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2008 Warren Junior Scholar Program Year in Review:

It’s been a busy year for the Warren Program. In March, 33 students were named Warren Scholars, a record since the ICA took over the program three years ago. To attain this honor, students had to be ranked in the top 35 in the nation of chess players for their age--an impressive accomplishment.

We also undertook our first concerted fundraising effort in three years, and generated about $4,000 in donations. This enabled us to run several group programs, to provide subsidies for private instruction to students with financial need, and to fund the prizes for the Illinois High School Denker qualifier.

2008 Highlights:

February: Five Warren Scholars play in a Warren Program adult/youth challenge against five highly rated adult players at the Skokie Public Library.   Photographs

 

Ilan Meerovich (L)
Ilan Meerovich (L)

March: Warren Scholars attending the K-8 state championships receive plaques acknowledging their achievement. Ten high school players compete in the Illinois Denker qualifier. Niles North junior Ilan Meerovich wins first place, earning him the right to represent the state at the U.S. High School Denker championship in Dallas.   Photographs

 

April: Thirteen Warren Scholars in grades K-6 attend a special group seminar with GM Dmitry Gurevich and his friend GM Alex Shabalov, who was visiting from out of town, to help prepare for the K-6 national championship in a couple of weeks later in Pittsburgh. Photographs

July: For the third year in a row, Warren Scholars spend a day at the Taste of Chicago festival, offering chess play and instruction to festival visitors. Photographs

A team of Warren scholars plays in a match against chess players from the Chicago Industrial Chess League. GM Dmitry Gurevich and IM Mesgen Amanov provide onsite game analysis for all players. Games from the event can be found in the August 2008 CICL bulletin:

December: To cap off the year, GM Gurevich and his friend GM Alex Yermolinsky will conduct a group seminar for Warren Scholars this Sunday.

Year-round: Special thanks to the instructors who have provided individual lessons to some of our Warren Scholars: Tamara Golovey, Dmitry Gurevich, Yury Shulman, and Jan van der Mortel. Also, thanks to the many adult players who participated in our adult/youth challenge and in the CICL match: Leonid Bondar, Bill Brock, Marty Franek, David Franklin, Tom Friske, Vincent Hart, Tony Jasaitis, Rob Morris, Derek Smith, Jeremy Van Hatten, and Jeff Wiewel.

The Year Ahead:

2009 Warren Scholars will be announced in February. In March, the Warren Program will once again co-sponsor the Denker Qualifier tournament, and host a group seminar for Warren Scholars to prepare for Supernationals in April. In the summer, we hope to once again take part in Taste of Chicago, and play another match with the Chicago Industrial Chess League. Watch this website for details.

A Very Special Thanks to our 2008 Donors:

Janice Adkins
Anonymous
Donald Bastian
Timothy Bogan
Richard and Ginny Boyer

William Brock
Checkmate Chess Supply
Chess Education Partners
The City of Chicago
Joe Delay

Vince Hart
Anthony Jasaitis
Tim Just
John Lee
  Joyce Lohrentz
Kings and Queens Chess Club
Sevan Muradian
Glenn Panner
Bridget Potter

Randall and Margy Roberts
Dominic and Nada Salvino
Louis Sherman
Peter Spizzirri
Mitchel Sweig

Stats, LLC
Yuan Xu and Yan Zhuang
Michael Zacate
Sharon Zappa

And all the best to our 2008 Warren Scholars:

Anshul Adve
Michael Auger
Kayin Barclay
Alex Bian
Jyotsna Bitra

Tony Cao
Kent Cen
Jason Chien
Jack Curcio
Josh Dubin

Sonam Ford
Ian Gilchrist
Zachary Holecek
Zach Kasiurak
Trevor Magness

Bryce McClanahan
Gavin McClanahan
  Daniel McNally
Aakaash Meduri
Ilan Meerovich
Gopal Menon
Chris Nienart

Conrad Oberhaus
William Radak
Eric Rosen
Ben Rothschild
Gordon Ruan

Sam Schmakel
Andrew Tang
Johnny Vela
Kevin Velazquez
Sonya Vohra

James Wei