Update: On tiebreaks, Aren Emrikian has won the Kindergarten National Championship at the K-12's in Orlando. Aren lost in the final round to Caleb Marshall of Kentucky who was rated 345 points higher, but won his six previous matches, compiling the best tiebreak of four players with 6.0/7. Hudson Lutfiyya was one point back at 5.0, participating in a five-way tie for 10th place.

Whitney Young has won the 9th Grade Championship with a 15.5 score, 2.5 ahead of New York's Dalton. Akhil Kalghatgi tallied 5.5 to tie for fourth place, sixth on tiebreaks. 

Akhil was only a half-point behind first -- and a half-point ahead of his brother Nikhil and teammate Matthew Stevens who both tied for 7th place, earning 10th place tropies.

7th Grader Kevin Ho has tied for 5th place with a 5.5 result, taking 9th on tiebreaks.

Sophomore Daniel Bronfeyn of Mundelein High School tied for second place with 5.0/7, taking sixth place on tiebreaks.

Chicago 6th Grader Aria Hoesley finished 5.0, tying for 13th place, winning 20th place hardware on tiebreaks.

Whitney Young Seniors Stephen Horvath, Phillip Parker-Turner and Caelan Burke-Kaiser all compiled 4.0's, earning the team fifth place in the nation with 12.0.

Caelan's 4.0 was tied for the best score among players previously rated 1400-1599, and he received the third place trophy on tiebreaks. Their teammate Benny Chiang finished a half-point back, taking second place honors (on tiebreaks) for entrants rated under 1000.

Whitney Young Junior Bailey Baker earned second place honors for players entering the 11th Grade section with US Chess ratings under 1000, posting a 3.0 score, a half-point behind a competitor from Georgia.

Sam Kowalski of Wheaton had the highest score of previously-unrated players in First Grade with 4.5, a full point better than two entrants from New York.

Side Event Highlights: Whitney Young won the National K-12 Blitz championship with its top three scores. Matthew Stevens took second while Phillip Parker-Turner was leading going into the last round, and placed fifth. Akhil and Nikhil Kalghatgi took second in Bughouse.

Main Story: 21 Illinois players, ten from Whitney Young High School, have made the trip to the 2015 K-12 Championships in Florida. 1726 players registered in advance, representing 39 states.

Lacking only 4th and 8th graders, Illinois is represented in 11 of the 13 grade levels at the Orlando-area tournament. The seven-round event runs through Sunday, December 6. 

The tournament website is here.

Side Events

Illinois is already bringing home hardware thanks to several Whitney Young entries in the side events.

Matthew Stevens took second place in the K-12 Blitz on Thursday, a half-point back from Massachusetts' Andrew Liu. Matthew, a 9th grader, had the top tiebreak among a trio of 10.0 scorers. In the fourth round, Matthew was only able to get 0.5 out of 2.0 with Liu.

Senior Phillip Parker-Turner finished with 9.5 to take fifth place honors. Heading into the sixth and final round, Phillip was leading the 126-entry tournament. Matched against Liu, Phillip held a 9.5-8.5 lead. However, the Massachusetts junior prevailed in both games to take the championship.

Freshman Akhil Kalghatgi posted a 8.5 tying for 14th place, 15th on tiebreaks. (Only 10 places received trophies). Nikhil Kalghatgi posted 8.0 to tie for 22nd. Also competing for Whitney Young: Steven Horvath 6.5, Ricky Roman 6.0, Chris Rupprecht 5.5, Caelan Burke-Kaiser 5.0, Benny Chiang and Bailey Baker 4.0.

Thanks to the combined top three scores, Whitney Young earned the National K-12 Blitz Championship with 28 points, a half-point better than famed IS 318 of New York.

Akhil teamed with twin brother Nikhil to tie for the Bughouse championship, taking second place hardware on tiebreaks. Just missing out on hardware were the Whitney Young team of freshman Ricky Roman and senior Caelan Burke-Kaiser, scoring 7.0, good enough to tie for fourth, but placing sixth on tiebreaks. Trophies were only awarded to five places.

Benny and Bailey placed second and third among players entering the blitz competition with US Chess ratings 800-999.

Illinois' lone entrant in the 158-player K-6 Blitz was first grader Samuel Kowalski. Keep at it, Sam!

Older Updates

Pre-Event: Based on pre-tournament (November official) ratings, Illinois has three entrants in the top 10 of their age group: Aren Emrikian, 3rd in Kindergarten; Matthew Stevens, 7th in 9th Grade; and Daniel Bronfeyn, 9th in 10th Grade.

Update as of Friday night: After Round Two, all three (Aren, Matthew and Daniel) are undefeated along with 12th grader Phillip, 9th graders Akhil and Nikhil, 7th grader Kevin Ho, 6th graders Aria Hoesley and Jonah Karafiol, 3rd graders Zalan Gyorgy and Daniel Skeels, and Kindergartner Hudson Lutfiyya.

Update at noon Saturday: List of Illinois players with perfect scores is dwindling. With 3.0/3 are Daniel B (8), Nikhil (8), Aria (17) and Aren (9) where (n) is the number of remaining players with perfect scores.

Update after Round 4 Saturday: Illinois is down to one player with a perfect 4.0/4 score: Kindergarten All-Grade Champion Aren Emrikian. Whitney Young leads 9th Grade Team competition with 9.0/12, a half-point better than Gainesville, Florida's Buchholz High School.

Update after Round 5: Whitney Young's Stephen Horvath is within a half-point of first place in the Grade 12 section, tied for fifth place. His team is tied for third, a half-point behind the leaders. Akhil Kalghatgi is tied for the lead for 9th graders, with his brother Nikhil, a half-point off the pace, tied for fifth. The team leads New York Dalton 12.0-9.0. 

For 10th Graders, Daniel Bronfeyn is at 4.0/5, tied for third. Aren Emrikian is one of two perfect scores in the Kindergarten section, with Hudson Lutfiyya a point back, tied for third.

Update going into 7th and final round:  2015 Illinois All-Grade Champion Aren Emrikian is the lone perfect score in the Kindergarten section at the National K-12 Championships. Aren's 6.0/6 is a point better than six players with 5.0, two of whom he's already defeated. Hudson Lutfiyya is in a 12-way tie for 10th place with 4.0.

Round Six was tough for the Whitney Young 9th Graders, with both Kalghatgi's losing and Matthew Stevens drawing. Nonetheless, they remain 1.5 points in the lead for top team honors.

Daniel Bronfeyn is in a five-way tie for second in the 10th Grade Championship, a point behind the leader. Kevin Ho is tied for 7th among 7th graders with 4.5. Aria Hoesley is mired in a nine-way tie for 4th among 6th graders with 5.0.

Whitney Young seniors are 1.5 off the pace, currently in 5th place. Stephen Horvath and Phillip Parker-Turner both have 4.0's.