Saturday, February 19, 2011

Ugandan Chess Star Phiona Mutesi

I have just read an article about a 15-year old girl, Phiona Mutesi, from Uganda. I'd like to share her inspiring story with my readers.

Despite her background, Phiona is already country's number two player and has competed at World Chess Olympiad. She has helped change Ugandan attitudes toward chess, which was once considered to be the preserve of the rich.

Read Full Article about Phiona Mutesi

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hou Yifan is a new Women's World Champion!


Hou Yifan is the new Women’s World Chess Champion. At 16, she is the youngest person, male or female, ever to win a world chess championship!
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Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Fifth Annual SP World Open for Girls

The fifth annual Susan Polgar World Open for Girls took place in Las Vegas on June 12 and 13 at the South Point Resort. The winners are:

Girls Under 19

First: Anu Bayar (Mongolia) - 5/5

Girls Under 14

First through third: Christina Kao (California), Victoria Bian (Illinois) and Taylor McCreary (California) - 4/5

Girls Under 11

First: Maggie Feng (Ohio) - 5/5

Girls Under 8

First: Gia Peterson (California) - 5/5

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

All-Girls Chess Tournament in Memphis ,TN

Abigail Rose Walker, 8, shows off her trophy for placing second in the recent Shelby County Girls Chess Tournament, K 2 division. Abigail is the daughter of Doug Walker and Shea Vowell of Midtown. The tournament was run by the Mid-South Chess program, which meets weekly at Tropical Smoothie on Kirby.
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Fremont girls prove chess isn't just for boys

FREMONT — Chess may be a male-dominated game, but earlier this month a female-dominant team from Weibel Elementary School achieved what was quite possibly a first: It took home a top prize from this year's National Elementary School Chess Championships.

The students — Alisha Chawla, Joanna Liu and Serafina Show, all 8 years old, along with teammate Michael Wang — tied with another team for first place in the K-3 division at nationals, held in Atlanta. The Weibel team also placed third in the K-6 overall championship.

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Chess player wows national crowd

The 12-year-old Wendell Middle School seventh-grader saw an advertisement in one of her father's chess magazines touting a national tournament just for girls. Agner, who has played chess since she was three, decided that was the tournament for her. Her father, Carlito, agreed on one condition: that she practice every day leading up the tournament. And so she did. All that practice paid off with a fifth-place finish in the All-Girls National Chess Championships. Competing against much higher-rated players, Agner pulled off a series of stunning upsets to finish in the hardware.
Source

Checkmate for Westport teen

Alexandra Wiener, a sophomore at Staples High School in Westport, had a busy spring break, winning both national and state chess championships.

First, she traveled to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the 3-day 2010 National All Girls Chess Championship, sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation and the Kasparov Chess Foundation, where she won 4.5 games out of six played in the 16-and-under division. Then, competing in the Connecticut state championship at UConn, she finished as the top female player for the sixth time, taking home the 2010 National Girls Open Award. As the top female finisher, Alexandra won the right to again represent Connecticut at the prestigious Polgar Invitational National Championship for Girls, to be held at Texas Tech University in August, where she will compete for a full four-year college scholarship.
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