View of the stage from above at 2014 Susan Polgar Girls Invitational
A portion of the following article by the author of this blog will appear in the October, 2014 issue of Northwest Chess magazine.
Four girls from the Pacific Northwest region participated in this year’s Susan Polgar Foundation Girls’ Invitational held on the campus of Webster University in suburban St. Louis. Olga Cheraphkin of Washington finished with four points to finish in a 7th place tie in the six round 56-player event. Olga lost only to top scholarship winner Kimberly Ding of New Jersey and rising star Natassja Matus of Minnesota. Olga teamed with Katya Davis of New York to tie for first place in the bughouse side event.
Olga Cherepakhin of Washington (left) makes her first move against Kimberly Ding of New Jersey at the start of their blitz match
Carmen Pemsler of Idaho also finished with a plus score (3.5 – 2.5) while Lauren Mei Calora of Oregon, playing in her first USCF-rated event, scored two points. The other Oregon resident, Andrea Botez, officially represented Canada and finished with an even score. Carmen played solidly throughout, losing only one game in the main event. She was one of the top finishers in the blitz tourney with 8-2, only a point out of clear first and good enough for a second place tie. All for NWC girls fared well in the blitz, finishing with a combined 24.5 – 15.5 record.
Andrea Botez of Happy Valley, OR, was actually the Oregon state girls champion, but accepted her invitation as Canadian rep (since her family has duel citizenship) so that another Oregon girl could participate. State scholastic coordinator Carl Haessler selected Lauren Mei Calora to fill the Oregon vacancy.
Additionally, Savanna Nacarrato of Sandpoint, ID, was selected for the special TD exemption this year. Due to schoolwork and other activities she has not had much time to practice chess this past year, so she graciously deferred rather than take up a spot in the field that could go to someone better prepared. As a result, Savanna is the first girl invited to attend the SPFGI in 2015.
Selected games from the 2014 SPFGI:
Pemsler, Carmen – Buxbaum, Talia [D55]
2014 SPFGI (Rd. 1), July 12, 2014
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0–0 Nbd7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Qc2 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Rfd1 c4 13.Be2 Nb6 14.Nd4 Rc8 15.Bf3 h6 16.Bh4 Re8 17.Rd2 Qd7 18.Bg3 Rcd8 19.Rad1 Bc5 20.a3 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 a6
22.e4 Qc6 23.e5 Nh7 24.Qd2 Re7 25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Rxd5 Qxd5 28.Qxd5 Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Kf8 30.h4 f6 31.Rc5 fxe5 32.Bxe5 Nf6 33.Bd6 Kf7 34.Bxe7 Kxe7 35.Rxc4 Kd7 36.Kf1 g5 37.hxg5 hxg5 38.Ke2 Kd6 39.Ra4 Kc5 40.Rxa6 Ne4 41.f3 Ng3+ 42.Kf2 Nh1+ 43.Kg1 Ng3 44.Ra5+ Kc4 45.Rxg5 Ne2+ 46.Kf2 Nc1 47.Ke3 Kb3 48.Rb5+ Ka2 49.Kd2 Nb3+ 50.Rxb3 Kxb3 51.f4 Kc4 52.a4 Kb4 53.f5 Kxa4 54.f6 Kb4 55.f7 Ka4 56.f8Q Kb5 57.Qc8 Kb4 58.Kd3 Kb5 59.Kd4 Kb4 60.Qc4+ Ka5 61.Qb3 Ka6 62.Kc5 Ka7 63.Kc6 Ka8 64.Qb7# 1–0
Cherepakhin, Olga - Pandey, Ritika [C89]
2014 SPFGI (Rd. 6), July 15, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 d5 9.d3 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Nbd2 dxe4 12.dxe4 Na5 13.Bc2 Bd6 14.Nf1 Qe7 15.Ng3 Bg6 16.Nh4 Rfd8 17.Nhf5 Qe6 18.Qf3 Bf8 19.Bg5 Kh8 20.h4 h6
21.Nxh6 Nc4 22.Bb3 Kh7 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.Qxf6 gxf6 25.Bxc4 Bxh6 26.Bd5 Rac8 27.h5 c6 28.hxg6+ fxg6 29.Bb3 Rd2 30.Re2 Rcd8 31.Rxd2 Rxd2 32.Rd1 Rxb2 33.Rd7+ Bg7 34.Rd3 a5 35.Bf7 c5 36.Nf1 c4 37.Rd2 Rb1 38.g3 Bh6 39.Rc2 Kg7 40.Bd5 f5 41.Kg2 Kf6 42.Nd2 Bxd2 43.Rxd2 Kg5 44.Re2 Kf6 45.f4 fxe4 46.fxe5+ Kxe5 47.Bxe4 Rc1 48.Bxg6+ Kf6 49.Rc2 Re1 50.Bh5 Kg5 51.g4 b4 52.cxb4 axb4 53.Rxc4 Re2+ 54.Kf3 Rxa2 55.Rxb4 Ra3+ 56.Ke4 Ra5 57.Rd4 Kf6 58.Rd6+ Ke7 59.Rd5 Ra4+ 60.Kf5 Ra1 61.g5 Rf1+ 62.Kg6 Rh1 63.Rf5 Ke6 64.Rf2 Ke7 65.Kh6 Rc1 66.g6 Rc6 67.Rf5 Ke8 68.Kh7 Rc7+ 69.Rf7 Rxf7+ 70.gxf7+ Kf8 71.Kg6 Ke7 72.Kg7 Ke6 73.f8Q Ke5 74.Qd8 Ke4 75.Qd6 Kf5 76.Bf3 Kg5 77.Qf6# 1–0
Botez, Andrea (1551) - Calora, Lauren Mei [D02]
2014 SPFGI (Rd. 6), July 15, 2014
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 Bg4 4.h3 Bh5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.0–0 Qd7 9.a3 0–0 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Be2 Qe6 12.Ng5 Qf5 13.Bxh5 Qxg5 14.Bf3 Qf5 15.Qb3 Rfd8 16.Qxb7 Qd7 17.Qb3 Na5 18.Qb5 Qxb5 19.Nxb5 Bd6 20.Nxd6 cxd6 21.b4 Nb3 22.Rb1 Nxc1 23.Rfxc1 h5 24.a4 g5 25.b5 g4 26.hxg4 hxg4 27.Be2 Ne4 28.Bxg4 Nd2 29.Rb4 a5 30.bxa6 Rxa6 31.Rc2 Nc4 32.Bf3 Na3 33.Rc3 Kg7 34.Rxa3 Rc6 35.Ra1 Kf6 36.Bxd5 Rc2 37.a5 Kf5 38.a6 Rdc8 39.a7 Rc1+ 40.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 41.Kh2 Rc2 42.a8Q Rxf2 43.e4+ Kf4 44.Rb3 Rd2 45.Rf3+ Kg4 46.Qg8+ Kh4 47.Rh3# 1–0
More than $200,000 in scholarships and other prizes were awarded to competitors in the tournament, bringing the total value of college scholarships sponsored by the Susan Polgar Foundation over the past twelve years to more than 3.5 million dollars. Both the main event and the blitz tournament were FIDE rated for the first time this year thanks to the participation of FIDE Arbiter Andre Botez. The Chief Arbiter was former NWC member Frank Niro, assisted again this year by Alise Pemsler of Idaho.
