Illinois Wins Combined Denker, Barber, Nat'l Girls Invitational Top State Distinction; George Li Is 2017 Denker Co-Champion

 

DBG17It took significant contributions from all three of Illinois' representatives as the state posted the top combined score at the 2017 Denker, Barber and National Girls Invitationals completed August 2 in Virginia.

George Li drew Praveen Balakrishan in the final round with both players winding up in a four-way tie for the championship with 5.0/6.

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Trio of Turgut and Two Li's Hold Top Combined State Score at Denker, Barber and Girls in Virginia; Li Is Co-Leader in Barber While Turgut Tied for High Score in Denker After Round 5 of 6

 

Heading into the sixth and final round of the 2017 Denker, Barber and National Girls Invitationals, Illinois holds a point-and-a-half lead in the combined state score designation.

George Li (4.5), Aydin Turgut (4.0) and Marissa Li (3.5) have combined for 12.0 ahead of three states with 10.5 tallies.

Southern California, Michigan and Washington state all have 10.5's while five states have 10.0 totals: Texas, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia.

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Seven Illinois Youth Among 112 Selected By US Chess For September World Youth Competitions In South America

 

Seven Illinois juniors -- four male, three female -- have been named as eligible to participate in the World Youth competition as part of the American delegation.

The 2017 competition will be held in Uruguay in September. US Chess details are here.

Aydin Turgut and David Peng qualified in the U14 Boys, Jacob Furfine in the U16 Boys and George Li in U18 Boys.

Shreya Mangalam and Aria Hoesley were named as part of the U14 Girls squad and Marissa Li earned a spot in the U16 Girls.

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Aria Hoesley Assures Land of Lincoln is Well-Represented at 2017 Polgar Girls Invitational; Perfect 20-for-20 in Puzzles

 

A lot of factors went into the selection of Aria Hoesley as Illinois' selection to the 2017 Susan Polgar Foundation Girls Invitational completed July 27 at Webster University in St. Louis.

The Chicago player -- and World Youth qualifier -- was not the highest-rated qualified female from Illinois but she had scored very well at the Illinois Youth Invitational held earlier in the year. That event wound up qualifying Marissa Li as the Illinois representative to the National All-Girls beginning this weekend in Virginia.

Ultimately, Illinois could not have asked for better representation at the Polgar event as Aria finished 4.0/6 -- including a perfect 3.0/3 score as white. 

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Wisniowski Places In Top 5 at North American U12 Girls

 

WCM Natalie Wisniowski of Chicago has placed in the top five at the 2017 North American Youth Open in New Jersey. Ms. Wisniowski compiled a 5.5/9 score in the Under 12 section, closing out with three straight wins.

The lone Illinois entrant in the event drew the eventual champion, Annapoorni Meiyappan, in the first round, and wound up with four wins and three draws out of nine rounds.

Ms. Wisniowski earned her Women's Candidate Master title from FIDE after participating in the 2016 event in Canada.

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