Youth News
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 -- April 2014
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 20 April 2014 20 April 2014
Age is just a number. Right?
Chess is one of those fascinating activities in which, with a modicum of determined study, children can compete on a level playing field with adults.
And then there is another level of ability where the youngster exceeds the average adult’s capabilities and keeps on going.
Illinois is honored to host two remarkable juniors at this time whom at age 10, are not only the nation’s second-rated player of their respective age and gender, but are also the top-rated players in the state aged 16 or younger.
Marissa Li Wins U12 at 2014 All-Girls Nationals
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 13 April 2014 13 April 2014
Marissa Li has won her Under 12 section of the 2014 National All-Girls competition completed today in Northbrook, IL.
Achieving the lone 5.5/6 score in the 74-player section, Marissa entered the event having boosted her USCF-rating nearly 400-points since competing in the 2013 All-Girls and over 800-points since the 2012 All-Girls.
By virtue of her section championship, Marissa qualifies to represent the USA at the World Youth Championships to be held in South Africa late in the year.
In the Under 14 section, Long Grove's Miranda Liu took home the third place award on tiebreaks, tying for second place with 5.0/6.
Niles North Top U1600 Team at HS Nationals; 2nd in U1200
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 13 April 2014 13 April 2014
Niles North High School claimed the Under 1600 Championship at the USCF Nationals concluded April 6 in San Diego. The team tied with a Miami high school with 18.0 points, but had the higher tiebreak.
The Skokie-based high school just missed another championship by half a point, placing second in the Under 1200 section behind a Virginia team.
Lisle-based Benet Academy placed fifth in the U1200, with Oak Lawn's Richard's High School taking tenth place.
In the Under 800 section, Richards placed second on tiebreaks, tying with the champions from Texas.
Schmakel Takes 2nd at '14 High School Nationals in San Diego; Richards' Cabel Wins U1600; Marshall's Blankenship Tops U800
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 10 April 2014 10 April 2014
942 players competed at the 2014 National High School Championship with several Illinois high schoolers coming home with hardware -- including two outright champions. Two Illinois players tied for second in their respective sections, two others tied for third.
The seven-round competition was conducted in San Diego, CA April 4-6. There were five K-12 sections divided by USCF rating, including 338 in the Open Section.
In the Open, Whitney Young's Sam Schmakel suffered a third-round loss to state-mate Nathan Kranjc, but won the rest of his matches to finish second with the top tiebreak at 6.0/7.
2014 K-8 Championships Team Results (2)
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 31 March 2014 31 March 2014
The continuing saga of the 2014 K-8 Championships. This table shows team results. Additional write ups on this site cover individual awards. Top 4 scores contribute to the team total.
| Place | Grades K-1 | Place | Grades 2-3 |
| 1 |
Avery Coonley, Downers Grove, 16.5 (Alex Zhao, Jaden Fauske, Dylan Vijan, |
1 |
Avery Coonley, Downers Grove, 23.0 (Christian Turk, WIlliam Tan, Darsh Patel, |
| 2 |
Thomas Metcalf Lab, Normal, 16.0 [TB=89] (Nicholas Matejka, Max Wille, Addyson Thome, Cecilia Wille, Augie Rader) |
2 |
Colene Hoose, Normal, 20.0 (Jai Mahajan, Nathan Lee, Ayush Banerjee, Sreeansh Vakiti) |
| 3 |
Hickory Grove Elementary, Dunlap, 16.0 [TB=87.5] (Alex Fei, Joshua Wang, Stella Chen, Ethan Chen) |
3 |
Monroe Elementary, Hinsdale, 19.5 (David Zimmermann, William Tallard, Adam Dipasquale, Rohan Devulapally, William Kusak) |
| 4 |
Epiphany Catholic, Chicago, 16.0 [TB=86.0] (John Hunter, Will Manness, Matthew Hunter, Gavin Ebreo) |
4 |
Benjamin Elementary, Bloomington, 18.5 (Nicholas Bruha, Niroop Krishnakumar, |
| 5 |
Benamin Elementary, Bloomington, 15.5 [TB=90.0] (Pugazhendhi Saravanan, Rudhran Sathish, |
5 |
Thomas Metcalf Lab, Normal, 18.0 (Pierce McDade, Kale Rader, Peter Elzanati, |
| 6 |
Monroe School, Hinsdale, 15.5 [TB=87.0] (Harrison Huges, Lucy Kusak, Patrick Burke, Cameron Aucoin, Anthony Tiritilli) |
6 |
Indian Trail Elementary, Highland Park, 15.5 (Aron Amram, Cooper Evans, Elijah Davis, |
| 7 |
Avoca West, Glenview, 14.5 (David Sun, Daniel Skeels, Elliott Olcott, |
7 |
Avoca West, Glenview, 15.0 [TB=88.5] (Advait Vijay, Nathan Gelfgat, Tyler Chung, Benjamin Taylor) |
| 8 |
Laura Sprague, Lincolnshire, 10.5 (Nikhil Gangavarapu and Dhruv Malladi) |
8 |
Dewey Elementary, Evanston, 15.0 [TB=81.0] (Rohil Bose, Ethan Brush, Riley Dombeck, John Bezaitis, Conor Ebeling, Matthew Clemson) |
| 9 |
Colene Hoose, Normal, 9.5 (Seth Parent, Anirudh Venkatesh, |
9 |
Lincoln Elementary, Evanston, 14.5 [TB=85.5] (Ruairi Stephens, Ariel Kite, Wyatt Campbell, |
| 10 |
Next Generation, Champaign, 9.0 (Bruce Tang and David Yong) |
10 |
Romona, Wilmette, 14.5 [TB=78.5] (Ethan Fogel, Caden Liu, Larry Gao, |
| 45 Schools, 12 with scores > 7.0 | 87 schools, 27 with scores > 7.0 | ||
| Place | Grades 4-5 | Place | Grades 6-8 |
| 1 |
Highcrest Middle, Wilmette, 20.5 (Michael Geohas, Pavan Sureshkumar, |
1 |
Dunlap Middle School, Dunlap (Peoria), 21.0 (Andrew Fei, Maxwell Jong, Yilang Li, Patrick Li) |
| 2 |
Decatur Classical, Chicago, 20.0 (Joseph Buklis, Aria Hoesley, Adam Pastor, |
2 |
George Evans Jr High, Bloomington, 19.0 (Ishaar Ganesan, Rithvik Musuku, Balaji Iyengar, Shanku Nair) |
| 3 |
Skinner North Classical, Chicago, 19.5 [TB=102.5] (Jonah Karafiol, Ryan Wong, Matthew Li, Nathaniel Wells) |
3 |
Chiddix Jr High, Normal, 17.5 (Cassie Parent, Vishnu Anagani, Nikhil Madugula, Abhiru Raut) |
| 4 |
Dr. Howard, Champaign, 19.5 [TB=96] (Nathan Chang, Alexander Hsia, Shashank Hirani, Mayank Hirani) |
4 |
Goudy School, Chicago, 16.5 (Ahn Le, Raman Manandhar, Vicky Liang, |
| 5 |
Benjamin Elementary, Bloomington, 19.0 (Advaith Prabu, Arnav Siriam, Foster Baird, Nishant Bhamidipati) |
5 |
Nichols Middle, Evanston, 16.0 (Julian O'Carroll, Simon Lequar, Oliver Brady, Adrian Wilburn, Thomas Sevcik, Thomas Stepens) |
| 6 |
Avery Coonley, Downers Grove, 18.5 (Alexander Turk, Aayan Patel, Ojas Vasisht, Benjamin Broach) |
6 |
Clarendon Hills Middle, Clarendon Hills, 15.5 (Zamaan Qureshi, Daniel Leung, Jack Galassi, Trevor Tompkins) |
| 7 |
Colene Hoose, Normal, 18.0 (Pranav Venkatesh, Marcus Lee, Amanda Carlson, Kyra Rivera) |
7 |
Lincoln Jr High, Naperville, 15.0 [TB=82.5] (Ritesh Sivakumar, Michah Hill, Matthew Blanton, Carson Rupp, Rohan Thiruthuvadoss) |
| 8 |
Lincoln Elementary, Wheaton, 15.5 (Owen Haas, Milan Lazarevic, Nikolai Lazarevic, Benjamin Myung) |
8 |
Gower Middle, Burr Ridge, 15.0 [TB=79.5] (David Chu, Riya Chadha, Matthew Tang, |
| 9 |
Prairieland, Normal, 15.0 (Jacob Davis, Nicholas Husarik, Merrick Bane, Jacob Bullock) |
9 |
Wheaton Christian, Wheaton, 14.5 [TB=94.0] (Seth Wyma, Nicholas Salahi, Caleb Rathbun, Graham Wall, Nathan Salahi, John Nelson, Alexander Doyle) |
| 10 |
Monroe School, Hinsdale, 14.5 (Vinny Galassi, Thomas Kusak, Matthew Hughes, Ava Marginean) |
10 |
Parkside Jr High, Normal, 14.5 [TB=86.0] (Clayton Davis, Alex Smith, Michael Maxfield, Sawyer Price) |
| 93 Schools, 32 with scores > 7.0 | 76 schools, 23 with scores > 7.0 | ||
| Of 40 placing schools, 12 from Bloomington-Normal, 11 from Western Suburbs, 9 from Northern Suburbs, 2 from Champaign, 2 from Dunlap (Peoria area), and 4 from Chicago. |
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