Youth News
Kalghatgi Twins 1-2 at Chicago Public School Championships, Whitney Young, Skinner North, Lenart, Decatur Win Team Titles
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 19 April 2015 19 April 2015
In the flip-flopping power struggle of brothers Nikhil and Akhil Kalghatgi, Nikhil grabbed the upperhand at this year's Chicago Public Schools K-8 Championships completed March 28.
Nikhil defeated Taft's Matthew Wong in the fifth round while Akhil only managed only a fourth-round draw against Matthew. This gave Nikhil top honors at 5.0 with Akhil nabbing clear second with 4.5.
With the twins' performances, Whitney Young Academic Center cruised to the team championship with 17.0 points. Taft, aided by Jonathan Lee's 3.5 and 3.0's from Matthew, Georgia Wolf and Danilo Velazquez, took second place on tiebreaks over Keller.
George Li Ties for Second at 2015 USCF High School Nationals, Six Illinois Teams Among Top 30 in Championship Section
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 13 April 2015 13 April 2015
New Trier High School's ZhaoZhi "George" Li came within a half-point of the highest score at the 2015 USCF High School Nationals completed April 12 in Columbus, OH.
Li's only blemishes were draws in rounds three and five, both against Texans. George's post-event rating -- pending re-rating -- hit 2300 for the first time. His 6.0 tied for second place with seven others, capturing seventh place hardware on tiebreaks.
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of March 2015
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- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf Bill Feldman, data compiled by Chris Wellendorf
- Published: 23 March 2015 23 March 2015
Four new Illinois names joined the US Top 100 lists this month: nine-year old Peter Zheng, eight year-old Eduard Danilyan, seven year-old John Bielobradek and six year-old David Yong.
Returning to the lists was Penny Xu after she competed in the rated Illini Blitz event in February. Penny played first board on her Urbana High School team this year, but hasn't played any regular-rated matches since the 2013 US Open. Penny compiled an impressive 6.0/7 at the IHSA finals in February, as did fellow top 100 listers George Li (New Trier), Max Zinski (Benet), Jonathan Hrach (Highland Park) and Spencer Lehmann (Barrington).
Finishing tied for second place with 6.5 scores were listers Alex Bian of Stevenson and Daniel Bronfeyn of Mundelein.
Compiling 5.5's (tied for 17th) were listers Bradley Guan (State Champion Naperville North), Gavin McClanahan (Glenbrook South) and Andrew Fei (Dunlap).
BNASC Completes 2015 Season
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- Written by ICA Staff ICA Staff
- Published: 18 March 2015 18 March 2015
Bloomington Normal Area Scholastic Chess completed its six event 2015 season of scholastic tournaments.
No article submitted.
| Glenn | Benjamin | Epiphany | Tri-Valley | MLK | Prarieland |
| 2/21 | 2/7 | 1/31 | 1/24 | 1/19 | 1/10 |
| 242 | 272 | 209 | 175 | 321 | 204 |
Denker, Barber, Girls Invitational Held at ChessIQ In Skokie
- Details
- Written by Pattie Zinski Pattie Zinski
- Published: 17 March 2015 17 March 2015
Three youth invitationals organized by the ICA Warren Junior Program were held March 14th and 15th at ChessIQ under the direction of TD Sevan Muradian.
Top Illinois high school, elementary and girls players competed for an opportunity to represent the state at the National Barber, Denker and Girls competitions staged in conjunction with the 2015 U.S. Open.
In addition to winning the right to compete at the corresponding national event, each section winner received $250 towards chess lessons and a $500 travel stipend. Runners up also received $250 towards coaching. Prizes were made possible by a generous grant from the Walter S. Mander Foundation.