There were 52 players participating in the 2008 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls. That was the record. This year, with a month to go, we already have 53 players confirmed with more to do so shortly.
How can one qualify?
– Be the official nominee from the state (By winning the state qualifier or be the #1 ranked player 18 and under from the state, etc. Each state has different rules and regulations. Check with your state representatives.).
– Win the official qualifying events such as the SP National Open for Girls or SP World Open for Girls, etc.
If players choose to stay on TTU’s campus, players who complete the tournament will receive free accommodation (based on double occupancy; small, additional fees for single rooms or to share with family members may occur) on campus at Texas Tech University. In addition, all qualified participants will receive free meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 6 days = 18 meals per player). Both are being provided by TTU Provost Office, SPICE and the Susan Polgar Foundation.
The prize fund, sponsored by the Susan Polgar Foundation and the U.S. Chess Trust, are $1,250 divided into four scholarship prizes: 1st ($500), 2nd ($300), 3rd ($250), and 4th ($200). These prizes are paid to the players directly by the U.S. Chess Trust and the Susan Polgar Foundation, but only upon receipt of proof of enrollment in a college, university, trade, community, or technical school.
In addition, a $500 Ursula Foster scholarship is also awarded to the highest finisher under the age of 14. The scholarship is divided in the case of a tie.
The winner of the tournament is crowned the Susan Polgar National Invitational Champion. Co-champions are recognized in the case of a tie, with each champion receiving a Champion’s Plaque or Trophy. The Champion (or Co-Champions) will automatically be invited to defend her title (must meet age requirement).
Texas Tech University agrees to award a four-year academic scholarship (to attend TTU) to the highest finishing player who has not graduated from high school by August (value at approximately $75,000-$80,000). The scholarship must begin the following year. Tie-break calculations will be used in the case of a tie for the TTU scholarship. There will also be scholarships available for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers.
The total value for the sponsorship from Texas Tech University, SPICE and the Susan Polgar Foundation is more than $1.5 million over 10 years. This is in addition to the substantial sponsorship from the U.S. Chess Trust and the family of Ursula Foster.
Rules and regulations can be found here. Additional important information can be found here.
Here is just the second preliminary list of the confirmed qualifiers. If you qualified but did not confirm or if you confirmed but your name is not on this list, please contact me (SusanPolgar@aol.com) or Mr. Dewain Barber (amchesseq@aol.com) as soon as possible.
If you know of qualifiers from states which have no representatives listed, please ask them to contact us as soon as possible.
State – (C)onfirmed – Name
Alabama C Kelly Chen
Alaska C Hannah Warren
Arizona C Sayaka Foley
Arkansas C Dana Weston
N. California C Samyukta Bhat
S. California C Joanne Koong
Colorado C Alexandra Lasley
Connecticut C Alexandra Wiener
Delaware C Ann Marie Fitch
D.C. ——————-
Florida C Rachel Gita Gologorsky
Georgia C Ananya Roy
Hawaii C Marissa Wai
Idaho C Erica Barkell
Illinois C Victoria Bian
Indiana C Emily Tallo
Iowa ——————-
Kansas C Hannah Purdy
Kentucky C Caroline Folz
Louisiana C Amelia Wyzywany
Maine C Margaret Bryan
Maryland C Fiona V. Lam
Massachusetts ——————-
Michigan C Apurva Virkud
Minnesota C Morgan Mahowald
Mississippi C Melanie Newell
Missouri C Margaret Hua
Montana ——————-
Nebraska ——————-
Nevada ——————-
New Hampshire C Jenny Ma
New Jersey C Eve Zhurbinskiy
New Mexico C Rebecca Anne DeLand
New York ——————-
North Carolina C Indira Puri
North Dakota ——————-
Ohio C Rebecca Lelko
Oklahoma C Michelle Farell
Oregon C Dana Hannibal
Pennsylvania ——————-
Rhode Island ——————–
South Carolina C Kristen Snowdeal
South Dakota C Kaitlynn Loos
Tennessee C Autumn Douthitt
Texas C Courtney Jamison
Texas C Julia Jones
Texas-ALT. ——————-
Utah ——————-
Vermont C Natalia Lopez
Virginia C Yang Dai
Washington C Alexandra Botez
West Virginia ——————-
Wisconsin C Mira Ensley-Field
Wyoming C Sara Locker
Special Invitation C Isabel James
Special Invitation C Claudia Munoz
Special Invitation C Brianna Conley
Special Invitation C Angel Bohannon
Special Invitation C Nicole Spencer
AZ SPNOGirls C Diamond Abdus-Shakoor
AZ SPNOGirls C Kristen Sarna
AZ SPNOGirls C Aiya Cancio
AZ SPNOGirls C Rebekah Liu
LV SPWOGirls C Linda Diaz
LV SPWOGirls C Emily Nguyen
All Star Team C Epiphany Peters
I hope they enjoy the Texass Tech Campus!
The girls are gonna love the beautiful campus of Texas Tech.
Susan, my daughter is #1 in her state and nobody has confirmed for the state. how do you qualify? I know that our state has not held any qualifying event for this.
My daughter is going into the 7th grade and is #7 girl in the state. I told her about this and she hopes to make it when she is in high school.
You need to send me and/or Mr. Barber an email with all the information as soon as possible.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
I know I read somewhere that someone qualified from Iowa. I will have to read back where I read that.
Aw I just found out about the date of the event, that’s when we will be out of the country. that is too bad, my daughter has been looking forward for this so much ( she hasn’t been invited but nobody in the state is confirmed yet and she thought she would be invited since she is number one). 🙁 🙁 🙁
Jacob,
If you find out who, please ask her to contact me and/or Mr. Barber as soon as possible. She may not know that she needs to contact us.
Thank you!
Susan Polgar
Sorry about that. This date has been set for 10 months already. Please make sure to check this blog and http://www.PolgarGirls.blogspot.com for next year’s dates.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Thanks.
Nicole Ann Spencer & Nicole Spencer is probably the same person, so 52 is here. Record not broken yet.