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Teens take long path to prestigious chess tournament in Lubbock
Chase Thomason
Last Update: 7/29 1:12 am

Vanita and Dyhemia Young are not related, but they do share a common interest. Both consider themselves pretty good at chess.

“In the states tournament I was the top female in the Pennsylvania,” Vanita said.

Vanita is from Philadelphia and her ride to the 8th annual Susan Polgar Girls Invitational Chess Tournament hasn't been an easy one.

“It was heart-warming when I found out a prisoner sent me money,” Vanita said.

Folks from her home town raised around $2,000 to send this 17 year-old to Lubbock.

“It means that there are people out there who actually want to see me go far in life and this is just the start. I'm not going to let them down,” said Vanita.

Dyhemia's story is equally unlikely. She was issued a wild card invitation to participate; however it took a detective in the San Francisco missing-persons unit to track her down. Her story was recently published in the LA Times.

“Before the tournament I got an email from Jada Pinckett Smiths’ agent who said she had been so moved by this story and she just wanted to do anything they could,” Lisa Suhay said, volunteer for the Hip Hop Chess Foundation.

More than enough cash was raised to send Dyhemia out to the Hub City and then some.

“You're not in this world alone. Even though that you may think that your life is worse and you are going through bad times, but you have to think about it. Somewhere in the world someone else is going through something way worse than you are,” Dyhemia said.

The extra money will go into a project called the Cinderella Fund.

“We're hoping that the Cinderella Fund will continue receiving support for other girls in similar situation in need of help, Susan Polgar said, 4-time world chess champion. “These types of stories really warm my heart and keep me going with my foundation and give opportunities for a lot more girls.”

You can call it a win for Vanita and Dyhemia; just playing at the most prestigious all-girl chess championship.

“Hard work pays off and just don't give up,” Vanita said.

“Win or lose, I'm still going to play chess,” Dyhemia said.

In addition to the championship, these two young ladies are competing for $120,000 in prizes and scholarships, including a full-ride to Texas Tech.

Source: http://www.myfoxlubbock.com