Congratulations to 43 talented youth chess players across the state who were named as ICA 2011 Warren Junior Chess Scholars. The group of players includes 36 boys and 7 girls, ranging in age from 7 to 18. For 13 of the students, this is the first time they’ve received the honor, which has been given annually since 2006. To qualify, the students needed to be among the top-ranked youth chess players for their age in the country.

Nine of the high school students among this year’s Warren Scholars were present to receive special recognition at the awards ceremony of the Illinois high school team championships on February 13. The elementary and junior high students will receive their awards at the state K8 championships that will be held in Bloomington the weekend of March 5-6. A letter is also being sent to each student’s school principal about this special achievement.

The ICA Warren Scholar program provides some funding for individual instruction, and arranges group instruction with high-level masters and grandmasters. They also are eligible to receive a special discount and scholarship money to attend chess summer camp at the Yury Shulman International Chess School. The Warren Scholar program also sponsors three competitive invitational tournaments for the state’s top high school, top female, and top K8 players, and provides funding for each of the winners to travel to national competitions.

Congratulations to the following students (name, age, hometown):

Anshul Adve, 11, Champaign

Jimi Akintonde, 14, Chicago

Michael Auger, 17, Chicago

Alex Bian, 11, Lincolnshire

Victoria Bian, 13, Lincolnshire

Joey Bikus, 12, Hawthorn Woods

Kent Cen, 16, Lincolnshire

Jack Curcio, 10, Park Ridge

Jason Scott Daniels, 7, Normal

Vincent Do, 9, Rockford

Josh Dubin, 17, Buffalo Grove

Harrison He, 8, Champaign

Zachary Holecek, 12, Lincolnshire

Adarsh Jayakumar, 16, Glencoe

Jonathan Kogen, 15, Deerfield

Nathaniel Kranjc, 14, Wheaton

Spencer Lehmann, 11, Barrington

Zhaozhi (George) Li, 11, Wilmette

Miranda Liu, 9, Long Grove

Chegliang Luo, 15, Chicago

Trevor Magness, 18, Bolingbrook

Bryce McClanahan, 11, Glenview

Gavin McClanahan, 14, Glenview

Aakaash Meduri, 17, Westmont

Conrad Oberhaus, 11, Lincolnshire

Adele Padgett, 16, Lake Forest

David Tianjian Peng, 7, Wilmette

Shayna Provine, 10, Plainfield

Chetan Reddy, 9, Dunlap

Eric Rosen, 17, Skokie

Sam Schmakel, 14, Chicago

Matthew Stevens, 10, Burr Ridge

Abe Sun, 10, Wilmette

Charles Swan, 15, Chicago

Ranadheer Tripuraneni, 8, Lake Zurich

Rachel Ulrich, 10, Grayslake

Susanna Ulrich, 7, Grayslake

Tommy Ulrich, 15, Grayslake

David Wallach, 8, Buffalo Grove

James Wei, 10, Buffalo Grove

Matthew Wilber, 16, Buffalo Grove

Yue (Penny) Xu, 13, Champaign

Max Zinski, 14, Wheaton