Youth Chess News
7 High Schools Undefeated Heading Into IHSA Finals Day 2
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With four rounds under their belts, seven Northern Illinois squads remain undefeated at the 2015 IHSA Finals in Peoria. A record 146 8-person teams have entered the competition (with up to 4 alternates allowed per squad).
Lincolnshire's Stevenson High School holds the top tiebreak after trouncing Fremd High School (Palatine) 68-0 in round four. Freshmen are playing their first three boards, with Alex Bian, James Wei and Conrad Oberhaus all posting perfect 4-0's so far.
Junior Allen Guo, Senior Philip Engstrom, Sophomore Rahul Dhiman and Sophomore Adit Ghosh are all perfect at boards four through seven. Stevenson's lone blemish was a third round loss on board eight.
Also in round four, New Trier (Winnetka) upended IMSA (Aurora) 51-17.
Ranchero, McMurtrie, Szal Atop Wheaton Christian Scholastic, Gran and Richards Win Junior High Section, 158 Compete
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
A field of 158 faced off in the Wheaton Christian Grammar Scholastic February 7.
In the 37-player Junior High section Brenden Gran and William Richards both posted perfect 4.0 scores.
William Cahill took third place with a second-round draw against Elizabeth Peterson and three wins. He enhanced his USCF rating 72 points, surpassing 1000 for the first time. William had won the K-1 section in the 2014 edition of the tournament, playing up three sections this year.
A six-pack tied for fourth place in the top section including Joshua Dean, Nathan Salahi, Jack Tegart, Sarah Grandy, Simon Evans and Matthew Nickel.
Zhen Mo, Hinsdale Central Prevail at West Suburban Tourney
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
In contrast to many other conference tournaments held January 31 as board-based events, the West Suburban Conference was held as an individual tournament with team tallies for the top eight scores.
88 entrants from nine schools competed. Players were not paired against teammates; all teams entered at least nine with Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South both entering the most with 14.
When the dust settled Hindsadale Central's Zhen Mo posted the lone perfect score with five wins. He secured his championship with a fifth round victory over Downer Grove South's Bashkim Useni.
Three players were a half-point back at 4.5 including Downers Grove North's Ben Cortez, Glenbard West's Giorgi Vanderway and Oak Park-River Forest's Conrad Manaugh.
Minkee Lee, Neuqua Valley Undefeated in Upstate 8 Tourney
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
With a solid 44.0-24.0 defeat of Waubonsie Valley in the final round, Naperville-based Neuqua Valley was declared champions of Upstate Eight conference tournament. Neuqua Valley finished the January 31 tournament 4-0.
On tiebreaks, Waubonsie Valley took third place with Metea Valley placing second, both with 3.0 scores.
Elgin High School and St. Charles (East) also scored 3.0/4, placing fourth and fifth respectively. 14 teams competed in the tournament.
First Board Minkee Lee of Nequa Valley was perfect in four matches as was teammmate Ricky Rolbiecki on Board 4. Neuqua Valley's Logan Mazurek had the top score among Fifth Boarders with a 3.5/4 score with three wins and a third round draw.
Orland Park's Sandburg High School Tops SWSC
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Sandburg High School managed to win all four of its team matches to claim the Southwest Suburban Conference end-of-season tournament championship in competition conducted January 31.
Tying for second with 3.0/4 scores was Homewood-Flossmoor, Lincoln-Way North (Frankfort) and Joliet West, with H-F taking second on the higher tiebreaks.
Heading into the final round, Sandburg and North were the undefeated teams, with the Orland Park squad upending the Frankfort school 43.5-24.5 with wins from Joshua Kolodziejczyk (Board 1), Jacob Colby (Board 5), Sebastian Kwiatek (Board 6), Erik Herold (Board 7) and Chase Fortin (Board 8). Sandburg's Boards 5 through 8 all won top honors in the conference event.
The SWSC includes 14 schools.