Help Martha to represent USA

Hi. I'm Martha Samadashvili. I am a 9-year old 4th grader at Eagle Point Elementary in Albany, NY. I am a hardworking Honor Roll student whose favorite subjects are mathematics, science, social studies, U.S. History, art and music.

My mom and dad introduced me to the competitive world of chess. Now Chess has become my true passion. I love to play competitively. Because I have been willing to work hard to become a strong player, I have made lots of progress in a short period of time. I also decided a while back that I wanted to compete for the USA when I learned about the World Youth Chess Championships!

To prepare for the opportunity, I started travelling to face national competition. Eventually I competed at the North American Youth Chess Championships in August in Toronto. There I won the Champion's trophy in the Under 10 - Girls category. In the process, I also earned the title of FIDE Woman Candidate Master.

As a consequence of my hard work, the United States Chess Federation has extended an invitation for me to represent the United States at the upcoming World Youth Chess Championships to be held December 17-29, 2013, in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. However, success often creates more challenges:

The total cost to participate was actually much more than we knew about many months ago. There were unforeseen organizational fees "“ both at the national and international levels "“ and additional costs for hotel and lodging that actually more than doubled the original estimate.

The final costs are too expensive for my family to handle alone. I want to ask you to help me raise $3000. Together with my family's savings, it will pay the expenses that allow me to represent the USA in the upcoming World Youth Chess Championships and to help make my dream come true. I promise I will do my best for my country and for all of you!

We will post my results and photos of the trip (www.eastgreenbushchessclub.org) so you will know how I did.

Thanks!

Martha