Youth Chess News
2014 IHSA Finals Team Results
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
For the second year in a row, Chicago's Whitney Young has claimed the IHSA state chess championship. Young won all seven rounds, closing out the tournament with a 48.5-19.5 drubbing of previously-undefeated Hinsdale Central.
The Hinsdale squad was one of seven teams to finish at 6.0/7, essentially tying for second place. On tiebreaks, Benet Academy of Lisle won official second place honors, Hinsdale took third, with University Lab School of Urbana claiming fourth. Whitney Young managed to defeat all three schools in the fourth, seventh and sixth rounds respectively.
Young also gave Niles North its only black mark of the two-day tournament, defeating the Skokie high school 58-10 in the second round. Niles North placed eighth on tiebreaks in the 6.0/7 group.
Philanthropist Joins Coalition for CPS Chess Reform, Calls for New Nonprofit
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Ted Oppenheimer, the president of the Oppenheimer Family Foundation and a major contributor to CPS, has joined those calling for a new chess program in the city's schools.
In a letter sent by email on January 23rd to David Vitale, the President of the Board of Education, Oppenheimer offered to help set up a new nonprofit which would work in a partnership with CPS to spearhead a new program. The letter was co-signed by Jerry Neugarten, who heads ICA's Youth Committee. ICA has been advocating a new program for Chicago for four years.
The Oppenheimer Family Foundation, founded in 1933, has been giving grants to Chicago Public School teachers for the past 37 years through its Teacher Incentive Grant (TIG) program. The Foundation has also supported chess programs in a half dozen CPS elementary schools.
Top 100 Youth -- December 2013
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
A few new names have entered the top 100 lists this month while we bid farewell to Adarsh Jayakumar whose 19th birthday meant the end of his reign as the top-ranked youth among Illinois registrants.
Since New Year's 2013, Adarsh played in events in India, Iceland, Hungary and Canada, in addition to the US. He competed in the 2013 Chicago Open, along with tournaments in Nevada, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, briefly surpassing the 2400-mark after playing the Philadelphia Open in March.
Media Outlets Join Discussion of CPS Chess Reform
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An increasing number of media outlets have added their voices recently to those urging reform of the chess program in Chicago’s public schools. A selection of the public comments follows.
NEW YORK TIMES:
Whitney Young… was the only representative at the [December 2013] K-12 Championships from [Chicago], which is not known as a chess stronghold. More students are enrolled in scholastic chess programs and are sent to tournaments across the country from schools in New York, which sends more teams to competitions than any other city; Miami; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and even Brownsville, Texas. It is unusual for a city as large as Chicago, with 2.7 million people, to have only one school enter a tournament as prestigious as the K-12 Championships. By comparison, Los Alamos, N.M., population 18,000, also sent one school. (Dylan Loeb McClain, December 28, 2013)
St. John's Scholastic Chess Tournament - Two Romans in First Place
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- Written by Hector Hernandez Hector Hernandez
The Romans played in the St. John's Scholastic Chess Tournament last Saturday, November 23, 2013.
Danny took First Place with a perfect 5-0 score in the Upper Primary Section. In the final round he had to overcome an opponent who kept making constant and repeated draw offers and would put captured pieces back on the board. Danny's picked up 229 rating points.