Youth News

Champaign-Urbana Sunday Chess Challenge A Success!

Details: Written by ICA Staff ICA Staff; Published: 20 February 2018 20 February 2018

40 seats were available. And 40 young chess players rose to the occasion of the Sunday Chess Challenge, held on back to back weekends (2/11 & 2/18) at the Champaign Public Library: 4 rounds, accelerated Swiss, g/30/ d/5. Of the 40 players, K-8, 23 were USCF newcomers, flexing their rated chess muscles for the first time. Welcome brave souls and kudos to all! Here’s how it played:

Rated: 1^st Pl Anthony Yang (4.0); 2^nd Pl Navid Tajhorshid. Six players tied for 3^rd Pl, each scoring 3.0: Joseph Torrellas, Jeffrey Yao, Kaylee Zheng, Jonah Singer, Dhiya Gopalakrishnan Sasikala, and Jonathan Ouyang.

Unrated: 1^st Pl Yao Chang (2.5). Eight players tied for 2-3 Pl, each scoring 2.0: Samuel Balogh, Jiwoo Kim, Tianyou Liu, Arya Thirodira, Alyssa Stevens, Raymond Zhang, Sohum Gurrapu, and Marshall-Flynn Mitchell.

Record Number of Girls Featured in Top 100 Lists

Details: Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison; Published: 20 February 2018 20 February 2018

With a total of 50 girls, Illinois has a record number of female players in the top 100 lists compiled by US Chess. Thirty-six of the players have a rating above 1000 and three—Experts Marissa, Shreya and Miranda—are rated above 2000.

Nandini Prakash and Sukhi Doddi continue to rise up the ranks, with the seven-year olds now in 5^th place and 55^th place, respectively. This month, Illinois has 6 girls appearing in the Top 100 Age 7. Welcome back, Hili Bareket!

Our group of 8-year olds is headed up by Linda Pham. Linda’s rank at #24 this month does not yet include her good performance at the Jane Addams Memorial and CCC Plus-Score tournaments.

January 2018 US Top 100 Lists For Girls

Details: Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison; Published: 22 January 2018 22 January 2018

With the latest addition of Ankaa Gantulga and Bolor Sarah Lkhavgajav, Illinois now boasts 48 girls in the top 100 lists compiled by US Chess, with twelve young ladies featured in the top 20.

Nandine Prakash leads the 'Age 7' group with a solid 1156 rating (#9) followed by Sukhi Doddi, who also gained points over last month.

Linda Pham moved her rating back into the 4-digit territory with a string of good tournaments.

2018 Illinois Invitational State Qualifier Tournament Dates Announced

Details: Written by Cindy Whited Cindy Whited; Published: 07 January 2018 07 January 2018

The 2018 Illinois Invitational State Qualifier tournament will be held May 5-6, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency in Schaumburg.

This tournament determines which scholastic players will represent Illinois in the Barber, Denker, and National Girls’ Invitational Tournaments and SPF Girls’ Invitational Tournament.

Invitations will be sent out in early February. As specified in the guidelines, invitation to this tournament is based on USCF rating from the January supplement. Players who are currently in the Warren Junior Scholar or Rising Stars programs will automatically be considered. Other players who are not currently in these programs who want to should be considered should email name, grade, gender and USCF number to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than January 31, 2018. All players must be current residents of Illinois.

December 2017 US Top 100 Lists For Girls

Details: Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison; Published: 21 December 2017 21 December 2017

Forty-seven Illinois girls have managed to earn spots on the most recent top 100 lists compiled by US Chess, which include the results of the 2017 Illinois All Grade in Peoria last month.

Almost all of the girls in the 'Age 7 and Under' group improved their ratings over the previous month. A big shout-out to newcomer Mehak Jiandani, who is 6 years old and ranks in 86^th place nationwide after only a dozen tournaments.