Polgar National Invitational Championship 2009
by Oklahoma's Champion, Michelle
Farell
28 July 09
Well, it is day two of the Susan Polgar National
Invitational for Girls, and Lubbock has come alive with skewers, gambits, and
checkmates. I am so thrilled to be here, one of 60 girls competing. My mother
and I arrived yesterday afternoon, after several flight delays and plane
switches. Our wonderful suitemates picked us up from the airport, and we only
got lost once before arriving on the expansive Texas Tech campus. After several
introductions and pictures, the pairings were posted. I played against 10 year
old Amelia Wyzywany (no, I cannot pronounce her last name), rated 960. I must
confess, I was a bit intimidated by Amelia’s monroi, and wondered if her
sophisticated equipment was indicative of her skill level. I played a
Scandinavian defense against the Louisianan’s 1.e4, and gradually gained an
advantage. Amelia fought on till the end, but the pressure I exerted on her
king was too much, and I took the win. Below is our game.
Wyzywany,Amelia F. (960)
- Farell,Michelle (1536) [B01]
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 a6 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 Bb7 8.Be3 Nbd7
9.Ng5 e6 10.Qd2 Bxg2 11.Rg1 Bb7 12.Bf4 Qc6 13.d5 exd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5
16.Qxd5 Bxd5 17.Bxc7 Rc8 18.Ba5 Rxc2 19.Bd2 Bc5 20.-- 0–0 21.Nh3 g6 22.Nf4 Bf3
23.Nd3 Re8+ 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.fxe3 Rxe3+ 26.Kf1 Rxd3 27.b4 Rdd2 28.Rg3 Bg2+ 29.Kg1
Ne5 30.a3 Nf3+ 31.Rxf3 Bxf3 32.h4 Rh2 33.Kf1 Rh1# 0–1
This morning was
the opening of the Susan Polgar Chess Park, and all of the Polgar girls attended
and christened the new park. After a leisurely morning, I sat down across from
1861 rated Texan Julia Jones. Once again I found myself a bit disconcerted, due
to the unfavorable difference in our ratings, and also the fact that Julia had
spend all of the previous evening looking up information about me and preparing
against my opening. Brushing aside my doubts, I settled in and prepared myself
for an intense game. I played white, and opened with the English, not wanting to
deviate from my comfort zone. I felt I held my own in the opening, and continued
to gain a point advantage in the middle game. However, upon looking over my
game, I realized that I squandered my advantage by trading off pieces versus
keeping the existing tension. In the endgame, I had five pawns against Julia’s
three. Sounds pretty good right? But there’s catch: the queens were still on the
board. In the end, I drew the Texan after 3 hard hours, and discovered my
endgame play to be severely lacking. My excitement is high and I am looking
forward to tomorrow.
29 July 09
It’s day four here in Lubbock, and I am enjoying every
minute of it. Yesterday I played Maine’s Margaret Bryan, rated 1310. In her
previous games, Margaret had bested an opponent rated over 300 points above her,
and drew one rated 1800. In playing her, I found that indeed, Miss Bryan had mad
skills. Playing my opening against me, Margaret kept me on the defense. However,
a misplaced rook allowed me to gain a minor piece and the game. After the round
was a blitz playoff. As you may know, blitz is not my forte. I ended up with 2.5
points out of 5, but hey, I had fun!
(56) Bryan,Margaret (1310) - Farell,Michelle (1536)
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.e3 Bg7 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 d6
9.Bf3 Bd7 10.b3 Rb8 11.Bb2 a6 12.Re1 Re8 13.Rc1 e5 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.e4 Qe7 16.Ba3
Red8 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.cxd5 Rbc8 19.Bg4 Rc7 20.Rc4 b5 21.Rxc7 Qxc7 22.h3 Nxg4
23.Qxg4 Qa5 24.Re2 Qxa3 25.Rc2 Qa5 26.Qh4 Re8 27.Qg4 Bh6 28.g3 Bf8 29.f4 exf4
30.Qxf4 Qe1+ 31.Kh2 Qxe4 32.Qxe4 Rxe4 33.Rd2 Bh6 34.Rc2 Rd4 35.h4 Rxd5 36.Rc6
Rd2+ 37.Kh3 Rxa2 38.Rxd6 Ra3 39.Rb6 Rxb3 40.Rxa6 Bf4 41.Kg4 Bxg3 42.Rb6 Be1
43.h5 Kg7 44.Rb7 gxh5+ 45.Kxh5 b4 46.Rb5 Rg3 47.Rb7 b3 48.Rb5 h6 49.Rb7 Rg5# 0–1
Today I faced off against Sayaka Foley, a 1700 rated
player. This game was intense, and looked like it was going to end up a draw. I
offered, but Sayaka refused, and shortly after hung her bishop. I was ecstatic
and decided to put my remaining time to use to ensure a win. Well, in
overthinking I missed a disgustingly obvious move and exchanged my win for a
draw. Yes, I am still kicking myself. Anyway, my mother figured the best way to
cheer me up was to get ice cream, so I am writing this with better spirits and a
sugar high.
Tomorrow I play last year’s champion Courtney Jamison rated
1984 and am heading off to bed to await our match and hope I dream the winning
move.
For those who care – here is my 2nd game that
did not get sent earlier this week.
(27)
Farell,Michelle (1536) - Jones,Julia (1869) [D34]
2009 Susan Polgar National Invitational Lubbock, TX (2.3), 27.07.2009
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.d4 Be6 6.g3 c5 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.0–0 Bd6
9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bf4 0–0 11.e3 Rc8 12.a3 Ng4 13.Ng5 Nf6 14.Nf3 Bg4 15.h3 Be6
16.Kh2 Nh5 17.Ne5 Nxf4 18.exf4 Ne7 19.Rc1 f6 20.Nf3 a6 21.Qd2 b5 22.Nd4 Bf7
23.Rfe1 Qb6 24.Rcd1 Rfe8 25.Nce2 Rcd8 26.b4 Bd6 27.Nc3 Bc7 28.Re2 Kf8 29.Rde1
Rd7 30.Ne6+ Kg8 31.Nxd5 Nxd5 32.Bxd5 Rde7 33.Nxc7 Qxc7 34.Bxf7+ Kxf7 35.Qd5+ Kf8
36.Rxe7 Rxe7 37.Qa8+ Kf7 38.Rxe7+ Qxe7 39.Qxa6 Qe2 40.Qb6 Qf3 41.Qe3 Qd5 42.Qc3
Qa2 43.Qe3 Qd5 44.Qa7+ Kg6 45.Qe3 Kf7 46.Qc3 Qa2 47.Kg2 Qd5+ 48.Qf3 Qd7 49.Qe4
g6 50.g4 Kf8 51.g5 Qf7 52.gxf6 Qxf6 53.Qe5 Qc6+ 54.Kg3 Kg8 55.f3 Qc1 56.Qe2 Qg1+
57.Qg2 Qe1+ 58.Qf2 Qc1 59.Qd4 Qe1+ ½–½
12 August 2009 - Final Blog
Back in
Tulsa! My head is still reeling from the excitement of the previous
week. But alas, I still haven’t told you about the outcomes of my last two
games. I played Courtney Jamison in the fifth round. We were tied at three
points for the scholarship to
Texas Tech. I found that Courtney’s rating is indeed very indicative of
her skill level, and I was convincingly beaten. I was soothed by a trip to the
pool, and managed to keep my mind off of where I could have placed this bishop
or traded that knight.
Last round. I faced Texas’ Angel
Bohannon, rated 1700. At
first, Angel was thoroughly convinced my every action-from yawning to shivering
to discovering my face was red from my hair dye-was intended to “psyche her
out”. After she concluded I wasn’t enough of a mastermind to play at such high
levels of psychological warfare the game went on smoothly. I felt my position’s
inferiority in the middle game, but was able to recover and gain a pawn.
However, during that interim I managed to use the majority of my time and could
not hold on to my point advantage. Missing a tactic, I sealed my fate with 2
minutes remaining. Apparently I am not capable of winning a game with a mere 90
minutes and a 30 second add-on. But I must confess it was an enjoyable game,
however taxing on my emotions.
Anyway after the 4 hour and 15 minute
match was the award ceremony.
Virginian Yang Dai won the championship with a perfect score. Courtney Jamison
won the full ride scholarship to Texas Tech and is planning on enrolling next
year. 11 year-old Epiphany Peters proved that age is not a factor in chess,
taking second place in the tournament and first in the blitz championship.
Thanks so much to OSCO and all involved in
allowing me to attend this tournament.
******************************************************
Thank you letter
Dear Oklahoma Scholastic Chess
Association,
Many thanks for allowing me the
opportunity to represent Oklahoma
in the Susan Polgar National
Invitational for girls. This has been my second year to attend the Polgar
tournament, and I am so grateful.
Chess has been an integral part of my high school experience. I have been
to more tournaments than I care to count – most of which my father has sat
through (thanks dad!) --, and have invested quite a lot of time into the
activity. Representing my state at a national tournament was the culmination of
all my efforts. So yes, I admit, I am a geek-- but at least I have something to
show for it!
OSCO has done an invaluable service by
providing the one thousand dollar scholarship. This made it so much easier for
me to attend. Talking to the other Polgar participants, I found that most raised
all their own funds, and none had received as much financial support from their
state as I. Not having the pressure of raising funds was such a blessing.
Oklahoma chess has been such a
pleasure to be a part of. Everyone is so supportive of each other. The
family-like spirit of OSCO is amazing. When one player does well, the others are
cheering for him. I have had books lent, advice given, and encouragement
offered. You cannot put a price tag on that.
In shot, a million thanks to
the people of OSCO who work so hard to ensure that Oklahoma’s young people have
the best chess experience they possibly can, and who have made it possible for
me to attend this prestigious event.
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