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2024 Kings and Queens (K-8) and High School CPS Championships
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter
- Created: 08 February 2024 08 February 2024
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.
Tim Just Winter Open 2024
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Staff Writer Jacob Plotnick - Staff Writer
- Created: 10 January 2024 10 January 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.
FIDE officials to visit Chicago
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- Written by Dr. Mikhail Korenman Dr. Mikhail Korenman
- Created: 04 May 2023 04 May 2023
On May 17-20, 2023, the Cook County Sheriff's Office and the International Chess Federation FIDE will co-host the first international Chess for Freedom conference (Chess in Prisons Project). Participants from around the world are planning to attend the conference to support the rapidly growing Chess for Freedom movement. More information about the program can be found at https://chessforfreedom.fide.com.
Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, and GM Victor Bologan, FIDE Executive Director, will be among the many conference participants. In October 2023, 85 teams from 46 countries participated in the 2nd Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners.
Chicago Chess Conference
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- Written by Hector R. Hernandez Hector R. Hernandez
- Created: 01 September 2022 01 September 2022
The conference brings together Chicago area private high schools, primarily Catholic schools. The purpose of the conference is to promote chess in Chicago area high schools and to provide match play for teams of member schools. Our member schools are Brother Rice, De La Salle Institute, DePaul College Prep, Latin, Leo, Marist, Mt. Carmel, St. Ignatius, St. Patrick, and St. Rita.
Each school fields a team of eight boards, consisting of the top players ranked by playing strength. Additionally, up to four alternate players are allowed to compete. At the end of the season, trophies are awarded to the best twenty-five players, tournament winners, and the top teams in the conference.
Our playing schedule for the season starts in early October with a blitz kick-off tournament. The following week, all teams start holding their scheduled matches. Half of our matches are played at home and half are away contests. We play our matches in Foglia Library, an ideal location, and a beautiful setting for intellectual pursuits.
In Memoriam: Jerry Neugarten
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- Written by ICA Board ICA Board
- Created: 10 August 2022 10 August 2022
Jerry Neugarten passed away peacefully at home on Monday. His wife Betsy was at his side.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish can make a donation in Jerry's honor to the US Chess Federation: https://new.uschess.org/give. As you know, he had a long-term passion for teaching chess to kids.
You may have seen Jerry's obituary here and a condensed version in the Chicago Tribune.