Chess whiz keeps national competition in 'check'

Rook takes pawn. Bishop takes knight. Khan takes second place. Fifth-year Engineering senior Anna Khan brought home a second-place finish in last month's U.S. Women's Chess Championship, which pitted the 10 highest-ranked female chess players in the country against one another. "This victory showed that all my efforts were not in vain," said Khan, who has been playing chess since the age of 7. "This is my most significant win yet." Khan placed second after winning six of the nine games she played and scoring a tie in one more. The second-place result is only the latest accomplishment in Khan's distinguished chess career. She qualified for the Women's Championship in her native Latvia at the age of 12 and won that tournament at the age of 15. Khan has taken part in the under-20 category of the World Chess Championship every year since she was 16. She has travelled as far as Sweden, the Philippines, Spain, India, Hungary and Brazil to play. She has also competed in the biennial Chess Olympiad. Her high placement in the U.S. Women's Championship qualifies her to play in the World Championship, to be held in Moldova in September 1999. Although Khan has been traveling around the world since she was in a children's chorus group, her biggest move came at the age of 16, when she and her family immigrated to New York City from Latvia. Khan quickly adjusted to her new home, continuing to play and win regular chess games. Despite her deep involvement with the game, Kahn finds time for a variety of other activities. "I have many other interests, such as tennis, figure skating and kick-boxing," Khan said. "Anna's not your typical chess guru," said Kahn's roommate and fellow Engineering senior Jenni Marquiss. "Although she spends a lot of time practicing her chess on the Internet, she also does many other things." And in addition to playing chess on her own, Khan is a member of the Penn Chess Club. "Anna's been a great teammate over the past three years," said club president and Wharton senior David Arnett. "Anna was indispensible in bringing home Penn's highest chess finish in 20 years at the Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championship." Khan said that she plans to work in finance or information technology after she graduates from Penn this month. "Wherever I'm working, I'll find time to play in the World Championship in September," she added.