Youth News
2024 ICA Youth Invitational
- Details
- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter
- Published: 19 June 2024 19 June 2024
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 |
Mex Chess Champ, Age 12, Seeks Help to Compete in World Contest
- Details
- Written by Hector R. Hernandez Hector R. Hernandez
- Published: 14 September 2023 14 September 2023
Levi Kalani Fogo Esquivel, who hails from Tulum in Quintana Roo, is Mexico’s National Chess Champion in the Under-12 category. He earned a gold and two silver medals at the CONADE Games. (CONADE: Comisión Nacional de Cultura Física y Deporte.)
He also finished in first place in Las Vegas at the International Youth Championship as well as first in the Illinois Open Championship-Reserve Section. At the Illinois Open Blitz tournament, 3-minute games, he finished in second place in a group of twenty-six players. There he had two wins, and two losses, against two local Masters. Only George Li, an International Master, finished ahead of Kalani.
At the World Open tournaments in Philadelphia, he had outstanding performances which earned him some prizes.
Summer Chess Camps at St. Ignatius and De La Salle
- Details
- Written by Hector R. Hernandez Hector R. Hernandez
- Published: 17 August 2023 17 August 2023
Summer Chess Camps were recently held at St. Ignatius College Prep and De La Salle Institute.
Nineteen students participated in the St. Ignatius program, including four incoming freshmen. A tournament was held at the end of the week to measure improvement made by the students. The top five players were: Dominic Millar, Gavin Sexton, Miguel Haro, Aarav Rajput and Logan Lin, first through fifth places respectively. Trophies were also earned by the top player in each grade, fifth through ninth. Medals were awarded to players not earning a trophy.
Announcement of Representatives for ICA to Special Tournaments
- Details
- Written by Larry Cohen Larry Cohen
- Published: 30 May 2023 30 May 2023
The weekend of May 19 to May 21, the usual qualifying tournaments were held to determine the Illinois representatives to the Denker, the Haring, the Barber, the Rockefeller, and the Irwin. Below is the full list of the representatives for each tournament.
Denker: Rohit Guha [4.5 of 5 score]
Haring: Anisha Oberai [4 of 5 score]
Barber: Anjaneya Rao [4 of 5 score]
Rockefeller: Sachit Rajkumar [4 of 5 score]
Irwin: Angel Angelov [3.5 of 4 score]
Polgar: Natalie Wisniowski and Shakira Luster [chosen based on rating]
Aditya Gupta - Illinois Student Receives Prestigious US Chess Scholar Award
- Details
- Written by Eric Luster Eric Luster
- Published: 18 April 2023 18 April 2023
Aditya Gupta, a high school junior at William Fremd High School, in Palatine, Illinois, was recently awarded the "2023 Scholar-Chess Award" on April 2, 2023, one of the most coveted awards for chess players in the United States. This award is given to the top 5 chess players in the nation to recognize the most outstanding students based on chess, academics, leadership, and sportsmanship by the US Chess Federation.
This achievement is particularly noteworthy because in the long history of the award he is only the second player from the state of Illinois to win, and the first in the last 6 years. It is quite an achievement for the state of Illinois to have a US Chess Scholar recipient. His accomplishment is a testament to his hard work, dedication, and passion for chess.