US Top 100 From Illinois – March 2026

Illinois proudly boasts two of the top-rated players by age in the US – 10-year old Aiden Li and 9-year old Hardy Gu.  Aiden’s 2243 is 15 points higher than that of US #2 Matthew Yu.

Hardy’s incredible 2201 rating represents a 150-point increase since March of 2025.

International Master Dimitar Mardov is the 2^nd rated 17-year in the US at 2579, leading a talented pack of four other Land of Lincoln age-mates in the top 100’s: Sreekar Gangavarapu, Andrey Dmitriev, Justin Zhang and Dario Pjevic.

Aiden is one of seven Illinois 10-year olds in the top 100’s along with Matthew, Elizabeth Xia, Edward Tang, Valerie Yan, Vaibhav Juturu and Kavinvel Murugan.

Altogether, Illinois enjoys 40 top 100’s on the dozen youth age lists this month.