2008 SPICE Cup Schedule

2008 SPICE Cup Schedule

September 19
1:00pm-1:30pm International Opening Ceremony
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 1

September 20
11:00am-5:30pm Scholastic Open
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 2

September 21
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 3

September 22
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 4
7:30pm-9:30pm Simul by GM Harikrishna

September 23
12:00pm-1:00pm Reception for International Participants
1:00pm-3:00pm Invitational Blitz tournament

September 24
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 5

September 25
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 6

September 26
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 7

September 27
10:30am-8:30pm SPICE Cup Open & TX Women’s Ch Rounds 1-3
2:00pm-6:30pm International Round 8

September 28
10:00am-3:30pm SPICE Cup Open & TX Women’s Ch Rounds 4-5
1:00pm-5:30pm International Round 9
5:30pm-6:30pm Closing ceremony

2008 SPICE Cup

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

In addition to having the games broadcast LIVE on MonRoi, ICC and other sources, we will also try to show LIVE video feeds and taped video interviews.

Here are the players:

USA - GM Onischuk, Alexander 2741 USCF / 2670 FIDE
IND - GM Pentala, Harikrishna 2724 USCF 2668 FIDE
GER - GM Kritz, Leonid 2647 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2656 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2678 USCF / 2605 FIDE
USA - GM Becerra, Julio 2647 USCF / 2598 FIDE
ISR - GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2680 USCF / 2592 FIDE
POL - GM Miton, Kamil 2702 USCF / 2580 FIDE
ISL - GM Stefansson, Hannes 2598 USCF / 2566 FIDE
USA - GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2591 USCF / 2555 FIDE (Defending Champion)

Average FIDE: 2605.5 (Category 15)
Average USCF: 2666.5

This will make the 2008 SPICE Cup the highest rated 10 person International RR event in U.S. history.

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 Open Grand Prix, SPICE Cup Scholastic, SPICE Cup Invitational Blitz, etc. Our goal is to add a group B next year and even more activities.

2008 TEXAS Women’s Open Chess Championship

Texas Tech University, Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE), The Knight Raiders & The Susan Polgar Foundation

present

2008 TEXAS Women’s Open Chess Championship
September 27-28, 2008
A 5 Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/75)

Event Site:
TTU, Student Union Building, Lubbock, TX
Contact Info: 806-742-7742 E-mail: Spice@ttu.edu

Description of Tournament:
An open tournament for female players of all ages. USCF and TCA memberships required. The top finishing Texas resident will be crowned as TX Women’s Champion.

Registration:
On-site registration and check in 8:30am-10:15am. All players must check in by 10:15am.

Round schedule:
Saturday 10:30am- 2:30pm- 7:00pm
Sunday 10:00am and 2:00pm.

Entry Fee:
$25 received by 8/30. $35 by 9/25 or $45 on site.
Prizes: $500-$250-$100 Top U1600 $100 Top Unrated $50

Other:
Chess sets and boards will be provided. Bring you own clock if you have one.

Please send Entry Blank and Fees to Susan Polgar Foundation at 6923 Indiana Ave. #154 Lubbock, TX 79413.

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Entry Form: Please PRINT all information and make check / money order to Susan Polgar Foundation.

Name: ________________________ Phone: (_____) __________School____________
Address: __________________________ City/State:______________ Zip:_________
Email:__________________________ DOB: _________Section__________________
USCF Rating (if any) ______USCF ID#:______ Amount Enclosed (No cash, please) $______

TTU receives some prominent national recognition

Texas Tech, Lubbock receive some prominent national recognition
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, August 17, 2008

The support for SPICE and chess is widespread in Lubbock. For such unparalleled support for SPICE and chess, Texas Tech and Lubbock were recently awarded two of the highest national honors on Aug. 9 in Dallas.

Tech was named the Co-College of the Year (with UTD), and Lubbock was named the Co-Chess City of the Year (with Tulsa, Okla.) by the U.S. Chess Federation. And recognition for Lubbock and Tech as leaders in chess will only get bigger.

• The Knight Raiders chess team just added a new powerful member, International Chess Master Gergely Antal of Hungary. He will be the highest-rated player in team history.

Born in 1985, he was one of the top young talents in Hungary early in his career. Gergely decided to focus on his academic work instead of being a professional chess player.

He arrived in Lubbock a few days ago and he will begin his study at Tech in a few weeks.

With the addition of Gergely, the Knight Raiders chess team will be ranked in the top 10 nationally for the first time.

Three additional grandmasters are expected to join Texas Tech next year. Our strong recruiting process was made possible thanks to Texas Tech and an extremely generous pledge from a private donor earlier this year.

The gift provides $320,000 for TTU scholarships 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. With strong local support, we are making a very big difference.

Here is the full article.

Perfect rep for SC

Edgefield student travels to Texas for chess tournament
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:33 AM EDT

EDGEFIELD -- Hannah “Tori” Whatley didn’t win a recent chess tournament for girls, but she certainly left as a champion.

The South Carolina flag flew for the first time in the five-year history of the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, which occurred July 27 through Aug. 1 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Whatley joined the company of state champions from across the nation, competing in a tournament that eventually awarded a full, four-year $75,000 scholarship to the top player.

Whatley, a 12-year-old middle school student, moved from 51st to 38th in the competition, creating friendships along the way. This was evident during her first match, against Oklahoma’s Michelle Farell, a player rated at more than twice Whatley’s strength. Farell said Whatley was a far better opponent than she had anticipated.

After the Oklahoman took the game, the two girls joined as partners in the extracurricular “bughouse” chess tournament.

As Whatley took on opponent after opponent, South Carolina Chess Association president David Grimaud and his wife, Maureen, were able to witness their state representative’s final two winning rounds.

“Tori was a perfect representative for us,” Grimaud said. “We look forward to her leadership as a role model to help promote scholastic girls chess in South Carolina.”

When asked how it felt to sit in a room full of state champions, Whatley said, “I didn’t really see them as champions. I just saw them as new friends.”

Source: www.indexjournal.com

Special awards

Dr. Hal Karlsson receiving the Special USCF Service Award in Dallas. He also accepted the Chess College of the Year award of behalf of Texas Tech and the Chess City of the Year on behalf of the City of Lubbock.

Top 4 finishers

Top 4 finishers of the 2008 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls:

1. Courtney Jamison (TX)
2-3. Ashley Carter (MI) and Linda Diaz (NY)
4th on tie-breaks Rebekah Liu (CA)

The nation's elite

Here are the qualifiers of the 2008 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, the most prestigious all-girls event in the United States. The event was held at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion from July 27 to August 1, 2008.

California representative wins TTU scholarship

Riverside girl wins scholarship to Texas university with chess skills

10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, August 7, 2008
By JENNIFER DEAN
The Press-Enterprise

Growing up playing in chess tournaments, 17-year-old Nisha Deolalikar, was always surrounded by boys.

"In a room with say, 200 boys, there'd be 10 or 20 girls," Nisha said.

But competing in the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls last week, Nisha finally got to play in a room full of fellow female chess players.

Nisha, a Riverside resident and Poly High School senior, began playing chess in second grade. At the time, the Deolalikar family lived in Seattle, where chess clubs and scholastic tournaments were common throughout the region.

They moved to Riverside when Nisha began seventh grade. The family found that scholastic tournaments weren't common in the areas, so Nisha and her younger brother Sunil began playing in adult tournaments.

During a tournament last May, she earned the honor of representing the state of California at the tournament, which was hosted by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

One female chess player from each state in the nation gathered at the university July 27-Aug.

"There were six games, one every day," Nisha said.

Here is the full story.