Youth News
Mardov & Peng Represent Illinois in Rated Online Tournament
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 05 June 2015 05 June 2015
Update: Mardov Wins Under 6 National Title! Peng Wins U12!
6-year old Dimitar Mardov and 12-year old David Peng will be the two Illinois competitors in the 4th ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship (CONIC).
The five-round, three-day event kicks off this evening, June 5. All five rounds will be broadcast live on Chess.com/TV. Round one is Friday at 6:00pm, but it is anticipated that broadcasts will start after all games have begun, perhaps 15 minutes or so after the round begins.
Top 100 Youth -- May 2015
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- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf
- Published: 04 June 2015 04 June 2015
Illinois continues to host 11 18-year olds in the top 100 nationwide, whereas statistically we'd expect to have only four.
For the first time, Illinois has six females among the top 100 Under 21 with three above 1900.
Illinois is proud to host six top ten players in the country including #4 18-year old Sam Schmakel, #5 12-year old David Peng, #5 10-year old Aydin Turgut, #6 13-year old Jacob Furfine, #7 U13 Girl Marissa Li and #9 (tie) 15-year old George Li.
Akhil Kalghatgi rose above 2000 once again and Nicholas Bartochowski smashed the 2K barrier for the first time, climbing to 2043!
That gives Illinois 15 junior Experts along with six junior Masters (or better).
High improvers this month included Eddie Zhang up 85 rating points and Alex Zhao up 83.
Naperville North Hosts Community Chess Extravaganza 8
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- Written by ICA Staff ICA Staff
- Published: 03 June 2015 03 June 2015
On Wednesday, May 27th, the IHSA State Champion Naperville North High School Chess Team hosted a night of chess fun for the Naperville community.
The tournament featured unrated sections by grade level, rated sections, a parent tournament, a group lesson, and a "Beat the Varsity Player" challenge.
The goal of the tournament was to continue to spread the great game of chess to the community and to raise money for the NNHS Chess Team to compete in USCF National Tournaments next year.
Illinois Players Earn Hardware at 3rd Ice Harbor Scholastic, Panner Wins K-6 U800, Rockford Marshall Nabs K-12 U1200
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 20 May 2015 20 May 2015
Aidan Carey could have played it easy and entered the K-6 Open at the Third Annual Ice Harbor Scholastic. But who likes easy?
Instead the Avery Coonley School sixth grader entered the K-12 Open, beat a 1900, drew an 1800, raised his USCF rating to 1768 and nabbed the fifth place trophy.
Aidan's only loss came at the hands of Joseph Wan of Iowa, the event champion and the 2014 K-6 National Champion.
Fellow Aurora Chess Club member Vrishank Ramnath also might have vied for the K-3 Open championship, but after winning his first round, moved up to the K-12 where he won one and drew another against players twice his age.
Turgut Claims 2nd at National K-6, Daniels Ties for 5th
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 10 May 2015 10 May 2015
Dropping a game at a national tournament is never fun, but for Aydin Turgut it did not mean the end of the road.
Despite the fifth round loss to the eventual champion, Aydin rallied, won his last two games and, as things fell into place, Aydin claimed second place.
California fourth grader Andrew Hong, already a USCF master, was crowned National Champion. Aydin had the highest tiebreaks among a trio of 6.0/7's, despite having the lowest of the three pre-event ratings.
Aydin's bughouse partner, Jason Daniels had a strong finish of his own, posting 5.5/7, tying for fifth place, earning 13th place hardware on tiebreaks.
Buffalo Grove's Ricky Wang was a half-point back at 5.0, tying for 18th, 19th on tiebreaks.