Youth Chess News
Mardov Secures 3rd Grade National Championship at K-12's; Whitney Young Claims 10th Grade Team Championship
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a seventh-round draw, 3rd Grader Dimitar Mardov secured top honors for his grade at the K-12 Nationals ending December 18 in Nashville, TN.
Dimitar finished with 6.5/7, the same score as Luke Ye of Missouri. The two entered the competition with two of the three 1800+ ratings. Top-rated Brian Huang of California finished with 5.5, tied for 9th place. It appears Dimitar had the higher tiebreak over Ye, pending confirmation.
Fellow-Illinoisan Alex Zhao finished with 6.0, in a six-way tie for third place in the nation.
Akhil Kalghatgi Wins National K-12 Blitz; Whitney Young Teammates Stevens & Roman Win National Bughouse
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a little help from fellow Illinois competitor Jason Daniels, Akhil Kalghatgi is now the National K-12 Blitz Champion.
The Whitney Young sophomore won 11 out of his 12 games to win clear first. His brother Nikhil finished a point back tied for second place, third on tiebreaks.
Daniels, still in junior high, and Whitney Young's Matthew Stevens both finished with 9.5/12, tied for fourth, with Daniels taking fourth on tiebreaks and Stevens sixth place.
ICA, Mitkov, Vishnuvardhan, Daniels Deliver Tactical Training to 2016-2017 Classes of Warren Scholars and Rising Stars
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Thanks to the amazing organizational skills of Director Scott Daniels, Warren Junior Scholars and -- for the first time ever -- Rising Stars -- received more than 90 minutes of instruction on chess tactics December 11.
GM Nikola Mitkov and International Master Arjun Vishnuvardhan kept the promising students on their toes as they displayed challenging tactical puzzles via web-conferencing tools.
More than two dozen Scholars and approaching four dozen Stars participated and many expressed appreciation at the opportunity.
Layla Rodriguez Rules Sevan's Scholastic in Schaumburg
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With the lone perfect score in the first-ever Sevan's Scholastic, Layla Rodriguez was declared champion in the November 26 event.
The event was held to benefit the Muradian family in the wake of Sevan's passing in February of 2016. Mr. Muradian had been a tireless supporter of youth chess in Illinois.
With a fourth round victory over Sanjeev Devarajan, Layla wrapped up first place. Andrey Novikov and Margarita Tsyganova tied for second place with 3.5's, drawing head to head in the second round.
Junior Submission: An Account of The World Championships
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- Written by 8-year old Jacob Plotnik (with editor's notes by Bill Feldman) 8-year old Jacob Plotnik (with editor's notes by Bill Feldman)
The ICA -- and this website -- encourages the submission of articles to this space from our chess-playing community.
Earlier this year the ICA site was named the top website in the country out of all state affiliates. Unofficial calculations indicate our viewers enjoyed three times as many articles in 2015-2016 as the runner up (two-time defending winner Maine).
Nonetheless, we can do better. We would love more submissions from clubs and affiliates and also from coaches regarding their students and their progress.