Youth Chess News
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 -- August 2014
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- Written by Bill Feldman, compiled by Mark Berezewski Bill Feldman, compiled by Mark Berezewski
For the first time in history, Illinois hosts 20 juniors at or above the Expert mark, thanks to the addition of Akhil Kalghatgi. Quite a way to celebrate turning 13!
All tolled, Illinois has 101 USCF-rated players with recent activity and ratings above 2000.
Joining (or re-entering) the ranks of the national Top 100 lists this month were Naperville North's Bradley Guan and IMSA's Timothy Zhou, along with Aiden Carey and Brian Gong.
Zhou had been a regular on the lists before a 13-month absence from rated-play. After the cut-off date for this list, Zhou surpassed the 2000-mark himself with his performance at the 2014 Illinois Open.
Updated: Peng, Turgut Among 70 Americans At '14 World Youth
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- Written by Carl Dolson Carl Dolson
Illinoisans David Peng and Aydin Turgut are among 70 youth from the United States now in Durban, South Africa competing in the 2014 World Youth Championships. The tournament begins September 20th and continues through September 29th.
Candidate Master Peng (FIDE 2011) is competing against 111 others, including a dozen entrants from the US, in the U12 Open section of the tournament. Top rated in that section is Wisconsan Awonder Liang (FIDE 2323). Peng won the U10 Open section silver medal, behind Liang, at the 2013 World Youth Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Turgut (FIDE 1851) is the official US representative in the U10 Open section, competing in his third World Youth Championships. His FIDE rating places him 14th among all competitors, second amongst Americans behind Californian Andrew Hong.
63 Compete at Northbrook Labor Day Scholastic
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
It took perfect scores to win both sections of the 2014 Labor Day Scholastic, held August 30 in Northbrook. 63 players competed in the five-round Quick-Rated event, organized by Chess For Life at the site of the 2014 Illnois Open.
The Illinois Chess Association received a generous portion of the event proceeds. Results can viewed in tiebreak order here and in pre-event rating order here.
In the Under 1200 section, Micah Hill prevailed head-to-head over previously undefeated Evan Liu to earn top honors. All of Evan's opponents on the day had plus-scores (3.0 or better) giving him the top tiebreak of four 4.0 scorers to place second.
Micah raised his USCF Quick Rating 162 points to 1165 while Evan went up 114 points to 1105.
Lou, Carey, Jungo Earn Honors at Oak Park Library
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
More than 20 junior competitors battled it out in three sections at the Oak Park Library in a four-round event August 23.
The tournament was directed by Keith Ammann.
In the 18-and-under section, 16-year old Mark Jungo of Chicago posted the top score, 3.5/4. Mark had recently competed at the World Open in Virginia. Darak Nowak of Park Ridge took second with a 3.0 result and local Oak Parker Philip Linninger, 18, nabbed third place honors.
In the 13-and-under division, Aidan Carey went undefeated with three wins and a draw for a 3.5 result. Aidan is also from Oak Park. Desi Nainar of Lake Bluff had 3.0/4 while 7-year old William Cahill of Wheaton was 2.5/4.
Liu Ties for 6th At National Girls', Schmakel 6th in Denker
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With three wins, a loss and a pair of draws in the last two rounds, recent Whitney Young graduate Sam Schmakel's remarkable high school chess career came to a close at the 2014 Denker Championships in Orlando.
With 4.0/6, Sam finished in an eight-way tie for 6th, placing 7th on tiebreaks. His loss came at the hands of California's Nicky Korba who finished third. Sam entered the invitiational event as the top-rated player, 18 points higher than the outright champion, Christopher Gu of Rhode Island.
Miranda Liu also posted a fantastic 4.0/6 in the 44-player Girls' Invitational finishing in another eight-way tie for sixth, also placing 7th on tiebreaks.