Live from the Denker/Polgar!  Randy Wheeless reporting 8-3-07 * North Carolina's reps at the Denker/Polgar finished with a combined 7.5-4.5 score as the two prestigious invitational tournaments wound down Friday in Cherry Hill, N.J. In the Denker, Frank Mu battled late into the afternoon to gain a draw with Jared Taylor of Arkansas. It was dynamic game, with (the time I checked) Frank having two rooks and three pieces versus a queen, rook and bishop (plus extra pawns). Frank finished the tournament at 3-3 -- ahead of the 2100 player he drew with earlier in the tournament. That's how tough the competition was. In the Polgar, Amelia Wheeless finished with a win as she defeated Su'ad Yoon of Tennessee in the final round, Yoon had defeated this year's co-champ Eunice Rodriguez of Florida earlier in the tournament. Amelia bettered her 2005 result by going 4.5-1.5 - tying for 3rd and placing 5th overall in the field of 48. Amelia received a nice House of Staunton wood chess set, with a stately velvet-lined box for the pieces. Two of Amelia's games are online at the Monroi Web site - her loss on Aug. 1, and her win today. http://www.monroi.com/wdc/tournament.php?tnm_id=386 We are flying out on Saturday - leaving Josh Mu and Ken Ivens behind as they play in the US Open through Sunday. Ken showed me a nice 11-move mate against a player rated almost 1500 from last night. It probably belongs in some book. Quite cute. **************************************************  7-2-07 * The points were hard to come by on Thursday at the Denker/Polgar in Cherry Hill, N.J. In the Denker, Frank Mu battled with Washington's Andy May (2050) longer than I stayed around - but lost in the end. He's now 2.5-2.5 with one round to go. Frank should get an equal matchup on Friday. In the Polgar, Amelia Wheeless was the last game going as she posted a draw with Washington's Megan Lee, 11, in 82 moves. Lee had already posted draws with a pair of 2000+ players at the U.S. Open and dispatched an 1800+ at the Polgar earlier (plus, she represented the U.S. in the Girls 10 and Under World Championships last year). So Amelia was expecting a tough game. She is now 3.5-1.5 going into the last round. In the U.S. Open, Josh Mu posted a sparkling result -- notching a win over FM Norman Rogers of Penn. today. He lost his next round to another master. I think he's 3-2 thus far. I think Ken Ivens was 2-2, but I didn't catch his last result. ************************************************ 8-1-07 * Another split decision for North Carolina's reps in the Denker and Polgar on Wednesday. In the Denker, Frank Mu got back on the winning track by beating Christopher Brown from Wisconsin in a "brisk" five hours. Frank is now 2.5-1.5 and should get a stiff challenge on Thursday. Two rounds to go. In the Polgar, Amelia Wheeless suffered her first defeat as she lost to Louiza Livschitz (1956) of California. This was the first time Amelia had been at a featured board in a big tournament, and she hung tough for almost 4 hours. She now stands at 3-1. The time control for the Denker is G/180; for the Polgar G/90, with a 30-second add-on after each move. Amelia is at 2-2 in the US Open after a loss last night. I believe Ken Ivens is 1-2. His and Amelia's losses have all been to 2000+ players. Josh Mu begins the 5-day tonight. After his many long Denker games, Frank is glad he's not playing in the Open. ************************************************ 7-31-07 * A split decision for N.C.'s players at the Denker/Polgar Tuesday in Cherry Hill, N.J. In the Denker, Frank Mu put up a stiff battle against  Florida's Jeffrey Haskel (2100+) before falling in a tough game. Frank is at 1.5/1.5 after three rounds, and should have a equal battle in tomorrow's round. After two days of 2100-strength players, he's looking forward to that. In the Polgar, Amelia Wheeless won her third round game against highly regarded Linda Diaz from New York. Diaz finished 5th at the recent K-6 National Championship - in which a number of CMSCA players participated. It was actually a quick game. An ill-fated trade brought complications in which Amelia won a piece. It was over shortly afterwards. She is now 3-0. On Monday, Amelia tied for 4th at the Polgar Blitz Tournament, which featured current and past Polgar players. Josh Mu grabbed some attention on the USCF Website (see link) for his Scholastic win on Sumday. Josh and Charlotte's Ken Ivens are gearing up for the 6-day and 5-day sessions of the U.S. Open. I'll send results. Amelia is 2.0/3.0 in the G/60 Section of the U.S. Open. She got a forfeit last night, which she didn't mind after a busy day.  http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_480.php The USCF web site is better now about posting results. That's probably the best way check. I don't think Monroi is webcasting any of the Denker/Polgar games. ************************************************ 7-30-07 * North Carolina's reps hung mighty tough today in Cherry Hill as luck would have them sitting at the same table (each table seats one Denker and one Polgar game). Frank Mu dueled New Jersey's Jayson Lian (2109) for more than 5.5 hours before settling for a draw. The game was dynamic: Frank was ahead, then behind (his brother Josh declared him beaten at one time), his opponent fought time pressure -- and that's just the few times I checked on it. Amelia Wheeless chalked up a "quick" 3.5 hour victory against her friend Ananya Roy from Georgia. Roy had beaten a 1900+ last night at the U.S. Open, so I figured she had plenty of confidence, but Amelia played a nice endgame to take the win. Tomorrow should be a tough day for both N.C. reps. Amelia bounced back last night at the U.S. Open beating a local New Jersey player in the G/60 section. She plays a 2100+ tonight. ************************************************ 7-29-07 * Both Frank Mu and Amelia Wheeless won their opening games at the Denker and Polgar on Sunday. Each played lower-rated players, but both games were nicely contested. Frank defeated Peston Laib from North Dakota while Amelia defeated Lily Ann Briggs from Maine.Things will get much tougher tomorrow. In the side scholastic event today, Josh Mu went 4-0 and defeated the higher-rated Joshua Bowman in a 15-minute playoff to grab first place. The playoff was a tense affair with about 20 people watching. Since the other player was from nearby Penn., I decided to hang around and watch the action. Gotta stick together around here! Amelia played in the G/60 section of the US Open last night. She did not fair well against Temple professor NM Leroy Dubeck. She hopes to bounce back tonight. -- I'm been playing with my pocket-size RCA Small Wonder videocamera. See if you can watch this quick interview with Amelia and Anaya Roy from Georgia. They both went to the Emory Castle Camp last year. Neither are "really" troublemakers. PS - Hope you saw the chess coverage in the Charlotte Observer today. There is a web-only slideshow that is linked from Frank's article. http://www.charlotte.com/someck/story/215524.html http://www.charlotte.com/someck/story/215523.html ************************************************ Reported by Randy Wheeless, NCCA Pres.