Youth Chess News
Illinois Girls Continue to Improve
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
US Chess has compiled the most recent Top 100 lists for girls (with a cutoff date of May 15) and the results of female players from Illinois can be found below.
Two girls stood out this month with noteworthy performances: Mehak Jiandani, age 7, who increased her rating from 803 to 939 and climbed 14 ranks to reach a spot in the top 20 nationwide. The second one is 8-year old Angela Hu, who went from rank 79 to rank 50 in the country with a USCF rating gain of 165 points. Congratulations to both!
Others who crossed a major ratings milestone for the first time include Nandini Prakash (now a 1700 player) and Ria Raj (achieving a 1600 rating)—both of whom, like Mehak, are members of the Fox Valley Chess Club—as well as Whitney Young student Maggie Tsyganova, likewise a 1600 player now.
Stellar Performance for May 2019 Top 100
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Congratulations to the 50 girls from Illinois, who are in the top 100 for their age group this month, including our first-timer Angela Hu.
Four girls started the month with ratings in the 1200s and have now crossed to the 1300s: Saanvi Adusumalli and Sophie Hong (11), Stella Pashyan (13) after having an excellent performance at the All-Girls Championship, and Lizzy Brahin (15), who gained almost 100 rating points at the Hales Corners Challenge.
Our 10-year-olds Ria, Egshiglen, Siri and Enkhjin climbed a combined 69 ranks (or 325 USCF rating points) over last month, even topping the group of 11-year-olds, which continues to hold our largest number of female players, namely 7.
April 2019 Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The new lists reflect the rating changes after the 2019 National High School Championship, where many of our top-rated girls - Miranda Liu, Aria Hoesley, Shreya Mangalam, Marissa Li, Nandini Prakash and others - performed well.
Several female players from Illinois had such a good tournament that they crossed a major threshold for the first time:
- Ashley Mei Yan entered 1900 territory, her new rating putting her in the top-10 nationwide for her age group.
- Anisha Oberai gained more than 100 points bringing her rating well above 1400.
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A Classic Success in Champaign-Urbana
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- Written by Bill Whited Bill Whited
Champaign Urbana Classic #4
Location: University of Illinois,Urbana IL
Number of players: 58
Sixty chess players clashed at the K-8
Scholastic held at the Illini Union in Champaign-Urbana on March 31,
- The result? Another chess success keyed by the efforts of organizers John Klein and Steve Polley with special thanks to the Illini Chess Team for graciously hosting this event.
Results
: Open Section (4 rounds, g/60 d5)
1st Aaron Cho (4.0);
2nd Bruce R Tang (3.0)
3rd Yao Chang (3.0)
4th Elbert Fang (2.5);
5th Vivaan Reddy (2.5).
Under 1200 (4 rounds, g/60 d5)
Ist Jazz Sinclair Anders (4.0)
2nd Jackson D Groves (3,0)
3rd Robert Tu (2.5)
4th Boyou Huang (2.5)
5th Joyce Zheng (2.0).
Under 700 (5 rounds, g/30,d5)
1st Shri Senthilkumar (5.0);
2nd Chinmay Binger Jr (4.0);
3rd Christopher Chen (4.0)
4th Varun Gurramkonda (4.0);
4th Krishiv Chivukula (4.0).
Sponsoring Affliate: Greater Peoria Chess Federation
TD: Patrick Cohen
Founders of the C-U Chess Academy, Polley and Klein seek to advance scholastic chess in the C-U area. And they do! This is their 4th Scholastic to date; their Classic Tournaments are garnering attention and gaining momentum.
What’s next on the agenda? A summer chess camp last week of July at the Champaign Public Library. Interested? Contact:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Congratulations, everyone!
US Chess Federation K-12 National Championships
- Details
- Written by Bill Whited Bill Whited
U.S. Chess K-12 Championship
Schaumburg IL
15-17 March 2019
Championship Section
The 2019 K-12 Championships were held in Schaumburg IL over the weekend of March 15-17th in Schaumburg IL. Illinois was well represented with David Peng of New Trier High School and Matthew Stevens of Whitney Young of Chicago finishing in a 3 way tie for first scoring 6.5 points each. Nicholas Checa of New York finished first based on tiebreaks,Peng was awarded second place on tiebreaks and Stevens placed third
. Other Illinois players in the top 25 include:
Dimitar Mardov, Anne Sullivan Elementary with 5.5 who finished in 11th place and Miranda Liu of Stevenson High School and
()Nikhil Kalchatgi,Whitney Young High School.tied for 25th place with 5 points..
Unrated (Championship Section)
Raman Manandhar of Maine South placed first on tiebreak with 2 points, with Adam Lee Walker of Fremd, finishing second with 2 points, also on tiebreak and Vasilious Loutrianakis of Maine South finishing third with 1.5 points.
1900-1999
In the 1900-1999 section,Illinois placed 1-2-3 with Henry Joseph Curcio of Maine South finishing first with 5 points and
Si R Li of New Trier. High School finishing tied for second and third with Aria Hosley of Whitney Young High School with 4.5 points, Li was awarded 2nd on tiebreak
and Si R Li of New Trier. High School finishing tied for second and third with Aria Hosley of Whitney Young High School with 4.5 points, Li was awarded 2nd on tiebreak.
U-1900
Ashley Mei Yan of Stevenson High School finished 3rd with 6 points on tiebreak.
U-1600
Francis Michael Sheehy of Glenbard West High School and Siv Muthupalaniappan of Glenbrook North High School tied for first with 6.5 points with first place being awarded to Francis Michael Sheehy on tiebreak
U-1200
Adam Chapparo of Niles North scored 6.5 points and was awarded third place on tiebreak
U-800
William Quinn of Mount Carmel High School scored 7 points and was awarded first place. Miguel Hernandez of Mount Carmel High School finished with 6.5 points and was awarded second place on tiebreak. James D. Ahern of Nichols Middle School in Evanston was awarded 3rd place on tiebreak.
Unrated
Jack Hensen of Stillman Valley High School placed first with 6.5 points. Matthew Daniel Bak of Glenbard West High School finished second on tiebreak and Josiah Schmitt of Sterling High School finished third, also on tiebreak.
Team Standings
Championship Section
Whitney Young High School 2nd Place Chicago IL
U-1900 Section
Stevenson High School First Place Lincolnshire IL
U-1600 Section
Glenbrook High School First Place Northbrook IL
Evanston High School Second Place Evanston IL
U-1200 Section
Community Normal West High School Tied for Second through Fourth Place Awarded Fourth Place on tiebreak, Normal IL
U-800 Section
Mount Carmel High School First Place Chicago IL
Unrated Section
Sterling High School First Place Sterling IL
Thomas Kelly High School Second Place Chicago IL
Glenbrook North High School Third Place Northbrook IL
Total number of players: 1681 players
Sponsoring Affiliate: U.S. Federation
Organizer: Boyd Reid
Chief TD: Glenn Panner
Assistant Chief T.D. Jeff K. Wiewel
Illinois did very well in this national event and congratulations are in order for all who played.