Youth News
Kalghatgi Twins Reprise National Bughouse Championship
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 15 April 2016 15 April 2016
With a perfect 10-for-10 effort, Whitney Young freshmen Akhil and Nikhil Kalghatgi earned the Bughouse Championship at the US Chess 2016 Junior High Nationals in Indianapolis.
This is the second National Bughouse Championship within a month for the 9th Grade Experts -- they won the same event at the 2016 High School Championships in Atlanta.
Leading 8.0 - 7.0, Akhil and Nikhil faced off in the final round against fellow Illinoisians Jason Daniels and Aydin Turgut -- who themselves are defending National Bughouse Champions from the 2015 Elementary Nationals. By winning both games, the Kalghatgi's secured the championship while Jason and Aydin settled for third place.
Five Perfect Scores at YCFC Oriole Park Tourney
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 09 April 2016 09 April 2016
Avi Kaplan has won the Advanced Section of the YCFC Tournament held April 9 at Oriole Park Elementary.
Almost 300 participated in the event, the fifth of six on the calendar for the 2015-2016 school year. There would have been more entrants had it not been for a school which arrived at the tournament -- but decided to leave without playing after their last-minute request for a private team room could not be accommodated.
Olman Chaheine of Altus Academy and Izellah Ortiz of Kinzie both posted perfect 5.0's in the Novice 5-8 section.
Isai Hernandez, also of Altus, took clear third with 4.5 points, overcoming a first-round draw. You'll never guess which team won first place in the section.
HP's Guerrero Wins National U1200; HP Team Wins Too!
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 04 April 2016 04 April 2016
With a seventh-round draw, Jeffrey Guerrero secured the Under 1200 Championship at the US Chess National High School Championships in Atlanta concluded April 3.
Guerrero, a Highland Park High School senior, posted a 6.5/7 tally, two points better than his performance in the same section at the 2015 Nationals in Columbus.
He finished in a tie with Missouri's Emanuel Gerbi, but Jeffrey's tiebreak was calculated as higher. Naperville North's Ryan Guan placed third with the highest tiebreak among 6.0's.
Paced by Guerrero, the HP team won the team title with 21.5, a half-point better than Naperville North and a team from St. Louis. On tiebreaks, Naperville North placed second.
Dimitar Mardov Wins Naperville Scholastic
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 04 April 2016 04 April 2016
With three wins and a couple byes, 7-year old Dimitar Mardov won the Naperville Scholastic Championship held April 2. 79 competed in four sections.
Dimitar defeated Sam Fayn in the final round to secure the championship. Sam, in turn finished in a tie for second place with Pradeep Senthil, both with 4.0 points. Tiebreak information was not available at press time.
Umair Ahmed won the Under 1000 with a 4.5 score. Layla Rodriguez and Felipe Garcia tied for second with 4.0's. Umair defeated Layla in the third round and Felipe in the second of five rounds. This looks to be Umair's last U1000; he raised his rating 142 points to 1105.
Illinois Juniors Score at Cincinnati Open
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 03 April 2016 03 April 2016
Although Ohio US Chess Master Yuri Barnakov was the ultimate winner at the 2016 Cincinnati Open, several Illinois players had strong showings at the five-round, two-day event concluded April 3.
Max Zinski posted a 2.5/5 in the Open section finishing in a three-way tie for fifth place.
Marissa Li and Peter Zheng both posted 3.0's in the Under 2100 section, tying for fourth place.
Peter raised his rating 47 points above 1800 once again. He drew a US Chess Expert from Michigan in the second round after defeating Marissa in the opening match.