(CROSSVILLE, TN)Grandmaster Susan Polgar, the #1 rated female player in the United States, winner of 4 Women’s World Championships and 5 Olympic Gold Medals captured the Women’s World Chess Cup in Dresden, Germany on Saturday, July 8, 2006, which was the final weekend of the World Soccer Championship. In fact, the Women’s World Chess Cup mirrored the FIFA event.

There were eight groups (A to H) with four countries in each group. The top 2 from each group advanced to the final knockout stage. Group E included Italy, the Czech Republic, Ghana and the United States. The United States National Soccer Team never made it out of the preliminaries and failed to win a single match. It was a different picture for the United States in the Women’s World Chess Cup.

After advancing through the preliminaries, Susan defeated:

- WIM Vlasta Macek of Croatia (2-0) in the round of 16
- WGM Anna Ushenina (2006 Olympic Gold Medalist) of Ukraine (2-0) in the quarterfinal<
- WGM Carolina Lujan of Argentina (1.5 - .5) in the semifinal
- IM Elizabeth Pahtz (World Junior Champion) of host country Germany (1.5 - .5) in the final

Susan Polgar's performance was very impressive. She was the only player in the event not to lose a single game. In match play, Susan scored 7/8 points, winning 6 and drawing 2. She won all 4 games with the white pieces and two games with black.

This was the first ever Women’s World Chess Cup for the United States. The coach for the United States was FM Paul Truong, Captain and Manager of the 2004 US Women’s Olympiad Silver Medalist team. Pictures of the event can be found at http://www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com and http://www.WomenChessCup.blogspot.com.

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The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.