07.16.14 Maine's representative to the Susan Polgar National Invitational tournament for girls finished the six-round tournament with 3.0 points. Bethany Humphrey conceded only one loss in the event, scoring four draws and a win and outpacing her pre-tournament rating by more than 300 points! Congratulations to Bethany on her fine performance. Here's the illustrated tournament report. (When Bethany returns from St. Louis she will file a report for ChessMaine.net with her impressions of the tournament and games.)

USCF crosstable of this event

The annual Susan Polgar Girls' Invitational, in its 11th year, is one of the most prestigious all-girls event in the United States. It was held at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. The Invitational was a 6 round (g/90+30) FIDE rated championship tournament. Players must have been enrolled in a school (up to 12th grade) located in the state they represent and each state is allowed one representative to be nominated by her state association. Humphrey was selected based on her pre-tournament rating of 1124 which she impressively outperformed with a 1435 performance rating.

She began the tournament with three consecutive draws against players rated 1666, 1162, and 1576 before dropping her only game of the tournament to Divya Pandey (1460). Humphrey came back stronger in the fifth round with a win over Isabel Brieler (1214) and steered the last round to the safe harbors of a draw vs Diamond Abdus-Shakoor (1499) to finish the tournament tied for 22nd place with 3.0 points.

The participants in front of the Chess Hall of Fame in downtown St. Louis.

The main tournament room--conditions at the Polgar are worthy of the finest international tournaments.

Bethany Humphrey (left) proudly representing the State of Maine!

Final Results