Schmakel leads Whitney Young to Four National Titles

Sam Schmakel, Chicago’s top youth player, added to his long string of national championships on the weekend, winning a fifth individual national title and leading the chess team from Whitney Young Magnet High School to three other national first place awards.  The event, USCF’s National Scholastic K-12 Championships, was held Friday through Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Schmakel won the 12th grade national championship, the clear winner with 6.5 out of a possible seven wins.  He previously won the national championship in 2nd grade (2003), 9th grade (2010), and 10th grade (2011) and was co-champion in 11th grade (2012).  

Whitney Young’s Jimi Akintonde, Oliver Natarajan and Linden Kerr also excelled at the event, leading the school’s 11th grade team to its own national championship.  Akintonde took the 3rd place individual award in the section and Natarajan finished 7th.    

Two Illinois suburban teams also had strong showings.  Lisle’s Benet Academy took 2nd place in the 11th grade section.  Glenbard South took 7th place in the 12th grade section, 9th place in the 11th grade section, and 8th place in the 10th grade section.

Phuc Hoang joined Schmakel in leading the Whitney Young 12th grade team to a 6th place finish.  Phillip Parker-Turner and Caelan Burke-Kaiser led Whitney Young to 5th place in the 10th grade section.  The top three scores of players are used, so the 12th grade and 10th grade teams were able to place well despite playing a man down.

Schmakel and Akintonde also took first place in the National Bughouse Championship played Friday night.  The pair, aided by Phillip Parker-Turner, won the National Blitz Championship the same night.  Schmakel took the 2nd place individual award in the Blitz.  The Whitney Young team also won the Blitz championship in 2010 and the Bughouse championship in 2011.  

The winning Illinois teams all have extraordinary coaches.  Whitney Young is coached by Paul Kash, known for his extraordinary dedication and 5-day practice schedule.  Among the titled players who have coached the top Illinois players at the weekend event are Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich (who has coached Schmakel since he was six years old), Grandmaster Nikola Mitkov, International Master Angelo Young, and National Master William Aramil.

Another Gurevich student, Martin Stukan of Arlington Heights, won the national championship in the 3rd grade section of the weekend tourney.

Whitney Young was the only team from Chicago participating at the event.  New York City fielded dozens of teams and generally dominated the competition, especially in the lower grades.