View of Dresden, Germany, beautiful site of the 2008 Chess Olympiad
Greetings from Frankfurt! My time in Germany is about to end and I will head back to the United States tomorrow to continue the preparation for the 1st Annual Lubbock Open next Saturday and the 2nd Annual SPICE Cup in September 2008.
Here are the 3 players I previously announced for the next Category 14 (may even be category 15) SPICE Cup:
1. GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2697 USCF / 2596 FIDE (Former #1 player in the U.S.)
2. GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2666 USCF / 2601 FIDE (Rank #8 overall and #2 player 25 and under in the U.S. behind Nakamura)
3. GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2623 USCF / 2552 FIDE (Defending Champion)
Here are the next 3 players who have accepted their invitations:
4. GM Miton, Kamil 2703 USCF / 2620 FIDE (Rank #4 in Poland)
5. GM Kritz, Leonid 2667 USCF / 2609 FIDE (Rank #4 in Germany)
6. GM Hera, Imre 2599 USCF / 2524 FIDE (From Hungary and is preparing to attend Texas Tech in the Fall of 2008)
The average rating so far is 2584 FIDE and 2659 USCF!
The average FIDE rating for the next group of players is well over 2600. I will announce it as soon as everyone is confirmed. I am aiming to make the 2nd SPICE Cup the highest rated and most prestigious 10 player RR International tournament in U.S. history. I am also hoping to be able to add a B group (perhaps even C group) in the near future.
Europe has many of these strong round robin tournaments. I am fortunate enough to take part in some of them. Unfortunately, there are too far and few prestigious International RR events in the U.S. I am hoping to start a new tradition right here in Lubbock, Texas.
My husband and business partner Paul and I have given 150% of our effort promoting scholastic, college and women’s chess in the past 6+ years. The next part of our vision is to raise the awareness, respect and opportunities for our professional players. Being a professional player myself, I want to do everything possible to help my colleagues. This is a part of our 10 year plan which started in 2001-2002.
I would like to thank everyone who believes and supports what we do to improve chess in all levels in the U.S. I understand that there are some who will fight hard to keep the failing status quo. But I believe with all my heart that if I go out and positively promote chess every single day, great things will come. Thank you again for your support!
Anon 6:36pm, that’s the best joke I’ve heard in a long time. When was the last time this man run anything for non-profit to help us chess instead of his pocket? And he doesn’t understand the gross conflict of interest running a competing company with the uscf and being on the board of the uscf at the same time.
Another milestone for Susan. Another great moment for chess in America. Congratulations! Forget about the USCF. Those bozos can’t do anything right. It’s hopeless.
Right, Goichberg funds this one and the NA FIDE Invitational, right? This is the guy who hasn’t bought new socks in 20 years but have no problem spending USCF money and running this federation to the ground.
This is another project turning into gold for Susan and Paul. Keep doing a fantastic job and thank you for everything you do for chess.
Here is a link with a table of tournament categories:
http://kannan.jumbledthoughts.com/index.php/what-are-chess-tournament-categories/
Michigan Ches Dad
Great going Susan! And I am very excited about both the coming Olympiad in Dresden, Germany and your bright vision for U.S chess.
Best wishes
A. Weiler
Dear GM Polgar,
Absolutely wonderful work on your part! Thank you so very much! The upcoming tournament in Lubbock is going to be a fantastic one. This is, as a previous person posted, a milestone. I hope your time in Dresden was full of happiness.
And good luck to GM Kaidanov! He did great recently and he’s proving once again to be not only a great chess teacher but a true force to be reckoned with over the board!
Take care.