Youth Chess News
Oberhaus wins scholarship in National Geography Bee
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Former Illinois chess phenom Conrad Oberhaus is this year's runner up in the National Geography Bee. The Lincolnshire eighth-grader was awarded a $15,000 college scholarship after he beat out all but one of the top ten finalists. All told, almost four million entered this year's competition.
Conrad last competed in USCF-rated chess in the spring of 2011, earning impressive plus scores at the Junior High (OH) and Elementary (TX) finals. As a sixth grader, he won the all-ages Class B section of the 2010 Midwest Class in Wheeling, winning all five rounds.
2013 All-Girl National Championships
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
280 young ladies from across the country competed at the 2013 All-Girl Nationals, held in Chicago April 26-28. Five Illinois players placed in the top-five of their respective sections. Crosstables
In the Under 10 age group, Shreya Mangalam went undefeated with four victories and two draws. Her 5.0/6 score placed her in a six-way tie for second in the contentious 72-player section.
Caeley Harihara won clear third with a 4.0/6 score in the Under 16. She defeated a Class A-player from Arizona in the fifth round.
The competition was organized by Illinois-based Renaissance Knights, with ICA-member Glenn Panner serving as Chief Tournament Director. The event included six rounds of Game/90 play with a 5-second delay.
USCF Top 100 Lists published April 2013
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Some new names from Illinois have entered the USCF top 100 lists as of the ICA K-8 Championships held in Normal March 9 and 10.
David Zimmermann entered the list of top 7-year olds, Jonah Karafiol nabbed a spot amongst the top US 8-year olds and Emmett Madigan is now in the top century of 9-year olds.
Among high schoolers, Timothy Zhou is now a ranked 16-year old and David Paykin is a top-100 17-year old.
Aaron Gan retains his place as the top Illinois player aged 7 or younger. Amazingly the 6-year old has jumped 253 rating points in two months, placing him in the top 25 of all players 7-and-under. Aaron is actually the fifth-rated 6-year old in the country.
2013 Illinois Barber, Denker and Girls Invitational
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- Written by Jennifer Stevens Jennifer Stevens
The stage was set for the Barber, Denker and the Girls Invitational at the North Shore Chess Center February 22 -24. There were 6 players for the Denker and the Girls Invitational and 12 for the Barber. Crosstables
Illinois DenkerL to R: Gavin Mc Clanahan, Jonathan Kogen, Sam Schmakel, Robert Mokswa, Maximilian Zinski, Nathaniel Kranjc
Vincent Do wins 2013 Illinois K-8
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Nearly 600 chess-playing youths competed at the 2013 K-8 Illinois Championships March 9-10 in Normal, IL.
Fifth-grader Vincent Do of Rockford, playing up in the Junior High section (Grades 6-8) achieved the only 7.0/7 perfect score of the tournament.
Fourth-grader, Edward Zhang, Third-grader Aydin Turgut and First-grader Aaron Gan were the other section champions.