By virtue of his 11th round victory against fellow-American Abhi Mishra, Aren Emrikian has won the 2017 World Cadet Under 8 competition!  Aren finished with 9.0/11.

Playing the black colors, Aren trailed the top-seeded Mishra by a half-point heading into the last round. Aren's victory dropped Mishra into a second place tie at 8.5 with Battulga Tenuunbold of Mongolia who scored a mild upset in Round 11.

In the U10 section, Arthur Xu drew his 11th round match, compiling an 8.5 tally and the Silver Medal for clear second!

American Liran Zhou has clinched Gold in the U10 with 9.5/11. Arthur's 8.5 was a half-point better than that of four players who finished with 8.0's.

Illinois is also proud of Alex Zhou who compiled a 5.5/11 score in the U10.

72 players representing 30 countries participated in the the U8 during the one and a half week competition in Pocos de Caldas, Brazil. 88 competed in the U10 section.

The ICA thanks the youth and their parents for representing Illinois and the nation in this international event. Kudos to both US Chess Coordinator Jerry Nash and to Illinois-based coach GM Mesgan Amanov for their tremendous support.

(Editor's Note: Photo credit to US Chess).

Earlier Posting: Round 11 of 11: Aren Emrikian and Arthur Xu Both Playing For Top Medals at 2017 World Cadet Event in Brazil

Heading into the final round of the 2017 World Cadet competition in Pocos de Caldas, Brazil, three Illinois youth are well-representing both the US and their home state.

Aren Emrikian is playing the black colors against fellow-American Abhi Mishra in the Under 8 Open section. Abhi has 8.5 points while Aren has 8.0, as does CM Savva Vetokhin of Russia who is playing on Board 2. 

Arthur Xu (8.0) is playing the dark colors on Board 2 in the U10 competition versus CM Subramaniyam Bharath of India.

The U10 section is lead by American Liran Zhou (8.5) who is playing Adam Mekhane of France on Board 1. Mekhane is playing the white pieces.

Also competing for Illinois -- and the US -- is Alex Zhou who has a respectable 5.0/10 heading into the last round.

Stay tuned for the final results as many of the matches in the section have concluded.