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January 1, 2012
Elisabeth Gondolo represented Utah at the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, held this past summer from July 24-29, 2011 in Lubbock, Texas. Below Elisabeth talks about her experiences at the event and what she took away from the tournament.
How did you qualify for the Susan Polgar National Invitational, and how did you prepare for the event?
I qualified for the tournament by winning at the 2011 Utah Girls' State Championship. After the last round, I was tied for first with three other girls. We did a sort of round robin mini tournament and ended up with Minna Wang (who represented Utah at last year's Susan Polgar National Invitational) and me tied for first. She and I did a little trade-off, allowing her to take home the huge trophy and allowing me to to to Texas and represent Utah. The next few months until the tournament, I had school and work keeping me busy and so I unfortunately did not prepare for the tournament as much as I should have.
Was there anyone that helped you get to Texas? What were your first impressions of the Polgar Invitational?
I'd like to thank my father, who paid for most of my expenses, and also the Utah Chess Association, which also helped me attend the tournament. My friends' and family's cheers have boosted my confidence all my life, but especially during those few months between the qualifying tournament and the invitational. I really liked the atmosphere and the people who helped the tournament. I liked seeing all the girls playing and having fun together.
How would you describe your overall experience at the Polgar tournament?
My experience at the Polgar tournament was amazing. I had a lot of fun and learned more about chess, especially chess endgames. Something I learned during one of the trainings we had before the tournament helped me draw my first round game. I really hope the trainings will continue in the future. I met a lot of great girls who love to play chess; my roommate and I got along really well. Meeting Susan Polgar was great. She's so down-to-earth and friendly. She coordinated the events really well and conducted the trainings well too. I really like her as a person and I admire her as a chessplayer.
Were you happy with the way you played?
I think I played pretty well throughout the tournament. I did much better than I had expected, since my expectations weren't set very high. My favorite rounds were the first and the last ones; probably because they were the beginning and the ending of the whole tournament and therefore, the excitement of it all was amplified. My first game started off with my opponent and me going at it pretty equally. At the end, I was losing, but I managed a draw because she miscalculated the moves. During my last game, I kept making little mistakes, and so I lost pretty badly. It was still a fun game to play, as were all the games I played.
What was the highlight of the event for you?
I really enjoyed seeing so many girls there, all enjoying a game typically thought of as a boys' game. At most tournaments I attend, boys make up the majority and so seeing no boys at the Invitational was amazing. I really liked the side tournaments that were held, like the bughouse tournament. I had never played in a bughouse tournament so learning all the rules of that chess variation was really challenging. I also enjoyed meeting Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. I had seen them before in Utah years ago, but seeing them again and actually interacting with them was pretty amazing.
Elisabeth, right, during Round 3
Elisabeth, Round 4
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