Youth Chess News
Four Experts in the February Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Congratulations to Whitney Young freshman Aria Hoesley who made expert with her outstanding performance at the Tim Just Winter Open! The other three girls from Illinois with a USCF rating above 2000 are Shreya Mangalam (rated 2137), Marissa Li (rated 2061), and Miranda Liu (rated 2020).
There were big rating increases in the lower age categories. Just to name a few:
- 6-year old Olivia Lee went from a rating of 486 (rank 92) to 621 (rank 60).
- Mehak Jiandani increased her rating by 217 points to a new high of 827.
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50 Girls from IL in January 2019 Top 100 Lists
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The new set of lists published by US Chess features exactly 50 female players from the State of Lincoln, ranging from a rating of 486 by 6-year old Olivia Lee to 2137 by 15-year old expert Shreya Mangalam.
Three girls—Ankaa Gantulga, Anujin Namuunbayar and Stella Pashyan—had temporarily dropped off the lists but have recently improved substantially to make the cut again.
Sixth-grader Shakira Luster from St. Ethelreda in Chicago made her first appearance on the list. Well done, Shakira!
December 2018 Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Let me start out by wishing Chaitra Madugula (7), Josephine Swan (11), and Emma Wang (18) - the three girls who have moved up to the next age group and stayed in the Top 100 - a happy belated birthday.
The biggest improvements over last month were achieved by seven-year old Amaira Mittal, who was ranked 87th in the country and now is in 42nd place, and thirteen-year old Sarah Lin, who jumped from her ranking of 44 to 32 (and will climb even higher next month!).
Whitney Young Earns Another National Championship; IL Garners 14 Individual Awards at 2018 K-12's in Orlando
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- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Chicago's Whitney Young High School has claimed yet another national championship, collecting the 12th Grade team championship at the 2018 National K-12 Grade Championships completed December 16 in Orlando, FL. Lead by co-champion Nikhil Kalghatgi's 6.0 and twin brother Akhil's 5.5, WY posted 15.5, two and a half more than each of the three schools who tied for second place.
Secundino Vazquez, Ricky Roman and Robert Bitunjac all posted 4.0's, one of which counted toward the WY team score. On tiebreaks Nikhil earned the second place individual trophy while Akhil garnered third place hardware. Secundino had the highest tiebreak of players rated 1200 to 1399 in the section while Robert took home third place for that ratings cluster.
November 2018 Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The new Top 100 lists are out and again Illinois’ highest achievers are our three female experts – Shreya Mangalam, Miranda Liu, and Marissa Li – occupying ranks 5, 6 and 9, respectively, for their age groups. Closely behind is 1959-rated Aria Hoesley, the 10th best 14-year girl in the country, and four other Class A players: Ashley Yan, Emma Wang, Natalie Wisniowski and Shayna Provine.
Eight-year old Fox Valley Chess Club member Nandini Prakash has moved up to rank 5 in the country with a new personal best of 1554. Both Nandini (from Naperville) and aforementioned WCM Natalie (from Chicago) represented the U.S. in the World Cadet Championship in Spain earlier this month (cf. the separate ICA article).