Youth Chess News
Wisniowski Earns Bronze, Awaits WCM Title From FIDE
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Natalie Wisniowski will soon be able to put a few letters in front of her name thanks to her bronze medal performance at the North American Youth Chess Championship (NAYCC) held in Windsor, Canada, August 7-11.
The Chicagoan earned the title "Women's Candidate Master" (WCM) finishing in clear third in the Under 10 group, with 6.5, a half-point behind the two section leaders. With five wins and three draws in nine rounds, Natalie's only loss came to champion Atmika Gorti in the seventh round.
Natalie's father, Pawel, told the ICA, this was one of the happiest moments of his life, "the only time when I was happier was when my daughters were born!"
Ravisundar, Kodipparambil Win '16 Labor Day Scholastic
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a flawless 5-for-5 performance, Rahul Ravisundar won the 2016 Labor Day Scholastic U1200 with 24 participants. The event was held September 3 in conjunction with the Illinois Open occuring in Northbrook.
In the U700 section, Advaith Kodipparambil posted the high score.
In the upper section, a three-way tie for second place included Jonathan Lou, Kai Dubauskas and Pranay Prabhakar, all with 4.0's. On tiebreaks, Kai took second and Jonathan third.
Ravisundar defeated Kai in the final match and Jonathan in the penultimate round.
Chicago Youth Enjoy Three Free Summer Chess Camps
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Chicago youth had the opportunity to attend one of three free chess camps this summer sponsored by the Chicago Chess Foundation.
The week-long, five-hour-a-day camps were coordinated throughout the city, with the northside camp at the end of June, and westside and southside camps in July.
Adam Geisler organized the camps and serves as both a CCF Board Member and the organization's programming committee chairperson. Geisler is a Chicago Public School teacher and the coach of the successful Bateman Elementary School club which regularly competes as a team in scholastic tournaments.
Jacob Plotnick and Amrutha Venkat Post Top Scores From Illinois at 2016 Iowa Rated Beginners Championship
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With matching 3.0/5 results, Jacob Plotnick and Amrutha Venkat tallied positive scores at the 2016 Iowa RBO for players rated Under 1200. These were the top scores for Illinois participants in an August 27 event that drew players from nine states.
The time control was Game/30 with a five-second delay meaning it was dual-rated, impacting both US Chess Regular and Quick ratings.
The 54-player competition was won by Iowa middle-schooler Issay Niki who was a perfect five-for-five, raising his rating an impressive 275 points.
New Record: 23 Illinois Juniors Rated Above 2000!
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With the arrival of downstaters Caleb Denby and Andrew Fei, Illinois now has 23 juniors rated above 2000 as of the August official ratings. Five juniors are rated above 2200 and are considered "Masters". Between 2000 and 2199 is considered "Expert" territory.
Aren Emrikian jumped into the top five of the 7-and-unders (4th) -- and is the top six-year old in the nation.
Dimitar Mardov (7th), Aydin Turgut (4th), David Peng (5th), Jacob Furfine (10th), and George Li (9th) are also in the top 10 of their respective age groups.