Youth Chess News
ICA, Mitkov, Vishnuvardhan, Daniels Deliver Tactical Training to 2016-2017 Classes of Warren Scholars and Rising Stars
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Thanks to the amazing organizational skills of Director Scott Daniels, Warren Junior Scholars and -- for the first time ever -- Rising Stars -- received more than 90 minutes of instruction on chess tactics December 11.
GM Nikola Mitkov and International Master Arjun Vishnuvardhan kept the promising students on their toes as they displayed challenging tactical puzzles via web-conferencing tools.
More than two dozen Scholars and approaching four dozen Stars participated and many expressed appreciation at the opportunity.
Layla Rodriguez Rules Sevan's Scholastic in Schaumburg
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With the lone perfect score in the first-ever Sevan's Scholastic, Layla Rodriguez was declared champion in the November 26 event.
The event was held to benefit the Muradian family in the wake of Sevan's passing in February of 2016. Mr. Muradian had been a tireless supporter of youth chess in Illinois.
With a fourth round victory over Sanjeev Devarajan, Layla wrapped up first place. Andrey Novikov and Margarita Tsyganova tied for second place with 3.5's, drawing head to head in the second round.
Junior Submission: An Account of The World Championships
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- Written by 8-year old Jacob Plotnik (with editor's notes by Bill Feldman) 8-year old Jacob Plotnik (with editor's notes by Bill Feldman)
The ICA -- and this website -- encourages the submission of articles to this space from our chess-playing community.
Earlier this year the ICA site was named the top website in the country out of all state affiliates. Unofficial calculations indicate our viewers enjoyed three times as many articles in 2015-2016 as the runner up (two-time defending winner Maine).
Nonetheless, we can do better. We would love more submissions from clubs and affiliates and also from coaches regarding their students and their progress.
300-plus Compete at Lane Tech YCFC Tournament
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
310 junior players representing 45 teams competed at the initial Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago (YCFC) tournament of the 2016-2017 school year.
The five-round event was conducted at Lane Tech College Prep High School on the northside of Chicago November 12.
In true democratic fashion all five sections were won by different teams!
Andy Cao of Skinner North was the victor in the Novice K-2 section with a perfect 5-for-5.
Decatur "edged" Edgebrook 13.0 to 12.5 to win the top team trophy in the K-2.
50 Illinois Youth in November US Top 100's including Seven Masters and A Whopping 19 Experts
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Led by 16-year old George Li and 13-year old David Peng, Illinois boasts seven junior USCF Masters as of the November 2016 published ratings. 12-year old Aydin Turgut, along with Jacob Furfine, Alex Bian, Spencer Lehmann, Jonathan Hrach fill out the magnificent seven.
Seven is also the magic number for 13-year olds and 16-year olds in the top 100 (whereas one might expect only four based on population). Our class of 15-year olds goes one better with eight, led by Furfine.
New names in the top 100's this month include 7-year olds Michael Li and Liam Murray who have both broken the 1000-mark.