(Crossville, TN) The Annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls began July 29 and concluded on August 3 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A record 49 young women from all across the U.S. participated in this event.

Julia Kerr, student of Susan Polgar, and member of the Polgar Chess Center in Queens, New York and Eunice Rodriguez of Miami, Florida tied for first with final scores of 5.0 points. They were declared co-champions. Kerr won the tie-breaks and earned a full 4-year scholarship to Texas Tech University. Rodriquez, along with third place finisher Louiza Livschitz, earned partial scholarships to Texas Tech University, valued at $36,000 each for out of state students.

Defending champion Abby Marshall of Virginia scored 6-0 to win the Susan Polgar Invitational Blitz Championship, followed by Courtney Jamison of Texas and Jordana Williams of Louisiana.

The Susan Polgar Invitational Puzzle Solving Championship had a 9-way tie for first with perfect 10 scores. The order of the winners by time tie-break was: Courtney Jamison, Julia Kerr, Ashley Carter, Jordana Williams, Anna Matlin, Megan Lee, Ananya Roy, Jenelle Wallace and Kaila Smith.

The Susan Polgar Invitational Bughouse Championship was won by the team “Don’t Mess with Texas” which included Courtney Jamison and Sylvia Yang. The runner up team included Abby Marshall of Virginia and Darrian Robinson of New York.

The Miss Congeniality Award went to Louiza Livschitz of California and Ettie Nikolova of Virginia.

Megan Lee of Seattle, Washington won the Ursula Foster Memorial Award ($500.00) for the top girl under 14 years old. The gift has been donated by the sons of Ursula Foster who dedicated her life to helping young chess enthusiasts achieve their goals.

Through the sponsorships from Mr. Jeff Smith, the Susan Polgar Foundation and House of Staunton, the top 25 finishers each received a beautiful wooden chess set, valued at approximately $200. The winner received a collector’s limited edition Susan Polgar wooden chess set, valued at $400.

ICC agreed to provide a free 6-month membership to www.chessclub.com. The US Chess Trust also contributes $1,000 cash scholarships to the top 4 finishers.

Beside the full scholarship to the winner, through the generosity of our sponsors, the Susan Polgar Foundation awarded more than $85,000 in additional scholarships and chess prizes to the participants this year.

This event began four years ago by GM Susan Polgar in an effort to get more girls interested in chess. Susan's efforts have proved to be fruitful as we see the rising number of girls participating in chess events.

A complete list of all participants in this year’s event can be found at:

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007/08/final-polgar-standings-by-order-of-tie.html

Many pictures of the event can be found at http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com.

You can also review USCF Webmaster Jennifer Shahade's article in Chess Life Online at:

http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_490.php.

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The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.