Going National

All the right moves – Merriwether Middle School chess champion going national
By MIKE ROSIER/Editor

MERRIWETHER – Looking back, it’s hard to imagine that Tori Whatley picked up the game of chess merely by chance, happening upon a rook to her dad’s civil war set one day while looking in a closet.

Everything that has happened since that moment, however, has been anything but luck.

Two little girls went into the closet, Tori and older sister Mandy.

One came out destined to be a chess champion.

The girl’s dad, David Whatley, asked his daughters if they would like to learn how to play the game. Young Tori was hooked instantly. It was love at first sight of king and queen and knight.

“My sister didn’t really like it that much (Mandy, age 16, and a student at Strom Thurmond, took up kickboxing instead) but I caught on and have been playing ever since,” Tori said.

That was four years ago, and a lot has happened since then.

Tori, now age 12, has trouble finding stimulating matches and has to keep herself from falling prey to playing too much chess against the computer. Her chess coach, Donny Gray, wants her playing opponents who breath – and sweat. And despite the fact that she’s just a sixth-grader, her opponents sweat.

…After the recent state championships, the S.C. Scholastic Chess Championships, Merriwether Middle School’s Tori Whatley was recognized as the top sixth grade player in the state and top female student overall. Her performance earned the budding standout a ticket (representing the state of South Carolina) to the prestigious Susan Polgar National Invitational Tournament in Texas this August, where she will compete against the best players in the country. The annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls is a prestigious nationwide event that showcases the top young female talent in the world of chess.

Here is the full story which was brought to us by Mr. David Grimaud.