If great junior chess players were grown in fields, Illinois' line up of young players could be termed a bumper crop.
Not only does Illinois now host a junior-aged Senior Master, not only is the Prairie State home to the nation's top-rated 9-year old, but the Land of Lincoln has now harvested a remarkable baker's dozen of experts age 18 or younger.
All in, that's 16 juniors rated 2000 or higher. On their heels, an additional dozen juniors are rated 1900 and up.
Sam Schmakel's 5.0/5 championship performance at January's Tim Just Winter Open placed him just ahead of a cluster of six 4.0/5's, putting him over the 2400-mark as of the official February ratings. Preceded by his national championship at the K-12 in Florida -- where his team also claimed top honors -- Sam recently lead his Whitney Young team to their third state championship in four years. Not a bad couple months, I'd say.
With Sam's elevation to Senior Master, Nate Kranjc joined Jonathan Kogan in the rank of Master thanks to his Under 2100 championship at the 2013 North American Open. Nate's undefeated 6.5/7.0 score at the December event in Las Vegas pushed his rating above the magic-2200 mark for the first time.
In the same section at the NAO, Nate's Benet Academy teammate Max Zinski tied for second with four others as Max bumped his rating 76 points, eclipsing 2100. Among Illinois' 13 junior Experts, only David Peng has a higher rating than Max.
Spencer Lehmann entered Expert territory for the first time while Vincent Do returned above the 2000-mark after a two week absence.
Aydin Turgut continued his reign as the top 9-year old in the US. Among Illinois players younger than age 13, only David Peng has a higher official rating than Aydin.
6-year old Arthur Xu achieved the top one-month rating boost among Illinois Top 100's, jumping approximately 120 points, surpassing 1200 for the first time. Since the February cut-off, his rating has risen to the cusp of 1400 (which would place him among the top two dozen 7-and-unders, and MAY qualify him as the top 6-year old in the nation -- stay tuned!).
Emmett Madigan's rating climbed 65 points, after he participated in a five-way tie for third at the TJW Reserve with a 4.0/5 posting.
The sole new name in Illinois' Top 100 is Tuoyu Yang. The 7-year old was no doubt helped by a first round victory at the TJW Reserve over a fifth-grader rated 500 points higher. Keep it up, Tuoyu.
From a state perspective, players atop their age group for the first time this month include David Zimmermann (age 8), Spencer Lehmann (age 14), and Gavin McClanahan (age 16).
February Top 100 Youth
| US Rank | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Age 7 and under | ||
| 14 | Aaron Gan | 1523 |
| 57T | Arthur Xu | 1203 |
| 96T | Tuoyu Toby Yang | 1019 |
| Age 8 | ||
| 49 | David Zimmermann | 1416 |
| 79 | Jeffrey Lin | 1281 |
| 90T | Jai Mahajan | 1244 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 1 | Aydin Turgut | 2063 |
| 26 | Stefan Musikic | 1725 |
| 73 | Brian Gong | 1512 |
| 89 | Adam Bareket | 1466 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 2 | David Peng | 2174 |
| 28 | Edward Zhang | 1780 |
| 30 | Jason Daniels | 1776 |
| 40 | Shreya Mangalam | 1728 |
| 59 | Emmett Madigan | 1663 |
| 66 | Ricky Wang | 1630 |
| 78 | Tom Bareket | 1603 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 16 | Vincent Do | 2027 |
| 75 | Marissa Li | 1703 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 31 | Matthew Stevens | 1967 |
| 34T | Hanson Hao | 1944 |
| 42 | Akhil Kalghatgi | 1900 |
| 59 | Jonathan Tan | 1829 |
| 74 | Miranda Liu | 1803 |
| 78T | Nikhil Kalghatgi | 1799 |
| 89T | Jacob Furfine | 1776 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 25T | Zhaozhi Li | 2100 |
| 33 | Alex Bian | 2086 |
| 45 | Daniel Bronfeyn | 2033 |
| 52T | Anshul Adve | 1992 |
| 65T | Jack Curcio | 1935 |
| 80 | Andrew Fei | 1879 |
| 84 | James Wei | 1874 |
| 87T | Nicholas Bartochowski | 1856 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 42 | Spencer Lehmann | 2036 |
| Age 15 | ||
| 46 | Zachary Holecek | 2048 |
| 86 | Jonathan Hrach | 1924 |
| Age 16 | ||
| 49 | Gavin McClanahan | 2073 |
| 86T | Penny Xu | 1966 |
| 97 | Eli Goering | 1934 |
| Age 17 | ||
| 5 | Sam Schmakel | 2406 |
| 14 | Nathan Kranjc | 2203 |
| 29 | Max Zinski | 2100 |
| 47 | Joe Fennessey | 2017 |
| 55T | Jimi Akintonde | 1974 |
| 66 | Timothy Zhou | 1946 |
| 76 | Duncan Shepherd | 1915 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 9 | Jonathan Kogan | 2273 |
| 39 | Robert Moskwa | 2087 |
| 47 | Chengliang Luo | 2032 |
| 69 | David Korobov | 1980 |
| 95 | David Paykin | 1883 |
| Girls Under 16 | ||
| 37 | Shayna Provine (13) | 1813 |
| 42 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1803 |
| 58 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1728 |
| 64T | Marissa Li (11) | 1703 |
| Girls Under 13 | ||
| 14 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1803 |
| 21 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1728 |
| 25 | Marissa Li (11) | 1703 |