Youth Chess News
Alex Bian, Hanson Hao Achieve USCF Milestones; Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of November 2014
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
A pair of Illinois teenagers earned new USCF classifications as of the November official ratings.
Newly-minted USCF Master Alex Bian, age 14, cracked the 2200-mark with a 43-point bump.
13-year old Hanson Hao finally earned his USCF Expert stripes with a 53-point jump.
Congratulations to both Alex and Hanson!
Age eventually catches up with all of us and for USCF Master Jonathan Kogan, a regular participant of these top 100 lists for years, turning 19 graduates Jonathan from these compilations. Jonathan had ranked 11th among US 18-year olds prior to his latest birthday. He continues in the top 100 list for American youth Under 21, with a 2265 USCF rating.
300 Compete at 2014 All-Grade in West Chicago
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Peoria's Andrew Fei has added Illinois Champion to his chess resume sweeping all four rounds to claim the Grades 9-12 Championship of the 2014 All-Grade.
In the third round, Fei beat Dunlap High School teammate Yiliang Li. Yiliang had defeated Trevor Huang in the first round with both Yiliang and Trevor tying for second with 3.0/4 postings.
With Maxwell Jong contributing his 2.5 score to the tallies from Andrew and Yiliang, Dunlap won the team championship over Hinsdale Central.
Three schools won a pair of team championships: Indian Trail (Highland Park) won Kindergarten and First Grade, Wheaton Christian won Grades 4 and 7, and Highcrest (Wilmette) won Grades 5 and 6.
Daniels, Do, Liu and Mardov Win Polgar World Open Sections; Earn Invites to 2015 World Youth In Greece
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Overcoming competitors from multiple states, Illinois saw four of its natives winning their respective sections at the Susan Polgar World Youth, completed November 2 in Schaumburg.
The event was coordinated by ChessIQ, directed by Sevan Muradian and Vytautas Vitkauskas. Crosstables available here. Over 200 juniors competed in nine sections.
In the Under 14 section, Vincent Do prevailed on tiebreaks amid a six-pack of 4.5/6 scores. Vincent accepted a draw in the final round against Kansas' Joey Kelly, after an exciting endgame with promotion opportunities in both directions. Kelly was the section's highest-rated player entering the event. In their final matches, Jacob Furfine drew and Matthew Stevens won to join the top score group. Tej Rai finished a half-point back in a three-way tie for 7th. 32 players from six states competed in the section.
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of October 2014
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- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Mark Berezewski Bill Feldman, data compiled by Mark Berezewski
For the first time since Penny Xu left the national Top 100 lists, Illinois has a female junior rated above 1900, thanks to Miranda Liu. At 13, Miranda is already among the top two dozen American females under Age 16 and the fifth-ranked 13-year old girl in the US.
Re-entering the ranks of the national Top 100 lists this month were 6-year old Alex Zhao and 10-year old Aiden Carey.
Posting the highest rating enhancements from the September to October lists were seven-year olds Arthur Xu (141) and Vrishank Ramnath (116). Also showing strong improvements were Miranda Liu (76), George Li (72), Edward Zhang (71), Stefan Musikic (64), and Rishi Narayanan (57).
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 as of September 2014
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- Written by Bill Feldman, data compiled by Mark Berezewski Bill Feldman, data compiled by Mark Berezewski
Despite one drop-off, with the addition of Jacob Furfine, Illinois continues to field 20 juniors at or above the Expert mark as of the third Wednesday in August -- the cut-off date for the official September USCF ratings.
Thanks to Duncan Shepherd's ascension above 2100, Illinois has three of the top 18-year olds in the country, and claims three of the top 25 in an age group for one of the rare times in recent history. Duncan joins Sam Schmakel and Jonathan Kogan.
Anshul Adve also broke 2100, giving us three of the top 35 14-year olds in the country as Anshul joins Alex Bian and George Li.
The Land of Lincoln also boasts three of the top 35 13-year olds, and a total of nine juniors in the 13-year old Top 100, whereas statistically we'd expect to have only four. That list is headed by Matthew Stevens, Jacob Furfine and Akhil Kalghatgi.