Youth News
Highland Park Draws 104 to December Unrated Tournament
- Published on Friday, 23 December 2011 01:19
- Written by Jerry Neugarten
The Highland Park chess program ran its first tournament of the year on December 10th, drawing 104 players to Edgewood Middle School. The tournament was unrated and for the first time had a designated section for more advanced players.
The section winners were Ezra Boldizsar (Advanced), Samuel Harris (4-8), Jonas Vriend (2-3) and Andrew Arzac (K-1). Wayne Thomas Elementary School captured the first place team trophy. Team awards are based on a team’s top six scores across all sections. Complete results are posted on the Highland Park program’s website ( www.hpchess.org, Tournaments/Results).
Dynamic Chess Finishes First in a Series of Tournaments
- Published on Friday, 28 October 2011 00:29
- Written by Paul Kash
On Sunday October 23rd, Dynamic Chess, Inc. hosted the first in a series of eight monthly scholastic tournaments at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. This central Chicago location attracts chess players from across the city as well as the suburbs. Participants not only compete for tournament trophies for the top five places but also the overall series championship which earns the top finisher in each section a free entry into a Dynamic Chess summer chess camp.
On this Sunday, thirty-one participants enjoyed a friendly yet competitive chess tournament. In the K-2 section, Jake Joseph of Evanston cruised to a first place finish. Finishing out the top five were Samuel Pastor, Messiah Akhanatan, Jonah Karafiol, and Jeffery Huang.
Cheryl Liu Wins Scholarship
- Published on Saturday, 03 September 2011 21:41
- Written by Cheryl Liu
My name is Cheryl and I spent a week at a Texas Tech University SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) program/tournament called the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational. 44 girls, one from almost every state, came to listen to lectures and play in a tournament. I, along with two other girls going into their senior or junior year of high school, won a $40,000 scholarship to Texas Tech University.
Read the continuation of this article for one of Cheryl's games from this event.
Barber K-8 Nationals
- Published on Tuesday, 23 August 2011 16:03
- Written by Zachary Holecek
D4...D5. The players were tense as 25 silent battles started throughout the room. On board one a Northern Californian was battling a Georgian in the first round of a 6 round tournament. On board 22 I waited...
I'm Zachary Holecek, and I represented Illinois at the first "Dewain Barber" K-8 National Invitational in Orlando. The tournament was held at the Hyatt which connects to the airport and where the U.S Open, and the high school Denker were being held simultaneously.
Opening ceremonies started at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. Most of the talks were about college chess, high school chess, scholarships and other subjects for the Denker players. After an hour of these speeches, Mr.Barber handed out participation medallions to all of the players.
Raising a Champion
- Published on Saturday, 06 August 2011 19:49
- Written by Bill Brock
Andi Rosen, mom of 2011 National High School Champion Eric Rosen, writes about what it's like to raise a champion. Hint: it has little to do with being a tiger mom. Read the article here. (Originally printed in Chess Life, August 2011.)


