Youth Chess News
Chicago Poised to Shine at Illinois All-Grade
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Whitney Young High School, the prestigious Chicago public high school that boasts First Lady Michelle Obama and Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski among its many notable alumni, is set to host the 2010 Illinois All-Grade Championship on November 13th, 2010. The three organizers are Chess Education Partners, with a wealth of big tournament experience; Whitney Young, one of the state's top high school chess programs; and the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago, a leader in organizing free scholastic tournaments. They have pulled out all the stops to ensure a successful tournament with some unique features.
2011 Denker Qualifier Information
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The llinois Denker High School Qualifier is an invitational tournament for the state's top high school players sponsored by the ICA Warren Junior Scholar program. The winner of the qualifier is becomes the state's high school champion, and goes on to represent Illinois at the U.S. Denker High School Tournament of champions, to be held in Orlando from July 30 to August 2.
Date: Saturday, March 26 to Monday, March 28
Location: North Shore Chess Center, 5500 W. Touhy Avenue, Skokie, IL
Format: Round robin or 5-round swiss, depending on number of players*
Time Control: G90 plus 30-second increment
Tournament Organizer/Director: North American Chess Association/Sevan Muradian
How Players are Chosen: All eligible players who achieved a peak rating of 2000 or more from games played between Feb. 1, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011 will be invited. The top-scoring player in the ICCA individual championship tournament, to be held Feb. 5, 2011, who would not have otherwise have been invited will also receive an invitation. If fewer than six players accept their invitations, alternates will be invited in order of peak rating.
Warren Scholars and Chicago Industrial Chess League Summer Match
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Twelve Warren Scholars and twelve members of the Chicago Industrial Chess League braved flooded roads and horrendous traffic Saturday, July 24 to play a match at the Wheaton Public Library. Each Warren Scholar played one G90 game with a higher-rated CICL member, with an average rating difference of 143 points per board. Despite being outrated, the Warren Scholars came pretty close to snagging the match, winding up with 5.5 points to the CICL's 6.5 points.
GM Mesgen Amanov was on hand to provide game analysis afterwards, aided by Warren Scholar NM Eric Rosen, and CICL NM Steven Tennant (who also played Board 1 for CICL).
Impressions from Turkey: World School Individual Chess Championships
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The 2010 World School Individual Chess Championships has been underway for the past 3 days in the beautiful city of Kayseri, Turkey. At this well executed event (more on this later), I have been fulfilling the role of Deputy Chief Arbiter for the Girls U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, and U17 sections. I was invited to this event back in May by the President of the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF), Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici, who is also running a campaign for the post of European Chess Federation President.
Eric Rosen Takes on the Best at the US Junior Closed - IM Sam Shankland takes Title in Tiebreaker
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Despite being the lowest rated player in the event Eric proved that a low rating doesn't mean you will do badly in a tournament. As Bobby Fischer always said: "Play the board not the man."
The tournament was played over 9 rounds. Eric scored 3 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses to end with 4.5/9 tied for 5th place out of the 10 players.