Youth News
2014 IESA Championship Kicks Off Friday At ISU
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 27 February 2014 27 February 2014
Approximately 375 players representing more than 40 teams are expected to compete this weekend at the 4th IESA Chess Championships. The matches will not be rated by the USCF but will feature many players who are no stranger to USCF competition.
For the second consecutive year, the Bone Student Center on the campus of Illinois State University will serve as the host site.
The seven-round tournament featuring two sections, designated for 7th and 8th graders, will take place February 28 and March 1. Younger students who are expected to attend a particular school in the future are allowed to compete for that school.
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 -- January 2014
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 27 February 2014 27 February 2014
For the first time since David Peng enjoyed a short spell atop the official ratings, Illinois has a top-rated player in the US.
As previously reported in the Greater Midwest Class write-up, Aydin Turgut is now the highest-rated nine year old in the country!
Aydin earned expert status with a 2063 rating, doing well at the Greater Midwest event as well as earning a share of the championship at Decatur's Anderson Memorial in early December. At the latter event, Aydin shared top honors with Springfield's Tianlu Peng and Bloomington area's Pete Karagianis.
2014 IHSA Finals Team Results
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 21 February 2014 21 February 2014
For the second year in a row, Chicago's Whitney Young has claimed the IHSA state chess championship. Young won all seven rounds, closing out the tournament with a 48.5-19.5 drubbing of previously-undefeated Hinsdale Central.
The Hinsdale squad was one of seven teams to finish at 6.0/7, essentially tying for second place. On tiebreaks, Benet Academy of Lisle won official second place honors, Hinsdale took third, with University Lab School of Urbana claiming fourth. Whitney Young managed to defeat all three schools in the fourth, seventh and sixth rounds respectively.
Young also gave Niles North its only black mark of the two-day tournament, defeating the Skokie high school 58-10 in the second round. Niles North placed eighth on tiebreaks in the 6.0/7 group.
Philanthropist Joins Coalition for CPS Chess Reform, Calls for New Nonprofit
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- Published: 09 February 2014 09 February 2014
Ted Oppenheimer, the president of the Oppenheimer Family Foundation and a major contributor to CPS, has joined those calling for a new chess program in the city's schools.
In a letter sent by email on January 23rd to David Vitale, the President of the Board of Education, Oppenheimer offered to help set up a new nonprofit which would work in a partnership with CPS to spearhead a new program. The letter was co-signed by Jerry Neugarten, who heads ICA's Youth Committee. ICA has been advocating a new program for Chicago for four years.
The Oppenheimer Family Foundation, founded in 1933, has been giving grants to Chicago Public School teachers for the past 37 years through its Teacher Incentive Grant (TIG) program. The Foundation has also supported chess programs in a half dozen CPS elementary schools.
Top 100 Youth -- December 2013
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
- Published: 20 January 2014 20 January 2014
A few new names have entered the top 100 lists this month while we bid farewell to Adarsh Jayakumar whose 19th birthday meant the end of his reign as the top-ranked youth among Illinois registrants.
Since New Year's 2013, Adarsh played in events in India, Iceland, Hungary and Canada, in addition to the US. He competed in the 2013 Chicago Open, along with tournaments in Nevada, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, briefly surpassing the 2400-mark after playing the Philadelphia Open in March.