With an 11th round victory over India's Sarkar Rajdeep, Jacob Furfine secured a sixth-place tie in the Under 16 section at the 2017 World Youth.

The competition concluded September 26 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

At 7.5/11, Furfine was only a point back from the three-way co-champions who posted 8.5's.

Fellow Illinoisian Aydin Turgut posted 7.0/11 in the Under 14's, finishing in a ten-way tie for 9th place.

In the Under 14 Girls, Shreya Mangalam tied for 14th place with four others thanks to her 6.5/11 score. Aria Hoesley was only a point back with 5.5, tying for 27th out of more than 50 entries. WCM Marissa Li also posted 5.5 in the U16, tying for 25th place out of 60 entrants.

Grandmaster Vlad Georgiev, based in Illinois, served as one of a handful of US coaches in Uruguay.

The ICA thanks the five Illinois players -- and their families and coaches -- for their exemplary representation of the state -- and of the USA -- in this prestigious competition.