For the first time in six years, the Illinois All-Grade state championship attracted over 400 players. 404 played in the November 5 event at Naperville North High School. Jeff DiOrio, the Huskie chess team and Coach DiOrio's Elite Chess were awarded the right to the event after a call for bids from the Illinois Chess Association.

Pre-event ratings were not always predictive of outcome but some familiar faces did return the winner's circle.

After competing last year as a Pre-K (and placing third), Hudson Lutfiyya won the Kindergarten state championship with a perfect 5.0/5 score. Along the way he had to face his younger brother Ren who managed to place third. Four-year-old Ren took it in stride.

Chicago's Yuvraj Chennareddy was the first grade champion while Michael Li claimed second grade honors, both with 5.0/5's.

Owen Zhang of Dunlap was crowned the third grade champion with 5.0/5, while Vrishank Ramnath was also perfect to claim fourth grade top honors.

Alice Fan won fifth grade championship with 4.5/5, denied a perfect score with a draw in the last round.

Nicholas Ladan and Deepak Salian were co-champions of sixth grade with 4.0/4's. Sixth grade through high school sections played slower time controls of sixty minutes and a five-second delay. As a result, they played only four rounds, not five as did the younger sections.

Shreyas Reddy and Roger Li were seventh grade co-champions, both with 4.0's.

Ricky Wang, the only entrant rated above 2000 as of the day of the event, was co-champion of eighth grade along with Adrian Calinescu and Alex Yasumoto, all with 3.5/4. Ricky and Adrian drew in the final round while Alex started the day with a draw and then closed with three wins.

Hinsdale Central Senior Zhenguo Mo and Freshman Tyler Tompkins posted the only perfect 4.0/4 scores in the high school section. Mo was named 12th Grade Champion, Tyler received the 9th Grade championship trophy. There was a five-way tie for the 10th grade championship and a four-way tie for 11th grade top honors.

48 competed in the high school section -- a huge increase from past years. Although the high schoolers competed in one section, awards were presented based upon grade level.

Team champions are listed below.

Illinois has 50 scholastic players rated in the top 100 of their respective age group in the country -- and almost all were eligible to play in this event. Alas, only six of the fifty chose to play in the event. Fast time controls, necessitated by the one-day format, was the most  frequent reason given.

Coach DiOrio says plans are already underway to bid on a future All-Grade and he embraces the opportunity to correct the minor constructive criticisms which were mentioned by tournament-goers.

Far and wide, most attendees who stopped by Chess Control had positive things to say about the event from the playing conditions to the promptness of the round starts. The Illinois Chess Association bylaws call for the appointment of a bid committee liaison to deal with things which come up in the planning and execution of such events, and to gather feedback to aid in the furtherance of guidelines and planning of future tournaments.

Alas, one was not appointed for this tournament.

If you attended the event and have constructive feedback, please provide them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Congratulations to all our newly-minted state champions -- and hope to see you at the ICA's K-8 Championship in March in Bloomington-Normal.

Grade	Individual Champion(s)	Team Champion
K	Hudson Lutfiyya	All Saints Catholic Academy, Naperville
1st	Yuvraj Chennareddy	Avery Coonley School, Downers Grove
2nd	Michael Li	Avery Coonley School
3rd	Owen Zhang	Decatur School, Chicago
4th	Vrishank Ramnath	Oberai Family, Woodridge
5th	Alice Fan	Highcrest Middle School, Wilmette
6th	Deepak Salian, Nicholas Ladan	Chiddix Junior High, Normal
7th	Shreyas Reddy, Roger Li	Bateman Elementary, Chicago
8th	Yasumoto, Wang, Calinescu	Wilmette Junior High, Wilmette
9th	Tyler Tompkins	Hinsdale Central High School
10th	5-way tie	Naperville North High School
11th	4-way tie	Hinsdale Central High School
12th	Zhenguo Mo	Hinsdale Central High School