We went by average ratings (USCF + FIDE) at the time of invitation in
March 2003. Of the top 7 US women players, 6 were invited and 5
accepted their invitations for to be a part of the training program.
The 5 who accepted their invitations a GM Polgar 2542, WGM and
IM-elect Zatonskih 2478, IM Krush, 2459, WIM Shahade 2356 and WGM
Goletiani 2358. This is a very tough training program since it
requires a lot of hard work and dedication for 18 straight months.

There has never been a women's chess program like this in America. So
far, the 4 main trainers of the programs a GM Gulko, GM Zaitchik,
WC Kasparov and WC Polgar. Each member also has to work on specific
areas of strengths and weaknesses on their own. We keep close
contacts to monitor their progress. However, when we get together to
train, the training schedule would be from 10 AM - 6 PM or even later
daily. This is a big financial sacrifice for many of these ladies.
That is why not everyone is able or willing to do this.

Anna Hahn was invited after the first session. However, due to her
work schedule, she declined. The final team will be selected by USCF
early to mid 2004. According to the FIDE list, our training team is
now ranked #2 in the world, only behind China. This is a major
accomplishment in itself since the US Women's Olympiad Team has never
ever won any medal. We have a very good realistic shot at the Gold in
2004 and we are all working very hard to reach that goal.

In addition to this women's training team, we are planning to expand
it to additional groups for talented young women players such as group
B, C, etc. Additional names on this list could be names like Tatev
Abrahamyan and Laura Ross, etc. The main goal is to raise the bar for
women's chess in the US. We are also planning to expand it to
talented boys as well. Stay tune. You can find out more from this
link http://uschess.org/olympiad.html or by checking
www.susanpolgar.com in the future.

Best Regards,
Paul



Alberich wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...

I don't understand why Anna Hann isn't part of the US Women's Olympiad
team for 2004. Can anybody explain to me why she's not one of the team
members? Correct me if I'm wrong here...but didn't she beat Jennifer
Shahade AND Irina Krush during the tie break round to win the Women's
title? So, both Jennifer Shahade and Irina Krush are on the Olympiad
team but Anna Hahn isn't?


Irina Krush and Jennifer Shahade are on the Olympiad Training Squad, which
isn't the same as the Olympiad Team.

The Women's Olympiad team won't be selected until early in 2004. The criteria
for an invitation is based on an average of the players USCF and FIDE ratings
at the time of invitation plus peak USCF rating for the previous 24 months. The
2004 women's champion will also receive an invitation.

The USCF reserves the right to not issue an invitation, or to change the
criteria without advance notice.


Best,
Grant Perks

So the team hasn't been selected yet officially. Correct? If that's the
case, I must admit I've been bamboozled by the press photos showing the
likes of Jennifer Shahade, Irina Krush, Susan Polgar, Anna Zatonish and
Rusadan Goletiani. If you're correct, that means...one of them won't
make the team? How will we know who will comprise the official US
Women's Olympiad squad?