2024 Illinois Senior State Championship

The 2024 Illinois State Senior Championship was run at the same time as our Youth Invitational in Park Ridge early last month. This tournament had some of the best seniors(50+) in the state of Illinois compete for the opportunity to represent Illinois in the Erwin Tournament at the US Open later this year.

 

We had two separate sections, Reserve and Open, while only the winner of the Open would move onto the Erwin.

 

Reserve Section

 

The Reserve section only had eight players. Entering the final round Kevin McAlister was alone in first place with 2.5 out of 3 points. By winning his last game Kevin McAlister won the Reserve section undisputed.

 

Below is the final cross-tables.

 

#

Name

Rd 1

Rd 2

Rd 3

Rd 4

Total

Prize

1

McAlister, Kelvin

W7 (b)

W3 (w)

D2 (b)

W4 (w)

3.5

95.84

2

Stoltz, Robert M

H---

W4 (b)

D1 (w)

W7 (w)

3

53.67

3

Hansel, Mark

W5 (w)

L1 (b)

D6 (w)

W8 (b)

2.5

46

4

Marshall, Kenneth N

W6 (b)

L2 (w)

D5 (b)

L1 (b)

1.5

 

5

Rao, Srinivas

L3 (b)

W7 (w)

D4 (w)

U---

1.5

40.25

6

Slayton, Stephen North

L4 (w)

B---

D3 (b)

U---

1.5

40.25/Upset1

7

Wishner, Michael

L1 (w)

L5 (b)

W8 (w)

L2 (b)

1

34.5

8

Lobraco, Michael J

H---

U---

L7 (b)

L3 (w)

0.5

30.67

 

Open Section

 

FM Camilo Pangen had a perfect score of 3.0 going into the last round. Where he drew Michael Mazock, leaving him as the undisputed first place finisher. Lawrence Cohen also drew his final round to finish in a tie for second. Unfortunately, Camilo was not able to make it to Norfolk to be our state representative. Michael came in second by tie-break. However, since he is not a resident of Illinois, he is not eligible to be our state representative. Lawrence (Larry) Cohen came in third by tie-break. Because both our first and second place finishers were unable to compete in the Erwin, Lawrence was offered and accepted his invitation to represent Illinois in this tournament.

 

Below is the final cross-table.

 

#

Name

Rd 1

Rd 2

Rd 3

Rd 4

Total

Prize

1

FM Pangan, Camilo C

W15 (b)

W4 (w)

W5 (b)

D2 (w)

3.5

172.51

2

Mazock, Michael J

W9 (b)

D3 (w)

W11 (b)

D1 (b)

3

51.11

3

Cohen, Lawrence S

W14 (b)

D2 (b)

W6 (w)

D5 (w)

3

51.11

4

Bondar, Leonid

W10 (w)

L1 (b)

W14 (w)

W7 (b)

3

51.11

5

Sax, Robert David

W16 (b)

W13 (w)

L1 (w)

D3 (b)

2.5

 

6

Landfair, Dean

W11 (b)

D7 (w)

L3 (b)

D8 (w)

2

24.92

7

Lung, Richard Earl

D8 (w)

D6 (b)

W10 (w)

L4 (w)

2

24.92

8

Viray, Norman Eugenio

D7 (b)

D12 (w)

D13 (b)

D6 (b)

2

24.92

9

Cohen, Fredric S

L2 (w)

L14 (b)

W16 (w)

W15 (b)

2

24.92

10

Kosteris, Dimitri

L4 (b)

W15 (w)

L7 (b)

D11 (w)

1.5

 

11

Marshall, James A

L6 (w)

W16 (b)

L2 (w)

D10 (b)

1.5

 

12

Szpisjak, Steven J

L13 (w)

D8 (b)

L15 (w)

W14 (b)

1.5

 

13

Abbott, James

W12 (b)

L5 (b)

D8 (w)

U---

1.5

/Upset1

14

Rojas, Venric Tabiliran

L3 (w)

W9 (w)

L4 (b)

L12 (w)

1

 

15

Wiewel, Jeff K

L1 (w)

L10 (b)

W12 (b)

L9 (w)

1

 

16

Brynjelsen, Sean E

L5 (w)

L11 (w)

L9 (b)

H---

0.5

 
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2024 ICA Youth Invitational

The Illinois Chess Association Youth Invitational was run last month. The highest rated players from across the state were invited to compete in the tournament. This year the rating requirements for the Denker, Barber, Rockefeller, and Haring were set as follows: 1700, 1500, 1400, and 1200 respectively.

 

The winners of our divisions will represent Illinois in their respective age group at the US open in Norfolk, VA. ICA will give each of the winners a $250 stipend for travel to allow them to participate in the tournament. The representatives for Illinois this year will be: Avi Kaplan, Anjaneya Rao, Aiden Li, and Rebecca Cortez.

 

On top of that, the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the Haring were invited to participate in the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational, which was held online earlier this month. The Illinois representatives were Linda Pham and RIa Raj for placing in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

 

Below is a full list of the results of each section in the tournament.

 

Denker (High School) 

 

Going into the last round Avi Kaplan was the only participant with a perfect 4-0 record, while a few other players had 3 points. In the final round, Avi Kaplan drew Jack Heller, which cemented his lead and allowed him to become the undisputed winner of the tournament.

 

Name

Rd1

Rd2

Rd3

Rd4

Rd5

Total

1

Kaplan, Avi Harrison

W15 (b)

W7 (w)

W10 (b)

W5 (w)

D3 (w)

4.5

2

Murali, Rishi

D3 (b)

W9 (b)

D11 (w)

W10 (w)

W7 (b)

4

3

Heller, Jack

D2 (w)

W14 (b)

D6 (w)

W4 (w)

D1 (b)

3.5

4

Shrigadi, Aryan

W18 (b)

W6 (w)

D5 (w)

L3 (b)

W11 (w)

3.5

5

Mehrotra, Ekansh

W16 (b)

W13 (w)

D4 (b)

L1 (b)

D6 (w)

3

6

Malladi, Sadkrith

W20 (w)

L4 (b)

D3 (b)

W13 (w)

D5 (b)

3

7

Karthikeyan, Arnav

W21 (w)

L1 (b)

W17 (w)

W8 (b)

L2 (w)

3

8

Shah, Aarav T

L10 (b)

W15 (w)

W21 (b)

L7 (w)

W16 (w)

3

9

Chen, Anthony

D12 (b)

L2 (w)

W14 (w)

L11 (b)

W17 (w)

2.5

10

Kosak, Whitman

W8 (w)

W17 (b)

L1 (w)

L2 (b)

D13 (w)

2.5

11

Feng, Jay

L13 (b)

W12 (w)

D2 (b)

W9 (w)

L4 (b)

2.5

12

Pena, Faris Adan

D9 (w)

L11 (b)

L19 (b)

B---

W20 (w)

2.5

13

Ramnath, Vrishank

W11 (w)

L5 (b)

W18 (w)

L6 (b)

D10 (b)

2.5

14

Samayamantri, Hemanth

B---

L3 (w)

L9 (b)

D15 (w)

W19 (b)

2.5

15

Prabhu, Sanjith

L1 (w)

L8 (b)

W20 (w)

D14 (b)

D21 (b)

2

16

Drucker, Jack Leo

L5 (w)

L18 (b)

B---

W19 (w)

L8 (b)

2

17

Plotnick, Jacob Joseph

W19 (b)

L10 (w)

L7 (b)

W18 (w)

L9 (b)

2

18

Bafia, Nathaniel

L4 (w)

W16 (w)

L13 (b)

L17 (b)

B---

2

19

Pjevic, Dario

L17 (w)

D20 (b)

W12 (w)

L16 (b)

L14 (w)

1.5

20

Deligiannis, Dimitrios M

L6 (b)

D19 (w)

L15 (b)

W21 (w)

L12 (b)

1.5

21

Osborne, Keoni F.

L7 (b)

B---

L8 (w)

L20 (b)

D15 (w)

1.5

 

Barber (Grades 6-8) 

 

Entering the final round, Anjaneya Rao was the only player with 3.5 points. While one player, Justin Lee, had 3 points and several other players had 2.5 points. In the final round, Anjaneya beat Ryan Zhang, which allowed him to finish as the undisputed champion.

 

 

Name

Rd1

Rd2

Rd3

Rd4

Rd5

Total

1

Rao, Anjaneya Sripathy

W5 (w)

D2 (b)

W7 (w)

W3 (b)

W9 (w)

4.5

2

Lee, Justin

W10 (b)

D1 (w)

D4 (w)

W9 (b)

D5 (b)

3.5

3

Khanbutaev, Artemii

W13 (b)

W7 (w)

D9 (b)

L1 (w)

D4 (b)

3

4

Zhou, Alex

L11 (w)

W14 (w)

D2 (b)

W12 (b)

D3 (w)

3

5

Lavanur, Mahendra

L1 (b)

D10 (w)

W14 (b)

W6 (b)

D2 (w)

3

6

Menon, Rohan Dileep

L7 (b)

W13 (w)

W11 (b)

L5 (w)

W12 (w)

3

7

Misra, Pragyan

W6 (w)

L3 (b)

L1 (b)

W11 (w)

D8 (b)

2.5

8

Munaganuri, Vamsi

D14 (b)

L9 (w)

D13 (b)

W10 (b)

D7 (w)

2.5

9

Zhang, Ryan

W12 (w)

W8 (b)

D3 (w)

L2 (w)

L1 (b)

2.5

10

Pothabathula, Rahul Sai

L2 (w)

D5 (b)

D12 (b)

L8 (w)

W13 (b)

2

11

Pittala, Ashvath Reddy

W4 (b)

U---

L6 (w)

L7 (b)

W14 (w)

2

12

Ramkumar, Gautham

L9 (b)

B---

D10 (w)

L4 (w)

L6 (b)

1.5

13

Cai, Andrew

L3 (w)

L6 (b)

D8 (w)

D14 (b)

L10 (w)

1

14

Turba, Timur

D8 (w)

L4 (b)

L5 (w)

D13 (w)

L11 (b)

1

 

Rockefeller (Grades K-5) 

 

Unlike the previous sections, entering the final round there were three players with 3 points: Aiden Li, Matthew Yu, and Alexander Pan. All of which drew in their final rounds – leading to a three way blitz playoff. The playoff finished with Aiden Li in first place, followed by Matthew Yu and Alexander Pan.

 

 

Name

Rd1

Rd2

Rd3

Rd4

Rd5

Total

Tie-Break

Tie-Break

1

Li, Aiden Linyuan

W3 (b)

L2 (w)

W6 (b)

W5 (w)

D4 (b)

3.5

Blitz

 

2

Yu, Matthew

W7 (b)

W1 (b)

W4 (w)

L3 (w)

D5 (b)

3.5

 

Blitz

3

Pan, Alexander

L1 (w)

W8 (w)

W9 (b)

W2 (b)

D6 (w)

3.5

   

4

Tikhomirov, Matthew

D6 (w)

W5 (w)

L2 (b)

W11 (b)

D1 (w)

3

   

5

Vanama, Agastya

W11 (w)

L4 (b)

W10 (w)

L1 (b)

D2 (w)

2.5

   

6

Tang, Edward Jiayi

D4 (b)

W9 (b)

L1 (w)

D10 (w)

D3 (b)

2.5

   

7

Kumar, Advik

L2 (w)

L10 (b)

B---

D8 (b)

W11 (w)

2.5

   

8

Jean, Ishaan

D9 (w)

L3 (b)

D11 (b)

D7 (w)

B---

2.5

   

9

Rajkumar, Sachit Srinivas

D8 (b)

L6 (w)

L3 (w)

B---

D10 (b)

2

   

10

Silvestre, Lucas

U---

W7 (w)

L5 (b)

D6 (b)

D9 (w)

2

   

11

Apostolopoulos, Georgios Alexander

L5 (b)

B---

D8 (w)

L4 (w)

L7 (b)

1.5

   

 

Haring (Girls) 

 

Going into the last round Rebecca Cortez and Linda Pham were tied for first with 3.5 points. They drew in the final round which left them tied for first. After the blitz playoff, Linda and Rebecca were still tied – which led them to play an armageddon match, which Rebecca won. Leaving her in first and Linda Pham in second place. Which allowed Linda Pham to participate in the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational, as well as Ria Raj, who finished in third with 3.5 points.

 

 

Name

Rd1

Rd2

Rd3

Rd4

Rd5

Total

Tie-Break

1

Cortez, Rebecca

D6 (b)

W7 (w)

W5 (b)

W8 (w)

D2 (b)

4

Blitz

2

Pham, Linda

D13 (w)

W15 (b)

W3 (b)

W4 (w)

D1 (w)

4

 

3

Raj, Ria

W12 (w)

D8 (b)

L2 (w)

W14 (b)

W5 (b)

3.5

 

4

Xin, Stella

L14 (w)

W11 (b)

W7 (w)

L2 (b)

W8 (b)

3

 

5

Wang, Gaofei

W11 (w)

W14 (b)

L1 (w)

W9 (b)

L3 (w)

3

 

6

Berman, Shaina

D1 (w)

W9 (b)

L8 (w)

D13 (b)

W11 (w)

3

 

7

\Saha, Anisha

W16 (w)

L1 (b)

L4 (b)

W10 (w)

W13 (w)

3

 

8

Xia, Elizabeth

W10 (b)

D3 (w)

W6 (b)

L1 (b)

L4 (w)

2.5

 

9

Manimaran, Shivani

D15 (b)

L6 (w)

W12 (b)

L5 (w)

W14 (b)

2.5

 

10

Sharad, Suhana

L8 (w)

W16 (b)

D14 (w)

L7 (b)

B---

2.5

 

11

Zhan, Amy

L5 (b)

L4 (w)

B---

W12 (w)

L6 (b)

2

 

12

Sahoo, Tanirika

L3 (b)

B---

L9 (w)

L11 (b)

W15 (w)

2

 

13

Bothe, Nysa

D2 (b)

U---

W15 (w)

D6 (w)

L7 (b)

2

 

14

Girish, Niyathi

W4 (b)

L5 (w)

D10 (b)

L3 (w)

L9 (w)

1.5

 

15

Tang, Emily Jiaying

D9 (w)

L2 (w)

L13 (b)

B---

L12 (b)

1.5

 

16

Musku, Himani

L7 (b)

L10 (w)

U---

U---

U---

0

 
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Jack Heller named 2024 Scholar/Chessplayer by the US Chess Federation

Congratulations to Chicago Public Schools student and ICA Warren Jr. Scholar Jack Heller for being named a 2024 Scholar/Chessplayer by the US Chess Federation and the US Chess Trust. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding high school juniors and seniors who promote a positive image of chess, while excelling in academics and leadership.

 

Jack volunteers with the Chicago Chess Foundation and traveled to Ghana with it last year to teach chess to children in an impoverished fishing village. 

 

Jack is a senior at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago. He hopes to become a veterinarian. 

 

To read about the award, visit:  https://new.uschess.org/news/2024-scholar-chessplayer-awards-announced-six-players-honored-2024-national-high-school

 

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Jeff Wiewel: 40+ years as a Tournament Director

 

 

Jeff Wiewel: 40+ years as a Tournament Director

 
Tournament directing is undeniably a craft that must be cultivated through
years of practice and gaining expertise, and who better to learn from, than the
best. Jeff Wiewel has been a pillar of the Illinois, and nationwide, tournament
directing scene for over 40 years. In that time he has worked over 700
tournaments, including 65 national events.


I myself have worked under Jeff at several events during my short tenure as
a tournament director. He is an amazing asset as he is always there to support the
staff with his limitless knowledge and brighten everyone’s day with his common,
albeit sometimes corny, jokes.


Jeff has been playing chess since he was eight years old, and has been in
the chess community semi-regularly ever since. He began directing scholastic
tournaments in 1982, and continued directing until he progressed to the national
level by working at the National Junior High in 1988.
Jeff reached his national breakthrough in 2001 when he began working
more and more national events. Which eventually led him to begin substantially
traveling throughout the country a few years later. Which is when he became a
NTD, in 2003.


Besides that, he has been on the US Chess tournament director certification
committee, being the chair or vice chair since 2008. He has been the chair of the
Chicago Industrial League's West division for ten years. Further, he has been a US
chess delegate multiple times.


During our discussion, I inquired with Jeff about his most cherished aspects
of serving as a tournament director. He mentioned the joy he receives from
mentoring new tournament directors, seeing the joy of the players, and being
part of a community where he can fully be himself. And happily, being able to do
it with his son, be it directing while he played in the past, or directing together in
the present.


Jeff’s personal belief on how to become a good tournament director is to
always be cordial and nice, even when you need to be commanding. Beyond

simple niceties, the importance of understanding your own limitations and when
to defer to those above you is of keen importance.


A favorite memory of his is when many USCF tournaments were canceled
due to COVID, tournament directors were asked to submit a small clip that would
then be cut together into a video to put on the website for morale. While most
TD’s focused on staying safe and the present, Jeff touched on hoping to see us all
in the future – almost subconsciously saying the world would get back to normal –
this was put at the finale of the video. I believe that beautifully sums up who he
is: the man, the myth, the chess legend, the realistic optimist.

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Josh Flores replaces Patrick Cohen as secretary and Dan Wilson accepts general board position

There have been a couple of board changes. Patrick Cohen contacted me a couple of weeks ago to let me know he was going to resign in a couple of months due to his limited time to be available for meetings. I contacted Josh Flores to see if he would take over the secretary position, since he held it previously. He was willing to start in March and Patrick was willing to resign effective February 29. Patrick has informed me he will graciously assist the board with several behind-the-scenes efforts he does to help this great organization.

Daniel Wilson had previously  reached out to me to see if he could be part of the board. Since Josh was currently on board as a general collar county member, we now had an open position. The board offered Dan that position.

We now have a full board minus a downstate general board position. If anyone is interested please email Josh at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,

Thanks and please lets welcome Dan and Josh to their new positions and thank Patrick for his many years of service where I personally will miss his input and knowledge at meetings.

Steve

President Illinois Chess Association

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Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Chess State Championship 2024

 

Illinois High School Association (IHSA)

Chess State Championship 2024

Peoria, Illinois February 9-10, 2024




Firstly, I’d like to thank the organizers and the directors, along with all of the players for making this edition of the IHSA State Championship the best it could’ve been.

 

I myself played in the tournament, and I can confidently say that it was an amazing experience – more than simply being a tournament, but as a way to make friends and bond as a team.

 

After the first day, when we were 4/4, the anticipation for the possibilities of the following day was immense. And even though we didn’t end up performing as well as we hoped, the experience was all that mattered.

 

I’ve been to many tournaments throughout my life, but something about this one was special. The opportunity of being able to be with friends outside of the plain school environment, on top the combination of my own hobbies, made this an exceptionally special tournament.

 

Enough about that, onto the results of the tournament.



128 teams played in the tournament – after the first day, only 8 teams remained undefeated.

 

Round 5; Final 8 undefeated

Table 4: Aurora (IMSA) defeated Naperville (Neuqua) 56.5 vs 11.5

Table 3:Palatine (Fremd) defeated Naperville (Central) 39.5 vs 28.5

Table 2:Chicago (Payton)defeated Evanston (Twp.) 55 vs 13

Table 1:Lincolnshire (Stevenson) defeated Chicago (Whitney Young) 50 vs 18

 

Round 6; Final 4 undefeated

Table 2:Chicago (Payton) defeated Aurora (IMSA) 34.5 vs 33.5

Table 1:Lincolnshire (Stevenson) defeated Palatine (Fremd) 50.5 vs 17.5

 

Round 7, Final round; Final 2 undefeated

Table 1. After a long match, Stevenson and Payton finished the tournament with a draw in the final round. Stevenson eventually won on tiebreakers.

 

Here is the winning team:




Glenn Panner from Chess Weekend supplied individual award medals to all players with at least 5.5 points out of 7. Bronze was awarded with 5.5, Silver with 6, and gold with 6.5 or 7 points. Around 100 players received medals out of 1200.

 

The following participants were awarded medals.

 

Name

Total Points

Medal

Arthur Xu (Jr.)

7

Gold

Dario Pjevic (So.)

7

Gold

Gustavo Garcia (Fr.)

7

Gold

Makhi Fox (Fr.)

7

Gold

Ochirbat Lkhagvajamts (Jr.)

7

Gold

Owen Geraghty (Sr.)

7

Gold

Shakira Luster (Sr.)

7

Gold

Vrishank Ramnath (Jr.)

7

Gold

Benjamin McKendall (So.)

6.5

Gold

Chris Garcia (Sr.)

6.5

Gold

Connor Nance (So.)

6.5

Gold`

Daniel Avalos (Jr.)

6.5

Gold

Ekansh Mehrotra (Fr.)

6.5

Gold

Feolu Kolawole (Sr.)

6.5

Gold

Issac Padua (Jr.)

6.5

Gold

Paul Hanrahan (Jr.)

6.5

Gold

Saboor Khan (Fr.)

6.5

Gold

Sammy McCandless (Jr.)

6.5

Gold

Tate Morrison (Sr.)

6.5

Gold

Whitman Kosak (Jr.)

6.5

Gold

Adrian Montesino (Sr.)

6

Silver

Andre Dzwiniel (Fr.)

6

Silver

Andrew Coss (Jr.)

6

Silver

Andy Ordway (Sr.)

6

Silver

Andy Yuen (So.)

6

Silver

Arnav Karthikeyan (So.)

6

Silver

Beren Ozer (So.)

6

Silver

Caleb Valentino (Sr.)

6

Silver

David Yong (So.)

6

Silver

David Zappa (Sr.)

6

Silver

Emmett Lin (So.)

6

Silver

Ethan Tobias (So.)

6

Silver

Gavin Snopko (Jr.)

6

Silver

Hansen Du (So.)

6

Silver

Jacob Ang (Sr.)

6

Silver

Jacob Jensen (Sr.)

6

Silver

Jo Swan (So.)

6

Silver

Kayden Zhu (Jr.)

6

Silver

Konrad Kremper (Jr.)

6

Silver

Lazar Martic (So.)

6

Silver

Maddox Todd (Fr.)

6

Silver

Marc Ntumba-Mukadi (So.)

6

Silver

Michael Li (Fr.)

6

Silver

Neil Gani (Sr.)

6

Silver

Ray Sun (Jr.)

6

Silver

Ria Raj (So.)

6

Silver

Sadkrith Malladi (Jr.)

6

Silver

Shalen Chawla (Jr.)

6

Silver

Sohan Bendre (Sr.)

6

Silver

Sreekar Gangavarapu (So.)

6

Silver

Tugstumer Yesuntumur (Sr.)

6

Silver

Tyler Chen (Fr.)

6

Silver

Young Cha (Sr.)

6

Silver

Agastya Sapru (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Andrew Mazzio (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Anthony Tsyganov (Fr.)

5.5

Bronze

Asher Reedy (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Ayush Shah (Fr.)

5.5

Bronze

Bao Ta (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Brian Farkas (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Chase Brinkmann (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Christine Liu (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Cole Tupper (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Connor Osullivan (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Craven Andaya (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Daniel Arredondo (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Derek Wietelmann (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Dylan Zec (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Eduardo Mota (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Erik Garcia (Fr.)

5.5

Bronze

Ethan Montemayor (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Ethan Singerman (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Faris Pena (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Harrison Weinberger (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Iman Ansari (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Jack Drucker (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Jacob Plotnick (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Jake Wittman (Fr.)

5.5

Bronze

Jameson Tenopir (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Jamila Matovu (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Jerry Bauer (So.)

5.5

Bronze

John Waldo (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Jonathan Cheng (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Joshua Gravel (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Joshua Thorstenson (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Jovanni Juarez (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Junho Park (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Liam Whitecotton (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Madeline Green (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Matthew Erlec (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Max Lu (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Nolan Collins (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Pauline Yang (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Roman Kash (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Ryan Austin (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Sam Kemeny (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Sanad Abu Awad (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Seth Parent (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Soham Dongre (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

Taofeeq Amuda (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Vinay Sridhar (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Wentao Lin (So.)

5.5

Bronze

Wilbert Chu (Sr.)

5.5

Bronze

Yasin Kansu (Jr.)

5.5

Bronze

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2024 Kings and Queens (K-8) and High School CPS Championships

2024 Kings and Queens (K-8) and High School CPS Championships

Senn Park High School

January 20, 2024



The Kings and Queens tournament consisted of three sections – K-4, K-6, and K-8 – with almost 350 CPS players. The High School tournament consisted of two sections:  Junior Varsity and Varsity, which consisted of a combined 175 CPS high schoolers.

 

In the K-4 section, Edison–Blue finished with a perfect 4-0 for an uncontested first place. Three teams tied for second place with 3 points: Keller – Red, Decatur, and Edison – white.

 

Three players from the K-4 section won all 4 games: Natalie Huang from Decatur, Amay Sarupia from Edison – Blue, and Nurislam Ababakirov from Edison – Blue as well. A further three players finished with 3.5/4 points: Angel Salgado from Carson, Camilo Farinella from Edison – White, and Daniel Zheng from Keller – Blue.

 

In the K-6 section, Skinner North beat Pritzker to complete a perfect 4-0 for first place. Second place had a tie of three teams at 3 points, the teams were Lincoln, Edison – RGC, and Pritzker.

 

The K-6 had a remarkable seven players that went undefeated in all 4 games. They were Shrihaan Bathula from Decatur, Shane Thomas Veale and Ethan Villadiego playing for Edison – RGC, Esen Munkhtur and Vincent Yang from Lincoln, and Avida Biswas and Jonathan Cui from Skinner North.

 

Similarly, K-8 was an uncontested victory with a perfect 4-0 by Whitney Young – Gold who beat Lane Tech – AC. Five additional teams tied for second with 3 points: Lane Tech – AC, Decatur, Taft – AC, Bateman, and Keller.

 

The K-8 also had seven players who went undefeated: Gabriel Jael and Kalen Anderson from Bateman, Kyle Mak from Keller, Christopher Vele from Nobel – Blue, and Mason Qiao and Gene Tcheng from Whitney Young – Gold.

 

The High School JV section had one uncontested winner with 4 points: Whitney Young – Orange who beat Whitney Young – Blue during the final round. Four teams also tied for second place with 3 points; Whitney Young - Blue, Walter Payton, Brooks - Blue, and Englewood – STEM Red.

 

Four players from the JV section finished with a perfect record of 4-0. June Vincent Lee Mino from Lincoln Park High – Blue, Alexander Alvarez from Whitney Young – Blue, Chetan Cherukuri and Vincent Pan from Whitney Young – Orange. Additionally, David Zachary Zurawski finished with 3.5 points.

 

Similarly, in the High School Varsity Section, Walter Payton won with a perfect 4-0 after defeating Lane Tech in the final round. Three teams tied for second with three points: Whitney Young, Lane Tech, and Brooks.

 

In the Varsity section, six players had a perfect four wins: Avi Kaplan and Whitman Kosak from Lane Tech, Marco Baldwin from Lincoln Park, Sohan Anup Bendre from Walter Payton, and Dimitrios Deligiannia and Nithin Ramasamy from Whitney Young.

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2024 Illinois K-8 State Chess Championship

The 2024 Illinois K-8 Championship will be both a team and individual event held by Chess Weekend, Inc. with the Illinois Chess Association on March 8-10, 2024 in Schaumburg, IL. The main event will consist of four sections based on grade level – K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 – with seven rounds starting Saturday morning. Besides the main event, there will be numerous fun side events such as bughouse, blitz, and puzzle-solving contests. 

 

Over 200 trophies will be awarded on top of a commemorative medal or ribbon for all players. Additionally, a wonderful book and equipment vendor will be on site for all needs at the tournament. Though the tournament is an Illinois Championship, players from all states are welcome; but state championship titles go to Illinois players. Complete details of round times and entry fees can be found here.

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ICA Editor and Staff Writer Message

ICA Editor and Staff Writer  – receive any emails sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

My name is Jacob Plotnick and I am the new editor for ICA to write about their tournaments . As the editor and staff writer I will write articles for ICA tour events, state championships, and other larger tournaments. I will additionally take concerns of error into consideration and work to mend them ASAP. I can receive any such emails at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. My goal is to reply to any requests within 72 hours. 

 

I am currently a sophomore in high school and have been playing chess for almost seven years. Outside of chess, my main areas of study are math and engineering. Most recently, the de Rham cohomology, with hopes to pursue aerospace engineering in the future. 

 

If you notice any errors when reading one of my postings, please reach out at your soonest convenience. 

 

Jacob

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Tim Just Winter Open 2024

The Illinois Chess Association would like to congratulate Bill Buklis for successfully running the initial tournament of the 2024 year for the Illinois Chess Tour. The 40th annual Tim Just Winter Open was played from January 5th to January 7th and had six sections ranging from a U1300 to a Major section. There was a separate tournament on the 6th specifically for scholastic players with a further three sections. In total, the event had over 300 players.

 

Major

IM Sam Schmakel defeated Ankush Moolky in the final round to take outright first place. Tugstumur Yesuntumur drew Augusto Cesar Campos to tie for second place.

 

Click the image below to see the top games of round 5: 

U2100

Bryce McClanahan was the outright winner with 4.5/5 points. Artemii Khanbutaey, Steven Napoli, Aidan Baker and Andrey Dmitriev tied for second with a score of 4/5 points.

U1900

Aaron Anderson beat Aayush Thakker and Memanth Samayamantri beat Jack Drucker in their last matches to tie for first with 4.5/5

U1700

Carl John Gibson beat Carmelo S Napoli to finish as the  outright winner at 4.5/5. Carmelo ended with 4/5. Madison Lofts, Harrison Schilling and Nathaniel Bafia all joined Carmelo Carmelo in a four-way tie for second at 4/5.

U1500

There was a two-way tie for first between Kostandinos Skoufos and Alastar WIlliam Keely-Walker, both ended with 4.5/5.

U1300

Hector Guifarro won outright with a perfect 5/5. Hector beat Andy Barrientos who ended up in a five-way tie for second at 4/5.

Scholastic Under 1200

Owen Yang finished in first with an uncontested 5/5. Owen Beat Andy Yu who finished in a four-way tie for second at 4/5.

Scholastic Under 800

Silas Judge and Poojith Jada both won their final games to finish tied with 4.5/5.

Scholastic Under 500

There was another perfect 5/5 by Joshua Anderson. Joshua beat Joseph Zachary Taylow who finished in a four-way tie at 4/5.



The Illinois Chess Association would also like to recognize the following scholastic players for increasing their USCF rating by over 50 points:

Joahua Anderson (U500)

Calvin Rivas (U500)

Joseph Zachary Taylor (U500)

Pierce Kruse (U500)

Joel Jonathan Boodu (U500)

Silas Judge (U800)

Poojith Jada (U800)

Sairam Manimaran (U800)

Aidan Michael Cassidy (U800)

Jotin Samayamantri (U800)

Rogelio Jorge Diaz-Portales (U800)

Neeraj Movva (U800)

Aarav Varshney (U800)

Owen Yang (U1200)

Andy YU (U1200)

Saketh Viswanadha (U1200)

Dane Allen Cooper (U1200)

Kevin McAleenan (U1200)

Nilan Velu (U1200)

Anish Itagi (U1200)

Sahasvath Indla (U1200)

James Patrick Budd (U1200)



If you have any questions or comments, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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