Youth Chess News
George Li Ties for Second at 2015 USCF High School Nationals, Six Illinois Teams Among Top 30 in Championship Section
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
New Trier High School's ZhaoZhi "George" Li came within a half-point of the highest score at the 2015 USCF High School Nationals completed April 12 in Columbus, OH.
Li's only blemishes were draws in rounds three and five, both against Texans. George's post-event rating -- pending re-rating -- hit 2300 for the first time. His 6.0 tied for second place with seven others, capturing seventh place hardware on tiebreaks.
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of March 2015
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- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf
Four new Illinois names joined the US Top 100 lists this month: nine-year old Peter Zheng, eight year-old Eduard Danilyan, seven year-old John Bielobradek and six year-old David Yong.
Returning to the lists was Penny Xu after she competed in the rated Illini Blitz event in February. Penny played first board on her Urbana High School team this year, but hasn't played any regular-rated matches since the 2013 US Open. Penny compiled an impressive 6.0/7 at the IHSA finals in February, as did fellow top 100 listers George Li (New Trier), Max Zinski (Benet), Jonathan Hrach (Highland Park) and Spencer Lehmann (Barrington).
Finishing tied for second place with 6.5 scores were listers Alex Bian of Stevenson and Daniel Bronfeyn of Mundelein.
Compiling 5.5's (tied for 17th) were listers Bradley Guan (State Champion Naperville North), Gavin McClanahan (Glenbrook South) and Andrew Fei (Dunlap).
BNASC Completes 2015 Season
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- Written by ICA Staff ICA Staff
Bloomington Normal Area Scholastic Chess completed its six event 2015 season of scholastic tournaments.
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| Glenn | Benjamin | Epiphany | Tri-Valley | MLK | Prarieland |
| 2/21 | 2/7 | 1/31 | 1/24 | 1/19 | 1/10 |
| 242 | 272 | 209 | 175 | 321 | 204 |
Denker, Barber, Girls Invitational Held at ChessIQ In Skokie
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- Written by Pattie Zinski Pattie Zinski
Three youth invitationals organized by the ICA Warren Junior Program were held March 14th and 15th at ChessIQ under the direction of TD Sevan Muradian.
Top Illinois high school, elementary and girls players competed for an opportunity to represent the state at the National Barber, Denker and Girls competitions staged in conjunction with the 2015 U.S. Open.
In addition to winning the right to compete at the corresponding national event, each section winner received $250 towards chess lessons and a $500 travel stipend. Runners up also received $250 towards coaching. Prizes were made possible by a generous grant from the Walter S. Mander Foundation.
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of February 2015
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf
Arthur Xu moved up one notch to become the second highest-rated seven and under player in America, joining 11 year-old David Peng with that distinction. 18-year old Sam Schmakel continues as the third highest 18-year old in the US. Marissa Li is the seventh-rated female under age 13, Aydin Turgut is eighth among 10 year-olds, and Jacob Furfine is tied for 9th among American 13 year olds.
Congratulations to Jack Curcio for hitting 2000 giving Illinois 21 junior experts and masters.
Sadly, the 19th birthdays of Duncan Shepherd and Joe Fennessey, both experts and long-time members of these top 100 lists, means the state total actually drops by one. We also bid so long to Edgar Talayko, a Class A player, who only recently joined the lists.
Also celebrating birthdays as of the February lists were Tom Bareket, Vincent Do, Jonathan Tan, George Li, Anshul Adve, Spencer Lehmann, Gavin McClanahan, and Eli Goering.