Youth News
IL Top 100 Girls (November 2021)
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- Written by Megan Chen Megan Chen
- Published: 25 November 2021 25 November 2021
Happy Thanksgiving! This past month saw quite a few leaps and bounds amongst some of our talented young chess queens from Illinois. Congratulations to all 45 ladies for gaining/maintaining a spot on this list. Special kudos to the Namuunbayar sisters, Enkhjin (13) and Anujin (14), for coming back to the Top 100 Girls lists, and to Rosali Schneider (14) for her first time appearance!
Congratulations also to Linda Pham (12) for climbing over a hundred points to Class C rating territory, crossing the 1400 mark thanks to her stellar 3.5/5 performance in the 1200-1499 section of the Midwest Class!
If you believe your daughter was inadvertently omitted from these lists, it may be due to US Chess rules regarding permission. If the player’s family cannot be contacted to confirm permission for using the name on one of these lists, the player is not listed. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for assistance on connecting with US Chess.
US Rank Player (US Chess ID) October ’21 Cutoff
| Age 7 and Under | ||
| 36 | Bothe, Devaanshi (17073438) | 229 |
| Age 8 | ||
| 29 | Zhan, Amy (17073114) | 734 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 50 | Varadan, Vijayalakshmi (16801573) | 725 |
| 55 | Ranjan, Nysa (16761560) | 693 |
| 93 | Berkey, Rebekah (16585623) | 479 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 34 | Hu, Angela (16747812) | 1062 |
| 40 | Jiandani, Mehak S (16108634) | 1025 |
| 75 | Sharad, Suhana (16943553) | 834 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 58 | Gansukh, Megan (16231843) | 1054 |
| 71 | Manimaran, Shivani (16614018) | 983 |
| 75 | Doddi, Sukhi (15850503) | 953 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 27 | Pham, Linda (15464538) | 1432 |
| 42 | Girish, Niyathi (16221570) | 1356 |
| 98 | Marsten, Joanna (16138168) | 933 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 13 | Raj, Ria (15844590) | 1704 |
| 29 | Zhao, Sophia Ziyan (16763001) | 1510 |
| 37 | Lee, Merrill (15703571) | 1465 |
| 67 | Namuunbayar , Enkhjin (15863824) | 1217 |
| 83 | Erdenebileg, Oyumaa (16243234) | 1092 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 28 | Adusumalli, Saanvi (15412194) | 1538 |
| 32 | Oberai, Anisha (15794814) | 1518 |
| 36 | Salian, Nisha (15767306) | 1493 |
| 42 | Musku, Himani (15932133) | 1401 |
| 74 | Pashyan, Sofia (15844997) | 1173 |
| 78 | Namuunbayar, Anujin (15863872) | 1157 |
| 79 | Liu, Catherine (15277304) | 1143 |
| 100 | Schneider, Rosali (15552287) | 1005 |
| Age 15 | ||
| 5 | Wisniowski, Natalie (15702390) | 1971 |
| 18 | Luster, Shakira Makayla (15641127) | 1666 |
| Age 16 | ||
| 31 | Tsyganova, Margarita (15922341) | 1639 |
| 32 | Lin, Sarah (15376582) | 1620 |
| 35 | Zhang, Louisa (15746981) | 1584 |
| 58 | Pashyan, Stella (15575165) | 1249 |
| 64 | Williams, Trechelle (15637011) | 1163 |
| 69 | Hill, Imani (16214855) | 1114 |
| 87 | Varadharajan, Saigeetha (16773343) | 965 |
| 90 | Dhananjaya, Priya Nandish (15473924) | 846 |
| 91 | Kuricheti, Umika (14579770) | 822 |
| Age 17 | ||
| 6 | Hoesley, Aria (14631046) | 2103 |
| 13 | Yan, Ashley (14957435) | 1912 |
| 42 | Rodriguez, Layla (15360516) | 1336 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 3 | Mangalam, Shreya (14385521) | 2167 |
| 19 | Shklover, Diana (14672010) | 1527 |
| 21 | Phillips, Rebecca (16628621) | 1502 |
| 24 | Grandy, Sarah Ruth (14279452) | 1446 |
The 2021-2022 Class of Warren Junior Scholars and Rising Stars
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- Written by Eric Luster Eric Luster
- Published: 23 November 2021 23 November 2021
The Illinois Chess Association is proud to announce the 2021-2022 class of Warren Junior Scholars and Rising Stars.
The Warren Junior Scholar program was started over 30 years ago by Helen Warren, a past ICA president, to recognize the most accomplished and promising scholastic chess players in the state. In 2015, the Rising Stars program was added to recognize the next tier of up and coming scholastic players. These two programs together recognize the top scholastic chess talent in our state. Invitation to these programs is based on USCF chess ratings and active participation in chess tournaments.
Top 100 Female Players in Illinois (Oct. 2021)
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
- Published: 25 October 2021 25 October 2021
With newcomer Amy Zhan (age 8), Illinois is again represented in every age bracket. We also welcome back on these prestigious lists Suhana Sharad (age 10) and Joanna Marsten (age 12).
Players of note this month include Shivani Manimaran, who climbed from rank 84 to rank 60, as well as Ria Raj and Shakira Luster, who are also moving up.
The cutoff date for this month’s lists was September 15, so the Midwest Class results are not yet included.
This is my last compilation of these lists. After writing about the Top 100 Girls in Illinois for the past 5 years, I am passing the baton to Megan Chen, who will continue these articles next month. So, for the last time from this author: CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Top 100 Female Players in Illinois (Sept. 2021)
- Details
- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
- Published: 25 September 2021 25 September 2021
A big round of applause to the 42 young ladies who represent the state of Illinois on US Chess’ most recent Top 100 Lists for Girls—from Shreya (rank 2), Natalie (rank 4) and Aria (rank 7) to 7-year old Devaanshi Bothe, our youngest candidate. These lists are generated on the third Wednesday of the previous month based on the players’ regular ratings for over-the-board play. Last year, US Chess added top 100 lists for online rating systems (blitz and quick), which can be found at their website.
August 2021 US Top 100 Lists for Girls
- Details
- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
- Published: 25 August 2021 25 August 2021
US Rank Player (US Chess ID) July ’21 Cutoff
| Age 7 and Under | ||
| 25 | Bothe, Devaanshi (17073438) | 229 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 42 | Varadan, Vijayalakshmi (16801573) | 725 |
| 76 | Ranjan, Nysa (16761560) | 533 |
| 84 | Berkey, Rebekah (16585623) | 481 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 38 | Hu, Angela (16747812) | 1038 |
| 43 | Jiandani, Mehak S (16108634) | 1025 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 57 | Gansukh, Megan (16231843) | 1054 |
| 76 | Doddi, Sukhi (15850503) | 953 |
| 95 | Sheridan, Wayra (16974060) | 873 |
| 97 | Manimaran, Shivani (16614018) | 870 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 37 | Pham, Linda (15464538) | 1407 |
| 60 | Girish, Niyathi (16221570) | 1162 |
| 70 | Erdenebileg, Oyumaa (16243234) | 1092 |
| 100 | Marsten, Joanna (16138168) | 933 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 18 | Raj, Ria (15844590) | 1671 |
| 30 | Zhao, Sophia Ziyan (16763001) | 1510 |
| 33 | Salian, Nisha (15767306) | 1493 |
| 36 | Lee, Merrill (15703571) | 1465 |
| 42 | Musku, Himani (15932133) | 1401 |
| 77 | Liu, Catherine (15277304) | 1143 |
| 88 | Hu, Emily (16385785) | 1083 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 16 | Adusumalli, Saanvi (15412194) | 1620 |
| 25 | Oberai, Anisha (15794814) | 1516 |
| Age 15 | ||
| 5 | Wisniowski, Natalie (15702390) | 1983 |
| 20 | Luster, Shakira (15641127) | 1666 |
| 72 | Williams, Trechelle (15637011) | 1163 |
| 83 | Hill, Imani (16214855) | 1114 |
| Age 16 | ||
| 25 | Tsyganova, Margarita (15922341) | 1718 |
| 31 | Lin, Sarah (15376582) | 1620 |
| 33 | Zhang, Louisa (15746981) | 1572 |
| 48 | Rodriguez, Layla (15360516) | 1336 |
| 57 | Nadkarni, Anusha (14789160) | 1219 |
| 78 | Varadharajan, Saigeetha (16773343) | 965 |
| 85 | Dhananjaya, Priya Nandish (15473924) | 846 |
| 87 | Kuricheti, Umika (14579770) | 822 |
| Age 17 | ||
| 6 | Hoesley, Aria (14631046) | 2100 |
| 14 | Yan, Ashley (14957435) | 1912 |
| 59 | Schwegel, Bernadette Olivia (15128161) | 871 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 2 | Mangalam, Shreya (14385521) | 2169 |
| 20 | Shklover, Diana (14672010) | 1527 |
| 23 | Phillips, Rebecca (16628621) | 1467 |
| 25 | Grandy, Sarah Ruth (14279452) | 1446 |
| 27 | Brahin, Lizzy (15698350) | 1264 |