’s website at http://www.utb.edu/.


About Texas Tech University

With nearly 29,000 students yet a cozy-feeling campus, Texas Tech students get the benefits of a major research institution without getting lost in the crowd. Texas Tech offers more than 150 degree programs through ten colleges. Texas Tech has a top-ranked School of Law, a Graduate School, and a Health Sciences Center that leads the country in areas such as aging and border health. They’re all located on the same campus. In 2007, TTU established the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) with its mission being

• To promote chess as vehicle for enriching education
• To serve as the global center for chess research, education and development
• To support and promote competitive chess at the college level
• To recruit outstanding undergraduate and graduate students

For additional information about TTU, please visit the University's website at http://www.ttu.edu

About UT Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 14,500 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The University offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UT Dallas, please visit the University's website at http://www.utdallas.edu/.

About TCA

The Texas Chess Association (TCA) promotes chess throughout the state of Texas. It is the official United States Chess Federation (USCF) state organization for Texas. The TCA promotes chess in many ways, including selecting organizers for annual state-wide tournaments for both children and adults; sponsoring the annual scholastic chess championship and certifying the participants for the national Denker and Polgar tournaments; providing stipends for participants in various national and international tournaments; providing chess sets and boards for new scholastic chess clubs at discounted prices; and publishing an award-winning, bi-monthly magazine, Texas Knights. The TCA is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit the TCA website at http://www.texaschess.org/.

A game that's fit for Kings and Kids

Chess is a game that's fit for kings and kids
Experts say it builds strong minds

By Chad Brooks Daily Herald Staff
Published: 1/27/2008 12:21 AM

In this day and age, when businesses will spend millions to develop the next hot video game, one simple board game endures.

Chess, considered the oldest skill game in the world, seems to be as popular as ever, especially among the younger generation.

To capitalize on that, Barrington's Yury Shulman Chess School recently hosted an exhibition match featuring three grandmasters from across the world.

Nearly 60 players -- more than half of whom were children -- got to take on three grandmasters: Shulman, Alexander Onischuk and Susan Polgar -- for a rare glimpse at how the minds of the greatest chess players work.

"You are lucky if you get one grandmaster and here you get three," Polgar said. "So that is very special."

Grandmaster, a lifetime honor, is the highest title a chess player can attain.

Barrington's Kiran Frey, one of the event organizers, said she's seen interest in the game among children grow by leaps and bounds in the past decade.

"It has come a real long way," Frey said.

She became involved in chess after her son, Rishi Sethi, started playing while attending Barrington's Grove Elementary in 1998.

At first, he was the only one in his school playing chess, Frey said.

After speaking with the principal, a chess club was started, and it became the first of many in Barrington Area Unit District 220. Today, there are programs in each of the district's 11 schools.

"It has been really, really amazing to see (the clubs) develop," Frey said.

Sevan Muradian, president of the Glenview-based North American Chess Association, said he too has definitely seen a resurgence in the game in today's youth.

"There are more and more programs in elementary and middle schools," Muradian said. "It is another great outlet for a child's creativity."

Besides seeing their kids have fun, Muradian said there's a host of reasons parents keep their kids playing.

"I think parents are realizing it is a very good mental stimulus for the child," he said. "They are able to use critical thinking skills while playing."

Edward McDougal of Northfield believes chess has had a big, positive impact on his 7-year-old's development.

"We could start to see it was shaping his brain and making him more disciplined with his schoolwork," McDougal said.

His son Eddie, along with four other children from the Kings and Queens chess school in Glenview -- including Palatine's Gurveer Singh -- took first place in the annual National Youth Action Chess tournament in St. Louis last November.

"It just gave him a boost of confidence to know that all his hard work has paid off," McDougal said.

Polgar, a four-time world champion and chess coach at Texas Tech University, travels the country and loves to see kids getting involved.

"Chess is a wonderful educational tool," Polgar said.

Here is the full story.

Over $100,000 in scholarships and prizes

The Susan Polgar Foundation, in conjunction with SPICE, successfully organized our largest event to date, the 3rd annual Susan Polgar National Open. Over 350 players from beginners to grandmaster competed in this event which was held in Brownsville, Texas on January 18-20, 2008.

Over $100,000 in scholarships, 9 state of the art laptop computers, cash and chess prizes were awarded.

Special thanks to Dan and Chris DeLeon, Victor Flores, Victor Bailey, Susan Breeding and everyone else who helped make this a fantastic event!

Community Outreach - Chess in the schools

January 12, 2008

SPICE, the English Department, the College of Education, the Knight Raiders, Dr. Rich Rice, Dr. Hal Karlsson and Jerry Perez sponsored and organized the Chess and Education workshop for teachers from various schools in Lubbock and nearby areas. Over 30 teachers from 11 schools came for this workshop.

Many more will take place in the near future.

SPICE outreach - U of Washington

by Gregory Alexander

For two days in a row, the student paper put Susan Polgar on the first page of the paper, The Daily (University of Washington). Here was the student reporters article regarding the event:

The crowd was diverse — men, women, students, adults and even children — but one thing was clear when chess grandmaster Susan Polgar entered the room: a celebrity had arrived. The Chess Club at the UW invited Polgar to speak on campus at the Mechanical Engineering Building last night, and she drew a large crowd.

Polgar, who broke down gender barriers in the male-dominated world of chess when she qualified as the first woman to compete in the Men’s World Chess Championship, touched on issues of gender, technology and education in her speech.

“She’s an incredible chess player,” said Brian Rowe, a UW alumnus who brought his young daughter.

A small, elegant woman with a steady blue gaze, Polgar fielded questions from around the room, which was so crowded that people leaned casually against the doors. The questions were as diverse as the audience, and Polgar answered them with the assistance of her husband, manager and fellow chess player, Paul Truong, who called her “one of the breakthrough[s] for women” in chess.

Polgar said that gender doesn’t matter during a game.

“You look at the board and moves [rather than the opposing player],” she said. “It’s not who you play, but what you play.”

A question arose regarding nationality and its link to a chess player’s style. Polgar dismissed the notion, remarking that you can’t tell an Icelandic from a Bulgarian simply by looking at their playing styles.

Polgar said that chess is not a game decided by nationality or gender but instead by “who blunders less and who takes advantage of the opponent’s blunders.”

The discussion moved later to the effect of technology on chess. Players should not be scared away from using computers to enhance their chess playing, she said. “Chess programs don’t harm chess players,” she said. Instead, chess software “enriches the chess community.” Chess software can level the playing field for people who may not have access to chess clubs like those that exist in metropolitan areas.

On the other hand, technology can also facilitate cheating, Polgar said, although most online servers can usually catch cheating. Certain tournaments make players go through X-ray machines like in an airport, she said after Truong described an incident in which a player used an earpiece to communicate with another person calculating moves with a computer.

As a child, Polgar spent six to eight hours a day solving puzzles, studying strategy and playing games. Her father was not a professional player, but he helped her practice.

Polgar and Truong have developed a curriculum that incorporates the tenets of chess into all subjects taught in a classroom. In the classroom and at home, chess can be used as a tool to teach anyone organization, logic and concentration, no matter his or her age, Polgar said.

“The most important thing for a young player is to have fun,” she said.

Source: http://chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=658&p=3923#p3923