Youth Chess News
Illinois Juniors Amass Hardware Arsenal at Ice Harbor
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Competing in five rated sections, Illinois players brought home an impressive array of trophies from the 4th Ice Harbor Scholastic held May 13-15 in Dubuque, Iowa at the Grand Harbor Resort.
In the K-12 Open section St. Charles East's Ryan Chimienti and Naperville North's Richard Zhang both posted 4.0/5's to tie for second place. Ryan gave section champion Abhy Shukla his lone blemish with a fifth round draw. Richard overcame an opening match loss, posting four subsequent wins. 46 players competed in the section. On tiebreaks, Ryan collected 4th place hardware while Richard was awarded fifth.
Li, Do, and Liu Earn Tickets to Indy: Denker, Barber and Girls
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Coming from behind is not something IMSA's George Li has to do often.
George drew Daniel Bronfeyn in the opening match of the Illinois Denker Invitational before finishing strong with four victories.
His 4.5 tally placed the highest-rated high school invitee in clear first place, earning him a spot in the prestigious national Denker competition late this summer in Indianapolis.
ICA Selects Bloomington Normal to Host 2017 K-8 Event; 2016-2017 Scholastic Year Calendar Shaping Up
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
After an exhaustive examination of alternatives, the Illinois Chess Association has accepted a bid from the Bloomington Normal Area Scholastic Chess (BNASC) to host the Illinois K-8 championship for the 2016-2017 school year.
BNASC President Amy Green expressed pride in the decision to offer the hosting rights to her organization. She indicates the competitive dates for the events itself will be Saturday and Sunday, March 11-12, with wild-and-crazy Bughouse (two-person teams) and faster-than-the-speed-of-light Blitz on that Friday.
8 Illinois Juniors Within Top 10 on Ties at '16 Elementary Nationals; Avery Coonley School Earns Three Team Trophies
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
The beauty of a Swiss-paired chess tournament is that after a few rounds, players start to compete against others of a similar level. And when that happens, draws become more likely.
In the K-6 Championship section of the 2016 US Elementary Nationals, a pair of late draws deprived Aydin Turgut from top honors after five straight wins out of the gate.
Finishing in a six-way tie for second with 6.0/7, the Decatur-area 6th grader took home third place hardware on tiebreaks.
Chicago's Aria Hoesley (coincidentally from Decatur School) finished strong with three straight triumphs to join the 6.0-score group, taking sixth place hardware on tiebreaks.
Dimitar Mardov Wins K-3 Blitz at 2016 National Elementary; Aydin Turgut Is Runner Up in K-6 Blitz, 5th in Bughouse
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Illinois 7-year old Dimitar Mardov has won another national title -- this time prevailing as the K-3 Blitz Champion at the US Chess National Elementary Championships in Nashville, TN. The competition was held at the Opryland Resort on May 5.
This was Dimitar's very first rated blitz event -- and he was a late registrant who needed to coax his way into the competition!
Dimitar was the only competitor with a perfect 10 out of 10 heading into the final match. With two draws against Alexander Rutten of Georgia, Dimitar cemented the championship with 11.0 points.