Youth News
Illinois Juniors Score at Cincinnati Open
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 03 April 2016 03 April 2016
Although Ohio US Chess Master Yuri Barnakov was the ultimate winner at the 2016 Cincinnati Open, several Illinois players had strong showings at the five-round, two-day event concluded April 3.
Max Zinski posted a 2.5/5 in the Open section finishing in a three-way tie for fifth place.
Marissa Li and Peter Zheng both posted 3.0's in the Under 2100 section, tying for fourth place.
Peter raised his rating 47 points above 1800 once again. He drew a US Chess Expert from Michigan in the second round after defeating Marissa in the opening match.
Kalghatgi Twins Win 2016 National Bughouse Championship, Illinois High Schools Win Four of Top 12 Team Blitz Trophies
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 03 April 2016 03 April 2016
Whitney Young freshmen Akhil and Nikhil Kalghatgi have claimed the Bughouse Championship at the 2016 High School Nationals in Atlanta. The US Chess Experts finished in a three-way tie with 9.0 points but had the top tiebreak to claim the first place trophy.
The Arizona team of Kahl and Twitchell actually had better tiebreak numbers on three of the tiebreak formulas... but the Illinois twins had a one-point higher Modified Median, which was the first factor considered.
Kahl-Twitchell earned second place and Minnesotans Wahl-Tang, whom the Kalghatgi's split with in the second of five rounds, will be bringing home third place trophies.
John Bielobradek Wins April 1 Event at Lozano Branch
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 02 April 2016 02 April 2016
With three hundred thousand-plus Chicago school children left teacherless due to a one-day strike, the Lozano Branch of the Chicago Public Library opened its doors for a free chess tournament April 1.
38 juniors participated in the five-round event, but the awards were largely a family affair with three families taking home eight of the ten medals!
John Bielobradek posted the lone perfect 5.0/5 score to win first place.
IL Pre-schooler Wins National High School Blitz (April Fools)
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- Written by AFD Reporter AFD Reporter
- Published: 01 April 2016 01 April 2016
Illinois pre-schooler Evan "Rain" Dumas, a relative newcomer to chess, has won the National High School Blitz Championship in Atlanta, defeating players more than four times his age.
Playing exotic openings like the Sokolsky, the Grob, the Hippopotamus Defense and the Basman Counterattack, Evan won 11 of his twelve games while accepting a draw offer in the twelfth game. That match against the top-rated player in the event, a high school senior from New York city, secured the championship.
The four year old has only been playing chess about nine months and had never entered a formal tournament before. After learning the basics from his parents, Evan has been secretly taking lessons from three of Illinois' resident Grandmasters.
Five Illinois Teams Heading to Atlanta K-12 Nationals
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 30 March 2016 30 March 2016
Five teams and ten other Illinois students are heading to the 2016 US Chess K-12 Nationals beginning Friday in Atlanta, GA.
Naperville North High School has entered 19 players in multiple sections. Coach Jeff DiOrio says he was "nervous about the logistics of the trip, but excited about the tournament." Taking that many high school players on a plane can be "an adventure". But this is not Coach DiOrio's first rodeo: "Once we get there, I will relax."
DiOrio says the trip is both a reward for the efforts of the season which has preceeded this as well as preparation for the following year.