New K8 Invitational Announced

Details: Published: 10 January 2011 10 January 2011

The U.S. Chess Federation will be hosting a new K8 invitational tournament this summer during the U.S. Open, which will be held in Florida beginning on July 30. One representative from each state, chosen by their state chess association, will be invited to attend. To choose the Illinois representative, the ICA Warren program will sponsor a qualifier tournament the weekend of March 26-27 at the North Shore Chess Center. The winner will receive a $500 travel stipend to attend the national event, along with $250 towards chess lessons. Invitations to the qualifier will be issued to the top 14 players by rating (peak rating based on games played from 2/1/10 to 1/31/11). Additionally, the highest scorer at the March state K8 championship in Bloomington in both the K8 and K5 divisions, who are not otherwise qualified by rating, will also be invited.

Listed below are the current top 14 K8 players in the state. The final list will be compiled Feb. 1, and will reflect all tournaments rated through that date.

1.    Gavin McClanahan (1980)
2.    Conrad Oberhaus (1888)
3.    James Wei (1885)
4.    Alex Bian (1884)
5.    Zachary Holecek (1868)
6.    George Li (1848)
7.    Max Zinski (1827)
8.    David Peng (1823)
9.    Bryce McClanahan (1813)
10. Penny Xu (1812)
11. Nathaniel Kranjc (1791)
12. Jimi Akintonde (1771)
13. Matthew Stevens (1770)
14. Anshul Adve (1758)

The qualifier tournament will be held the weekend of March 26-27 at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie, at the same time and place as the high school Denker qualifier and the girls invitational. K8 chess players not on the above list who want a chance to be invited should be sure to attend the State K8 championships in Bloomington in March. If you think you were left off this list in error, or have questions, please email Andi rosen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ASAP.