Heading into the sixth and final round of the 2017 Denker, Barber and National Girls Invitationals, Illinois holds a point-and-a-half lead in the combined state score designation.

George Li (4.5), Aydin Turgut (4.0) and Marissa Li (3.5) have combined for 12.0 ahead of three states with 10.5 tallies.

Southern California, Michigan and Washington state all have 10.5's while five states have 10.0 totals: Texas, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia.

The prestigious US Chess youth invitiational competitions are being held in Virginia this year and return to Middleton, WI in 2018.

George Li's 4.5 places him as Denker co-leader with Virginia's Praveen Balakrishnan.

Aydin Turgut's 4.0 places the downstater in a five-way tie for first place in the Barber.

Marissa Li's impressive score places her in a tie for sixth place with four others.

The events wrap up Wednesday, August 2..

According to US Chess, "The final round is tomorrow at 10 AM EST and the top board in each section can be viewed here:http://chesslive.xyz/DBG/tfd.htm

Thanks to Marissa Li's proud papa for keeping the ICA up to date on the events.