Youth Chess News
Girls in US Top 100 Lists for August, 2016: 44 Active Illinois Players Posted on Elite Lists, Li Striving to Join Liu as Expert
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
44 Illinois girls have managed to earn spots on this month's top 100 lists compiled by US Chess. Unfortunately, Illinois is without a qualifying 18 year old, but managed to have at least two active players on each of the other 11 lists.
Marissa Li is now within 25 points of joining Miranda Liu in the rarefied air of female Experts (rated 2000 or higher).
The lists are based on ratings achieved and processed by the third Wednesday of the prior month, in this case July 20, 2016.
IL Trio Posts 4th Highest Total at Denker, Barber, NGIT
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
The elite team of George Li, Vincent Do and Miranda Liu admirably acquitted themselves at the 2016 Denker, Barber and National Girls Invitational Tournaments.
The competition concluded August 3 in Indianapolis, IN, including entries from all but four states while adding back a second team from California and an entry from Washington, DC.
The Illinois-based trio tied for fourth place with 12.5/18 combined, the same score as Wisconsin and Oklahoma, a half-point behind third place Virginia and 1.5 points behind the champion New Jersey squad.
Illinois Youth: July Top 100 Listings
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
51 Illinois youth have made one of the dozen age-based Top 100 Lists for nationwide juniors.
This includes an all-time high five Masters and seventeen Experts, marking a total of 22 juniors rated 2000 or higher.
Vincent Do will be representing Illinois at the Barber Championships (for K-8's) in Indianapolis starting next week. George Li, on the cusp of 2400, will be representing Illinois at the Denker Championships (for high schoolers) also in Indianapolis.
Liu: First Illinois Junior Female Expert In Recent Times
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With an impressive performance at the National All-Girls Tournament, 14-year old Miranda Liu becomes the first Illinois female junior to achieve the US Chess Expert title in recent times. As of the official June 2016 ratings, she comes in at 2015. Congratulations to Miranda!
An observant reader of the ICA site wrote in to correct a previous erroneous posting that Miranda was the first ever. Yelena Gorlin became an Expert in 1999 as a high school sophomore at Niles North. Sadly, it appears Ms. Gorlin stopped playing rated chess as of the 2002 Pan American Collegiates in Miami when Yelena was presumably a freshman in college. She went 3.5/6 to raise her rating to 2169. The event also included Yury Shulman, Jennifer Shahade, Eugene Perelshtyn, Irina Krush, and Alexander Onishchuk. It was also Illinois-based NM Hugo Padilla's first USCF-rated event.
May 2016 US Top 100 Lists For Girls
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
22 female juniors have surpassed the 1000 mark as of the May 2016 ratings... with three girls rated above 1900. Actually, one has gone over the magic 2000-mark thanks to her championship performance at the National All-Girls in late April... but you'll have to tune in to a subsequent article to see if that is forever recorded in the June rating supplement.
Tournaments as of April 20 were included in this compilation.
39 appear on one of the Top 100 lists for their respective age group nationwide with eight young ladies in the top 20.