Mitzy Caballero Earns 2019 SPFGI Title & Webster University Scholarship

Mitzy Caballero of Peru is the winner of the 16th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls’ Invitational held June 22-27 on the campus of Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. She compiled 5 1/2 points in the six-round tournament, finishing a half point ahead of three other contenders: Arya Kumar of North Carolina, Anne-Marie Velea of Washington, and Zoey Tang of Oregon. Caballero defeated Emily Nguyen of Texas in an exciting final round battle to take the championship. More photos from the 16th SPFGI are located here. Eleven different countries were represented in this years’ event including the United States, with participants from 38 states plus the District of Columbia. The girls competed for $320,000 in scholarships and cash prizes. The champion received a Webster University full tuition and fees scholarship worth approximately $28,500 per year for 4 years plus the Champion’s Cup and a special SPICE training package valued at $4,000. The second, third and fourth place finishers each received a Webster University partial scholarship worth approximately $18,000 per year for four years plus a trophy and $1,170 cash prize. Top under-13 winner for the second year in a row was Zoey Tang of Oregon ($500). Top under 10 was $500 Alice Lee of Minnesota ($500). The youngest competitor this year was Sophie Xu from Indiana. The brilliancy prize of $100 was awarded to Martha Samadashvili of New York for her round 2 victory over Omya Vidyarthi. Upset prizes were awarded for each round. These were presented to Cassandra Roshu (OR), Kate Jiang (Canada), Ayleen Ramirez Toledo (Mexico), Hailey Holmquist (ME) and Viktorija Zilajeva (OK). The largest upset of the tournament was by Holmquist (656 points). Best dressed player recognition went to Zoey Tang. The best written essay about the SPFGI experience was submitted by Cassandra Roshu. Ashley Xing of VA was selected by her competitors for the Miss Congeniality award. Since 2003, the Susan Polgar Foundation, through its supporters, donors & partners, has awarded nearly six million dollars in scholarships & prizes. The blitz tournament ended in a three way tie between Emily Nguyen, Lucia Malan from Uruguay and Martha Samadashvili with 6 points out of 7. Puzzle solving was won by Iris Zhou of Missouri, with 20 out of 20, in 13 minutes and 24 seconds. Perfect scores in the puzzle solving contest were also achieved by also by Martha Samadashvili and Emily Nguyen. The Friends & Family side event was won by Daniel Herman, the brother of the state representative from Colorado. The 2019 SPFGI was directed by Chief Arbiter Judit Sztaray, assisted by Andrei Botez, Jack Scheible and Aiya Cancio. Dr. Martha Underwood, who retired as Chief Arbiter last year, served as honorary Chair of the event, organized for the 16th consecutive year by the Susan Polgar Foundation.

[pgn]

[Event "16th SPFGI"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.06.27"]
[White "Martha Samadashvili (2283)"]
[Black "Omya Vidyarthi (1883)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.06.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 h6 8. Nbd2
O-O 9. h3 Ba7 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bb3 Ng6 13. Ng3 Qd7 14. d4 c6 15. Be3
Bxb3 16. Qxb3 exd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Ne5 19. Rad1 Qc7 20. Qc2 g6 21. Qc1
Kh7 22. Qf4 Ng8 23. h4 Qd7 24. Ndf5 gxf5 25. Qxe5 dxe5 26. Rxd7 f4 27. Nf5 b5
28. a5 h5 29. f3 Rac8 30. Red1 Nh6 31. Ne7 Rce8 32. Nxc6 Re6 33. Nb4 Rg6 34.
R1d6 Rg3 35. Nd5 b4 36. c4 Kg7 37. c5 Rb8 38. Rb6 Rc8 39. c6 Ng8 40. c7 Rg6 41.
Rxg6+ Kxg6 42. Rd8 Rxc7 43. Nxc7 Ne7 44. Nd5 Nc6 45. Rd6+ Kg7 46. Rxc6 b3 47.
Rxa6 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "16th SPFGI"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.06.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mitzy Caballero (2090)"]
[Black "Emily Nguyen (2297)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.06.27"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. b3
Ne4 9. Bf4 c6 10. Qc2 g5 11. Bc1 Bf6 12. Bb2 Bg7 13. Ne5 Nd6 14. Nd2 f5 15. Nd3
Nf6 16. f3 f4 17. g4 dxc4 18. bxc4 b5 19. Ne5 Bb7 20. a4 bxc4 21. Ndxc4 Nxc4
22. Qxc4 Nd5 23. a5 a6 24. Rfc1 Qc7 25. Qd3 Rfd8 26. h4 gxh4 27. Kf2 Qe7 28.
Qa3 Qg5 29. Bh3 Rac8 30. Qb3 Rc7 31. Nd3 Bc8 32. Nc5 e5 33. Ne4 Qe7 34. Ba3 Qe6
35. Rh1 exd4 36. g5 Qe5 37. Bxc8 Rcxc8 38. Rad1 Qe6 39. Rxh4 Nc7 40. Qxe6+ Nxe6
41. Rdh1 c5 42. Rxh7 Kf7 43. Rb1 Kg6 44. Rhh1 Rc6 45. Rb6 Rdc8 46. Rhb1 Be5 47.
Bxc5 Nxc5 48. Nxc5 Kxg5 49. Nd3 Kf6 50. Rxc6+ Rxc6 51. Rb6 Rxb6 52. axb6 Bd6
53. b7 a5 54. Ke1 Ke6 55. Nc5+ Kd5 56. Na6 a4 57. Kd2 Kc4 58. Kc2 a3 59. b8=Q
Bxb8 60. Nxb8 d3+ 61. exd3+ Kd4 62. Nc6+ Ke3 63. Ne5 Kd4 64. Ng4 a2 65. Kb2
Kxd3 66. Kxa2 Kc2 67. Ka3 Kc3 68. Ka4 Kc4 69. Nh2 Kd3 70. Kb4 Ke2 71. Kc4 Kf2
72. Kd4 Kg3 73. Ke4 1-0[/pgn]

Photos from the 16th SPFGI are located here. Further information: Frank Niro, fan3@cornell.edu, cell: 503-347-0750