Youth News
Bian, Turgut, Mardov, Wang All Tops in National Blitz; Illinois Schools Dominate K-12 Blitz Team Awards With 7 of Top 11
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 12 May 2017 12 May 2017
Illinois was well-represented in three of the four grade-sectioned blitz competitions at SuperNationals VI, held May 11. Land of Lincoln had at least one co-champion in all three.
Stevenson's Alex Bian scored 11.0/12 to tie for first in the K-12 Blitz, taking third on tiebreaks. Alex's only loss came in a split against Bryce Tiglon of Washington who finished just above Bian in tiebreaks.
New York's Nicolas Checa, the highest rated player in the event as a ninth grader, was denied a perfect score with a split against IMSA's George Li. Still, Checa managed to earn the highest tiebreak for the first place hardware in the 236 player competition.
Kalghatgi Twins Win Third National Bughouse Championship
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 11 May 2017 11 May 2017
With a perfect 12-for-12 score, Whitney Young twins Akhil and Nikhil Kalghatgi have won the K-12 Bughouse title at 2017 SuperNationals, their third national bughouse championship!
There was a six-way tie for second place -- and a remarkable three Illinois pairs were in that mix.
5,500 Enter SuperNationals VI; Illinois With 3rd Most Entries
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 10 May 2017 10 May 2017
With 347 players from over 90 different schools and the home-schooled community, Illinois has the third most registrants, two days before SuperNationals VI kicks off formally, Friday, May 12.
The Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN will once again serve as the host site to perhaps the largest chess tournament ever held in the US (correct me if I'm wrong!).
5,496 registrants is already ahead of the official count for the 2013 SuperNationals. Such events, bringing together Elementary, Junior High and High School Nationals, are held only every four years. (Update: As of Thursday, IL is at 356 and overall is at 5,552).
Grandy Tops Illinois' May 2017 Junior Grand Prix List
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 08 May 2017 08 May 2017
Wheaton's Sarah Grandy, an ICA Rising Star, tops the Illinois list of US Chess Junior Grand Prix point earners as of May 2, 2017.
Sarah is the only Illinois player in the top 45 in the country, participating in five events.
Aren Emrikian and Arthur Xu, both heading to Brazil as World Cadet qualifiers, are also among the top 10 point earners from Illinois as of the one-third mark on the year. Both have also played in five JGP events thus far in 2017, and both are ICA Warren Scholars.
The complete top 10 for Illinois are listed below.
Jeremiah Davis Wins K-12 Open at Dubuque's Ice Harbor
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 01 May 2017 01 May 2017
Rockford's Jeremiah Davis has won the K-12 Open section of the Ice Harbor Scholastic competed April 30 in Dubuque, IA.
In its fifth year, Ice Harbor has become the de facto midwest youth championship with competitors from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Davis, a Rockford Marshall 8th-grader who participates in the ICA's Rising Stars Program, was 4-1 in the section, losing only to Iowa's Barry Vigil who took second place on tiebreaks. Davis upped his rating 75 points to 1638. Jeremiah's father credits the Sunday event Rising Stars training sessions for sparking his son's recent improvement.