A half-dozen new names from Illinois have entered the USCF top 100 lists as of August: Ishaar Ganesan (10), Phillip Parker-Turner (14), Eli Goering (16), Joe Fennessey (17), Duncan Shepherd (17), and David Korobov (18).
Aydin Turgut (1st in age 8), David Peng (2nd in age 10), Adarsh Jayakumar (4th in age 18), Sam Schmakel (5th in age 17), and Jonathan Kogan (9th in age 17) remain the Illinois players in the top 10 of their respective age groups nationwide. Illinois registrations represent a remarkable nine of the top 100 youths aged 18.
Aged 18 years or younger, Illinois currently boasts three masters, Sam, Jonathan and Adarsh, along with eleven experts.
According to USCF specifications, ratings as of July 19 were used for this report and the top 100 lists were published August 16.
| US Rank | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Age 7 and under | ||
| 31 | Aaron Gan | 1292 |
| 66 | Jai Mahajan | 1128 |
| 74 | David Zimmermann | 1083 |
| Age 8 | ||
| 1 | Aydin Turgut | 1925 |
| 32 | Stefan Musikic | 1526 |
| 44 | Suraj Ramanathan (**) | 1460 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 27 | Jason Daniels | 1716 |
| 44 | Brian Hope Gong | 1598 |
| 50 | Ricky Wang | 1584 |
| 74 | Advaith Prabu | 1503 |
| 93 | Emmett Madigan | 1440 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 2 | David Peng | 2127 |
| 43 | Shreya Mangalam | 1683 |
| 76 | Ishaar Ganesan | 1585 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 15 | Vincent Do | 2002 |
| 20 | Akhil Kalghatgi | 1964 |
| 36 | Hanson Ho | 1840 |
| 41 | Nikhil Kalghatgi | 1816 |
| 77 | Tej Rai | 1659 |
| 92 | Miranda Liu | 1627 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 18 | Alex Bian | 2059 |
| 32T | Matthew Stevens | 1985 |
| 51 | Daniel Bronfeyn | 1891 |
| 57 | Abe Sun | 1874 |
| 61 | Jonathan Tan | 1853 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 18 | Zhaozhi Li | 2098 |
| 42 | Anshul Adve | 1957 |
| 63 | James Wei | 1874 |
| 69T | Jack Curcio | 1848 |
| 82 | Ian Gilchrist | 1815 |
| 83 | Blair Hu | 1813 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 30 | Zachary Holecek | 2031 |
| 59T | Spencer Lehmann | 1920 |
| 64 | Jonathan Hrach | 1900 |
| 90T | Phillip Parker-Turner | 1835 |
| Age 15 | ||
| None from Illinois | ||
| Age 16 | ||
| 31 | Gavin McClanahan | 2072 |
| 39 | Max Zinski | 2046 |
| 45 | Nathan Kranjc | 2023 |
| 60T | Penny Xu | 1952 |
| 65 | Timothy Zhou | 1946 |
| 90T | Eli Goering | 1872 |
| 96T | Jimi Akintonde | 1850 |
| Age 17 | ||
| 5 | Sam Schmakel | 2345 |
| 9 | Jonathan Kogan | 2281 |
| 72 | Joe Fennessey | 1961 |
| 75T | Duncan Shepherd | 1950 |
| 93 | David Paykin | 1883 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 4 | Adarsh Jayakumar | 2386 |
| 22 | Matthew Wilber | 2183 |
| 42 | Robert Moskwa | 2087 |
| 43 | Kent Cen | 2086 |
| 61 | Chengliang Luo | 2032 |
| 80T | Charles Swan | 1939 |
| 83 | Rafeh Qazi | 1936 |
| 86 | Benjamin Stern | 1922 |
| 99 | David Korobov | 1882 |
| Girls Under 16 | ||
| 62 | Shayna Provine (13) | 1699 |
| 67 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1683 |
| 81 | Miranda Liu (11) | 1627 |
| Girls Under 13 | ||
| 26 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1683 |
| 32 | Miranda Liu (11) | 1627 |
| 51 | Marissa Li (10) | 1520 |
| 56 | Cassie Parent (12) | 1497 |
** Suraj Ramanathan has moved to Massachusetts. This is Illinois' loss.
Suraj arrived on the Illinois chess scene entering the 2012 K-8 Championships in Rockford as a 7-year old with a 652 rating, after moving here from Missouri by way of India. A year later he placed third in the 2nd/3rd grade section of the 2013 K-8 event. After winning the Reserve Section at his latest tournament in the Boston-area Boylston Chess Club, Suraj's rating was 1552, representing a 900-point rating increase in under a year and a half.
No less than Grandmaster Dimitry Guervich praised his style and demeanor at the recent Chicago Class, suggesting Suraj already plays like a professional. As his coach for the last year, I can attest that Suraj possesses a rare vision at the board and is a sponge for new chess knowledge.
His presence at the Aurora Naperville Chess Club, and at Illinois tournaments will be missed. Although he fell short of achieving his goal of becoming a Warren Scholar, his advancement is testimony to how hard work with even a modest coach can pay off. And Suraj has plenty of other chess goals he'll be accomplishing with his diligent persistence.
After celebrating his birthday in July, he transitions from the third-rated 8-year old in the Prairie State to the fifth-rated 9-year old in the Bay State.