Youth Chess News
11-year old Sophia Zhao progressing fast
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
I will keep this report short and will highlight only three players whose rating changes were very impressive:
Last month, 7-year old Olivia Lee was ranked #80 among girls of her age in the US with a rating of 610. She gained over 100 rating points and her new rank is 48.
Angela Hu, 8 years old, shot up from 818 to 972 and improved her nationwide ranking from 57 to 35.
Sophia Ziyan Zhao has been steadily making progress since she played her first tournament a year ago. The 11-year old reached a rating of 1000 in April, 1200 in June, 1300 in July and 1400 in August, after beating two 1500s at the CCC Plus Score #45. The current US Chess Top 100 Lists have her sitting at 1317 (rank 51) on the cut-off date, up from 1206 (rank 71) last month.
Natalie Wisniowski now above 1900
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The Chicago Open in May was a great tournament for many of our female junior players including WCM Natalie Wisniowski of Chicago, who achieved a personal best by entering 1900 territory for the first time. All of our other 13-year olds also boosted their ratings over last month: Sruthi Bharath Kumar (from 1615 to 1636), Stella Pashyan (from 1343 to 1437), and Shakira Luster (from 1107 to 1278 – a whopping 171 points!).
Twelve-year old Saanvi Adusumalli playing in the U1900 section gained a solid 100 points, climbing from rank 54 to rank 38. A big shoutout also to Michelle Pankov, who was a prizewinner in the U1000 section.
Illinois Girls Continue to Improve
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
US Chess has compiled the most recent Top 100 lists for girls (with a cutoff date of May 15) and the results of female players from Illinois can be found below.
Two girls stood out this month with noteworthy performances: Mehak Jiandani, age 7, who increased her rating from 803 to 939 and climbed 14 ranks to reach a spot in the top 20 nationwide. The second one is 8-year old Angela Hu, who went from rank 79 to rank 50 in the country with a USCF rating gain of 165 points. Congratulations to both!
Others who crossed a major ratings milestone for the first time include Nandini Prakash (now a 1700 player) and Ria Raj (achieving a 1600 rating)—both of whom, like Mehak, are members of the Fox Valley Chess Club—as well as Whitney Young student Maggie Tsyganova, likewise a 1600 player now.
Stellar Performance for May 2019 Top 100
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Congratulations to the 50 girls from Illinois, who are in the top 100 for their age group this month, including our first-timer Angela Hu.
Four girls started the month with ratings in the 1200s and have now crossed to the 1300s: Saanvi Adusumalli and Sophie Hong (11), Stella Pashyan (13) after having an excellent performance at the All-Girls Championship, and Lizzy Brahin (15), who gained almost 100 rating points at the Hales Corners Challenge.
Our 10-year-olds Ria, Egshiglen, Siri and Enkhjin climbed a combined 69 ranks (or 325 USCF rating points) over last month, even topping the group of 11-year-olds, which continues to hold our largest number of female players, namely 7.
April 2019 Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The new lists reflect the rating changes after the 2019 National High School Championship, where many of our top-rated girls - Miranda Liu, Aria Hoesley, Shreya Mangalam, Marissa Li, Nandini Prakash and others - performed well.
Several female players from Illinois had such a good tournament that they crossed a major threshold for the first time:
- Ashley Mei Yan entered 1900 territory, her new rating putting her in the top-10 nationwide for her age group.
- Anisha Oberai gained more than 100 points bringing her rating well above 1400.
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