12-year old to compete for national title

12-year-old will play in national chess tourney
Chess champion
By Michelle Guffey South Carolina Bureau
Sunday, April 27, 2008

AIKEN — When Tori Whatley had her first chess lesson, little did she know that five years later she would be South Carolina’s top-finishing girl chess player and would represent the Palmetto State in a national tournament this summer.

“I’m just so excited about going and meeting all the different girls,” said Tori, 12. “It’s a huge honor.”

Tori was the top sixth-grade player at the South Carolina Scholastic Championship last month. The South Carolina Chess Association agreed to send her to the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls in Lubbock, Texas. One girl from each state is chosen to participate.

The invitational will be held at Texas Tech University from July 27 to Aug. 1.

Tori is a student at Merriwether Middle School in North Augusta, where she is a member of the Merriwether Mavericks, the school’s chess club.

Tori’s interest in chess began one day when she was rummaging through a closet at home. The then-7-year-old discovered a rook that had fallen out of box, and she asked her dad about the strange object.

David Whatley decided to teach her about the game.

“By the third game, she had it figured out, and then it was a matter of practice,” he said.

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