Youth Chess News
2024 National K-12 Grade Champonships
- Details
- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter - Edwin Walker Data Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter - Edwin Walker Data
2024 National K-12 Grade Champonships
The USCF expertly ran their 2024 National K-12 Grade Championship last week in National Harbor, Maryland from December 6-8, 2024
The tournament had thirteen sections: Kindergarten and grades one to twelve and consisted of over 2700 players from 45 states. Of those 2700, Illinois sent 77 players across all age ranges. The following players participated in their first US Chess National event at this event:
9th - SHANE ASBRA
11th - RAJINDER SINGH ATLURI
9th - JAMES BEDNARZ
9th - PIERCE BLANCHARD
10th - SOHAN CHAMARTHI
11th - ARITRA JANA
11th - LUCAS LAZARO
11th - GRIFFIN LEWIS
2nd - ADHVIK MOHAN
K - ANVITHA MOHAN
6th - ANISHA SAHA
4th - MADHUVANTI SATHISH
11th - SAMUEL TAN
10th - ISHAAN TANNEERU
K - ALEXANDER WU
10th - YUXUAN XIE
12th - IMMANUEL ZEREGA
12th Grade Championship Section
Illinois was represented by 13 players including:
Avi Kaplan
Joseph Dai
Rebecca Cortez
Somil Bose
Evan Haddox
Immanuel Zerega
Daniel Dligach
Alexander Alvarez
William Zalmezak
Akshay Naik
Yinuo Huang
Lucia Scrimenti
Weijun Bao
Of whom, Avi Kaplan won the section with 6.0 points
Picture courtesy of Avi’s parents
Illinois Swept the class prizes for 1000-1299
Immanuel Zerega won 1st place
Note from coach: Manu (Immanuel) Zerega broke his right wrist the week before the tournament, so he had to notate using his left hand
Daniel Dligach won 2nd place
Daniel Supplied last game postion and his medal
Lucia Scrimenti won 3rd place
Weijun Bao won the class prize for under 1000 in the 12 Grade Championship.
Picture
Finally, Evanston Township High School came in 5th place as a team.
Picture courtesy of the High School
Players left to right: Lucia Scrimenti, Wayra Sheridan, Sam Kemeny, Will Zalmezak, Ryan Cowan, Adam Elgat, Manu Zerega, Adam Sklar, Alastair Keely-Walker, Lucas Lazaro, Daniel Dligach, Asa Lieberman, Griffin Lewis, Shane Asbra, Somil Bose.
11th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 11 players including:
David Chen
Adam Elgat
Dimitrios Deligiannis
Alastrir Keely-Walker
Lucas Lazaro
Nithin Ramasamy
Griffin Lewis
Samuel Tan
Ryan Cowan
Rajinder Atluri
Aritta Jana
Samuel Tan won 3rd place class for 1000-1299
Lucas Lazaro won 1st place class for under 1000
Ryan Cowan won 2nd place class for under 1000
Pictures
10th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 13 players including:
Justin Zhang
Asa Lieberman
William Wang
Theodore Han
Micah Mostovoy
Andy Cao
Yuxuan Xie
Atharva Naik
Ishann Tanneeru
Sohan Chamarthi
Vincent Lan
Joanna Marsten
Adam SklarYuxuan
Theodore Han won 1st place class 1300-1599
Theodore-s picture courtesy of his parents
Micah Mostovoy won 1st place class 1100-1299
Sohan Chamarthi won 2nd place class under 1000.
Sohan's picture courtesy of his parents
9th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 5 players including:
Timur Turba
Shane Asbra
James Bednarz
Wayra Sheridan
Pierce Blanchard
8th Grade Championship section
There were not any Illinois players who represented at the tournament.
7th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 2 players including:
Ashvath Pittala
Arjun Kota
6th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 1 player:
Anisha Saha
5th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 1 player:
Anfad Saran
Anfad Saran won 2nd place class under 1100-1300.
Picture
4th Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 2 players including:
Avidhas Biswas
Maduvanti Sathish
3rd Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 2 players including:
Aiden Li
Bishrelt Munkshuld
Aiden Li won his section with 6.5 points.
Picture courtesy of his parents.
2nd Grade Championship section
Illinois was represented by 1 player
Adhvik Mohan
picture
Advik Mohan won 2nd place class 600-799
1st Grade Championship section
Illinois was not represented
Kindergarten Championship section
Illinois was represented by 2 players including:
Alexander Wu
Anvitha Mohan.
Picture
Alexander Wu won 3rd place class 400-599.
Linked here is a complete pre-tournament registration report for the event, courtesy of US Chess, and the US rating report. Following these links, you can view the full results across any sections instead of the abbreviated standings above.
Once again, we want to congratulate a remarkable turnout from our Illinois Chess Association players and the great assistance of Edwin Walker, head of our Warren Scholars program, for procuring much of the data used to report on.
Finally, congratulations to all the players
If anyone wants an article written or edited, please send an email to editot@il-chess.org
FIDE WORLD CADET CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024
- Details
- Written by WJS Director - Editor's note Jacob Plotnick WJS Director - Editor's note Jacob Plotnick
FIDE WORLD CADET CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024
In Montesilvano, Italy from November 15 to November 26 over 700 players, representing over 70 countires particpated in the FIDE World Cadet Championship 2024. The US sent 46 players to compete across the three Open (U-12, U-10, U-8) and three Girls (U-12, U-10, U-8) sections of the 11-round Swiss System event.
Three players were from Illinois Aiden Li, Stella Xin and Elizabeth Xia.
Winning the bronze in the Girls U8 was Stella Xin. Scoring 8.5 out of 11 earning the WCM title.
Photo courtesy of Huijun Feng
Elizabeth Xia scored 8.0 in the Girls U8, finishing tied for fourth (3 way)
Photo courtesy of Elle Yang
Aiden Li scored 8.5 earning fourth, in the Open U8. Aiden had an outstanding perforumance leading 6 out of 6 going into the 7th round.
Photo courtesy of Elle Yang
All the players were at this year’s ICA youth invitational. Aiden won the Rockefeller (K-5), Elizabeth came in 8th place in the Harring (Girls) and Stella came in 4th in the Harring (Girls) sections
November 2024 Top Youth
- Details
- Written by WJS Director WJS Director
November 2024 Top 100 Youth
Welcome & congratulations to 13-year-old Nila Hari (1113) and Mahendra Lavanur (1862), who made the national Top 100 Girls lists for Regular Top Girls Age 13
The lists compiled by US Chess are based on regular ratings achieved and processed by the third Wednesday of the previous month
If you believe a person was inadvertently omitted from this list, please kindly contact wjs@il-chess.org.
2024 Illinois All Grade Championship
- Details
- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter
2024 Illinois All Grade Championship
The Illinois Chess Association is happy to congratulate Jeff Diorio from Elite Chess for brilliantly organizing our 2024 Illinois All Grade Championship in Naperville, Illinois on November 9, 2024.
The tournament had nine sections: 2nd through 8th grade, while kindergarten was combined with 1st grade, likewise for high school(9th through 12th grade). In total, over 350 kids participated, of whom, we are pleased to see 50 new faces from last year. We had 10 ICA members play in the event. Further, we had better than expected representation from downstate, including the following four schools that won trophies:
Chiddix - Normal 7th Grade, 3rd Place
Grove - Normal 5th Grade, 2nd Place
Benjamin - Bloomington 4th Grade, 3rd Place
Thomas Metcalf - Normal 3rd Grade, 1st Place
Trophies on display - courtesy of Elite Chess
Listed below are the results for the different sections:
High School
Nathaniel was the outright winner with a perfect four points. After Nathaniel, four players tied with 3 points, four players tied with 2 points and a further four tied with 1.5 points. Final order after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Nathaniel receiving his trophy; courtesy of his parents
Eighth Grade
Gene Tcheng was the outright winner with a perfect 4 points. Avanish Ram Amarnath came in second alone with 3.5 points. Then, seven players finished with 3 points and two with 2.5 points. Final order after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Seventh Grade
There was a two way tie for first place with a perfect 4 points, opposed to the previous outright winners. Artemii Khanbutaev won on tiebreaks, leaving Kavin Sivagnanam in second. There were ten players with 3 points. Final order after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Artemil receiving his trophy; courtesy of his parents
Sixth Grade
Alexander Pan was the outright winner with a perfect 4 points. Two players tied with 3.5 points, but Anisha came in second based on tiebreakers. There were a further 13 players tied with 3 points. The final standings after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Alexander with trophy; courtesy of his parents
Fifth Grade
There was a two-way tie for first place with 4.5 points. However, Lucas Silvestre won on tiebreaks and Sarang Athreya Sankrithi came in second. There were six players with 4 points and an additional four players with 3.5 points. Below you can find the final order after tie-breaks for trophies.
Lucas receiving his award; courtesy of his parents
Fourth Grade
Krish Vignesh was the outright winner with 4.5 points. Four players had 4 points, of which Pradhyum came in second on tiebreaks. There were a further 6 players with 3.5 points. The final standings after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Kris with trophy courtesy of his parents
Third Grade
Bishrelt Munkhsuld was the outright winner with a perfect 5 points. After him, six players had 4 points, two players had 3.5 points and twelve players had 3 points. The final standings after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Bishrelt with trophy courtesy of his parents
Second Grade
Emily Jiaying Tang was the outright winner with a perfect 5 points. Following her, four players had 4 points, two players with 3.5 points and seven players had 3 points. Final order after tie-breaks for trophies (top ten only) are listed below.
Emily – Courtesy of her parents
Combined Kindergarten and First Grade
Shivakumaran Minor Vellapandi was the outright winner with a perfect 5 points. Afterwards, six players had 4 points, one player had 3.5 points and eight players had 3 points. Of which the final standings after tie-breaks for trophies are listed below.
Shivakumaran Minor Vellapandi – Courtesy of his parents
We are also proud to congratulate the following players across all sections for increasing their ratings by over 50 points and wish them the best of luck to perform as well in their next tournaments as they did in this one.
Name |
Grade |
PreRating |
PostRating |
Minor Vellapandi, Shivakumaran |
0 |
666 |
914 |
Amouei Torkmahalleh, Raymand |
1 |
422 |
543 |
Biswal, Shrinika |
1 |
146 |
279 |
Garetto, Lucca |
1 |
108 |
164 |
Kobe, James |
1 |
104 |
208 |
NORA MAXFIELD |
1 |
156 |
278 |
Wang, Mason |
1 |
198 |
382 |
Yang, Miesen |
1 |
504 |
585 |
ADLER AKHMETOV |
2 |
118 |
341 |
Geht, Charles |
2 |
413 |
508 |
Gerelt Od, Robert |
2 |
141 |
221 |
Kirkman, Frankie |
2 |
262 |
345 |
Mehta, Ness |
2 |
340 |
410 |
Mohan, Adhvik |
2 |
732 |
782 |
Tata, Ayansh |
2 |
605 |
698 |
Athira Ajeesh, Adharv |
3 |
466 |
598 |
Banoth, Shanaya |
3 |
840 |
900 |
Bian, Brandon |
3 |
316 |
479 |
De Zoysa, Ryan |
3 |
117 |
234 |
EZRA POFFENBARGER |
3 |
672 |
819 |
Gray, Nathan |
3 |
243 |
439 |
Lakshmi Narayanan, Vidyut |
3 |
731 |
820 |
Munkhsuld, Bishrelt |
3 |
1294 |
1363 |
PHILLIP WHITT |
3 |
105 |
242 |
Raina, Ansh |
3 |
379 |
555 |
TANISH SEN |
3 |
816 |
908 |
Wolkowitz, Ryan |
3 |
190 |
244 |
YASH GAWAS |
3 |
515 |
644 |
ANDREW LEE |
4 |
512 |
592 |
Fee, Leo |
4 |
829 |
923 |
PEARL INFANTE |
4 |
101 |
164 |
Vignesh, Krish |
4 |
1050 |
1107 |
Yun, Jaden |
4 |
363 |
414 |
Zhang, Albert |
4 |
637 |
818 |
ERKHEMBAYAR ERDENEOCHIR |
5 |
480 |
554 |
Huang, Sam |
5 |
280 |
336 |
LUCAS MILLARD |
5 |
714 |
771 |
Midha, Shivansh |
5 |
720 |
773 |
Shikhare, Aayush |
5 |
428 |
543 |
Vepari, Kaarthisha |
5 |
241 |
300 |
Wiseman, Zachary |
5 |
137 |
193 |
Wu, Isalinda |
5 |
297 |
480 |
Bayartamir, Bill |
6 |
855 |
980 |
Herbert, Maddox |
6 |
149 |
284 |
Jadhav, Sameehan Nikhil |
6 |
859 |
928 |
LOHITH REDDY GONGATI |
6 |
727 |
808 |
Zhou, Wellington |
6 |
239 |
314 |
Boppudi, Sahasra |
7 |
734 |
926 |
Brown, Noah G |
7 |
543 |
665 |
ESEN MUNKHTUR |
7 |
952 |
1022 |
Kim, Shiloh |
7 |
475 |
682 |
Murugan, Yugan |
7 |
202 |
414 |
Polenska, Micah |
7 |
283 |
405 |
Prasanna Venkatesh, Mukund Vasudev |
7 |
664 |
738 |
SAMUEL KELLY |
7 |
981 |
1055 |
Sienkiewicz, Luke |
7 |
706 |
771 |
Wu, Ethan |
7 |
488 |
560 |
Zhou, Louis |
7 |
333 |
412 |
Amarnath, Avanish Ram |
8 |
915 |
1197 |
Ingrum, Rylan |
8 |
643 |
694 |
Itagi, Anish |
8 |
963 |
1087 |
JOSIAH BOVEY |
8 |
1154 |
1243 |
Larson, Andrew |
8 |
344 |
415 |
VIKHYATH CHATRATHI |
8 |
929 |
1036 |
Kane, Jack Aidan |
9 |
706 |
774 |
GANNON BATES |
11 |
932 |
1114 |
Borne, Gavin |
12 |
964 |
1136 |
Jaynes, Logan |
12 |
748 |
884 |
The following players are members of the Illinois Chess Association who participated. Thank you for your support.
Linked here is a complete cross-table for the event, courtesy of King Registration, and the US rating report. Following these links, you can view the full results across any sections instead of the abbreviated standings above.
Once again, we want to congratulate everybody who participated and gave it their best in the tournament and to congratulate Jeff Diorio and Elite Chess for running the tournament so smoothly on behalf of the Illinois Chess Association.
2024 US Open Denker High School Invitational Winner – Avi Kaplan
- Details
- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter
Avi Kaplan travelled to Norfolk, VA to represent Illinois in the 2024 US Chess Championship national invitational. Each state sends one person. Illinois determines who to send from an Illinois Chess Association state invitational, which AVI won with a score of 4.5/5 points. 50 states + DC send their qualifying chess delegate to compete, with California sending two for northern and southern regions.
The US Open Denker Invitational is 6 rounds starting July 27th with one game, two games on 28th and 29th and last game on 30th. Time control was G90+30.
Avi was undefeated. He had four wins and two draws giving him a total of 5 out of 6 points. Two other high school players had a total of 5/6 creating a three-way tie. Avi was given second place in the tiebreakers. For his efforts, other than being co-champion of the “Denker Tournament of HS Champions” Avi received a $3000 college scholarship. Illinois Chess Association also gave him a $250 travel stipend.
Here is Avi receiving his award.
The complete cross-tables can be found here.
https://www.uschess.org/results/2024/usopen/?page=STANDINGS&xsection=denker
Here is Avi’s game for round six. He had a wonderful accuracy rating of 92.4% from Chess.com
The Illinois Chess Association wants to congratulate Avi for bringing home the Denker Co-Champion and being part of the team that brought to Illinois the team co-champion.