The 2025 Girls Club Room at SuperNationals VIII is sponsored by the Susan Polgar Foundation (SPF).
Girls Club Room Schedule
This schedule is tentative and subject to change. Stay tuned for more information about book signings, Girls Club Room appearances, and a lecture by GM Susan Polgar.
A full schedule of events for SuperNationals VIII is available here.
Friday May 9th
11:00 a.m. – Girls Club Room Opens
3:00 p.m. – Welcome party, Meet the Special Guests, Raffles, and Prizes
3:30 p.m. – Opening, Middle, and Endgame Lessons w/ WGM Katerina Nemcova, WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, and WIM Carolina Blanco
Saturday May 10th
10:00 a.m. – Fun Chess Activity Stations, Raffles, and Prizes
11:00 a.m. – Tandem simul with Katerina, Atousa, and Carolina
3:00 p.m. – Human Chess Game
4:00 p.m. – Teen Pizza Party
Sunday May 11th
10:00 a.m. – Donut Social and Town Hall Meeting (Parents and coaches welcomed)
11:00 a.m. – Fun Chess Activity Stations, Raffles, and Prizes
3:00 p.m. – Human Chess Game
3:30 p.m. – Closing Party, Games, Raffles, and Prizes
Girls Club Room Special Guests
This year's guests are WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, WGM Katerina Nemcova, and WIM Carolina Blanco.
WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan
WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan is a seven-time Iranian Women's Chess Champion, a record-holder among Iranian women chess players. Pourkashiyan won her first national championship in 2005 at age 17, only five years after winning the FIDE World Youth Chess Championship Under-12 Girls section. Since 2022, Pourkashiyan has represented the United States in international competition, including during the 2023 FIDE Women's Team Championship, where she earned an individual silver medal.
WGM Kateřina Němcová
WGM Kateřina Němcová is a two-time Czech Women's Chess Champion, winning her first title at age 17 and repeating that feat just two years later in 2010. Němcová has represented the United States since joining the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) Program at Webster University in 2013. She has since competed regularly in prominent national events, and more recently has provided commentary for the Saint Louis Chess Center.
WIM Carolina Blanco
Dr. Carolina Blanco earned her WIM title at the age of 19, and graduated as a dentist four years later at the University of Carabobo in her native Venezuela, become a specialist in orthodontics at age 26. She has resided in the United States for over 12 years, where she currently practices as an orthodontist and teaches at several school programs in her home state of Georgia.
