Brianna N. Conley

Brianna Conley is a representative from Ohio in the 2nd Annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls. Below is her essay:

Pursuing a Polgar Invitation

Every year girls from around Ohio would come out to play in the Columbus School for Girls (CSG) All Girl Tournament, but it was not an All Girls State Championship. I had been the tournament champion last year. Thanks to the efforts of Susan Polgar, this year Ohio created an All Girl State Championship and also told everyone that the winner of the open section would be the Ohio representative to go to the Polgar Invitational. I was so excited. Because Ohio didn’t have an official system to select who would represent Ohio in the Polgar Invitational. I wasn’t selected to go last year and this year would be my chance to represent Ohio.

It was one week before the All Girl State Championship. My coach registered my name late so that it was not posted on the internet and opponents wouldn’t have time to study my games. So far, of the girls listed, I would be the highest rated girl in the tournament. As it came closer to tournament time, I studied more and more and soon the week was gone.

It was finally tournament day, another early Saturday morning. As I was waiting in line, I noticed that the person in front of us was 7th grade National Champion, Abby Marshall, checking in. I was somewhat nervous. I knew I would have to play her to win the All Girl State Championship. Never in my five years of playing chess had I ever had to play her in a tournament. I was finally going to play Abby.

I told my coach what I had seen and he told me not to worry about it and to just play the board not the person. Now I was into my 4th round and it was my turn to play Abby. I walked into the freezingly cold CSG gym and took my seat in front of the chessboard. Soon after, Abby took her seat and we began. I was in time trouble, mainly because I had missed Abby’s one mistake, and she caught mine which cost me the game. It was the best game I played in the tournament. Abby and I both won our last game making her the Ohio All Girl State Champion and me the first runner up.

Now Abby had two invitations to the Polgar Invitational. Unfortunately for me, she chose the State invitation that came with $250.00 award from The Ohio Chess Association. This made my chances of going to the Polgar less than 50/50 since I couldn’t take the national invitation because we weren’t in the same grade. So I wrote the Polgar Foundation and requested a wildcard seat. My coach told me that I would focus on the U.S. Open while waiting for a reply.

It came closer and closer to August and I received an e-mail that Susan Polgar had personally approved my attendance. When I realized I would participate in the Polgar I couldn’t believe it. I started thinking “am I ready?” I called my coach and told him the exciting news. He said I had a special responsibility to play well. I was so happy. Now the Polgar would be my focus because I can always play in an U.S. Open, but the Polgar was a very special event.

On the first day of the Polgar I was nervous. Not everyone could participate in this event so I felt privileged to be here. I became acquainted with two girls from North Carolina and a girl from Arkansas. I spotted Abby and the Kobalka family whose son Andrew played in the Denker we’re all from Ohio. We greeted each other and took our seats for the opening ceremony to begin. I looked around the room at all the young girls and boys engaging in this event.

I saw a picture of the girls who attended last year and the medallions around their necks. I sat anxiously awaiting to receive mine. The medallions were heavier than the other medals I had received in the past, along with the collector’s card of GM Susan Polgar. I never got the chance to meet GM Arnold Denker, but I wish I could have.

The Polgar tournament was an experience for me. I learned so much. Everybody was really nice and it was just a different environment to play in. I was so used to having my poker face on and it was a challenge to loosen up as if I were at school with my classmates. I liked playing with the FIDE time controls. I had never done that before.

I was also playing in the U.S. Open, so I saw the grandmasters games shown on the demo boards and I thought it was cool that in the Polgar and the Denker the top players had their games shown on the demo board. Every game at the Polgar was a challenging one. I had a three hour game and drew a 1777 player from North Carolina. There was no easy in and out games. I even got a chance to play a girl that I had looked to as an idol, Stephanie Ballom, 1693 (TX). I had studied her games in ChessBase. By winning that last game against her, I ended with a plus score and in 18th place.

At the beginning of the tournament, I didn’t think about where I would finish, but I knew that there was plenty of strong competition and at the end of the tournament is when I realized where I started from. This year I started in 33rd place and finished 18th. With more practice, next year, I think it is very possible to finish in the tournament’s top five.