Youth Chess News
Illinois Youth in USCF Top 100 -- April 2014
- Details
- Written by Bill Feldman Bill Feldman
Age is just a number. Right?
Chess is one of those fascinating activities in which, with a modicum of determined study, children can compete on a level playing field with adults.
And then there is another level of ability where the youngster exceeds the average adult’s capabilities and keeps on going.
Illinois is honored to host two remarkable juniors at this time whom at age 10, are not only the nation’s second-rated player of their respective age and gender, but are also the top-rated players in the state aged 16 or younger.
David Peng is 127 USCF rating points higher than Ilinois’ number two 16-and-under, while Shreya is 20 points higher than the second-rated Illinois female aged 16-and-under. Only Wisconsin's Awonder Liang and Massachusetts' Carissa Yip keep the Illinois duo from the top spots for US 10-year olds.
David bumped his rating 62 points from the US Amateur Team North event in late February – held too late to factor into March ratings. That tournament brought David’s rating above 2200, into the realm of USCF masterhood.
Duncan Shepherd saw a 133-point rating enhancement from March, entering USCF Expert territory. The 18-year old went 3.5/5 at the USAT-North and 4.0/5 at the Mid American Open in St. Louis in mid-March.
13-year old Jack Curcio also entered Expert territory for the first time, earning the co-championship of the Grades 6-8 section of the ICA’s Illinois K-8 Championship. Jack took home the first-place trophy on tiebreaks.
Also claiming state championships at the K-8 -- and spots in the nation’s top 100’s -- were Vrishank Ramnath (age 7) and James Zhang (age 8). Vrishank went 7-0 winning the K-1 section, bumping his rating 168 points. James saw a 127-rating point increase from his 6.5/7 championship achieved in the Grades 2-3 section.
Three others entered the lists for the first time. Fred Yuan had three impressive tournaments in December, with a combined 10 wins and two losses. The three tournaments advanced his rating 532 points, and upon age confirmation, he enters the list of nation’s top nine year olds.
A pair of 18-year olds entered that top 100 list. For Edgar Talayko an 87-point jump at the USAT-North was the key to his qualification. Arjun Nandy has seen a 383-point rise from his November rating to his March peak to join eight other Illinois 18-year olds in the top 100.
Other listers showing sharp rating enhancements this month were David Zimmermann (57), Jonathan Hrach (53), Max Zinski (47) and Advaith Prabu (42).
Ratings as of March 19th were used to develop the lists which were published by the USCF on April 17.
** Represents ranking in the listing without regard to Federation.
| US Rank | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Age 7 and under | ||
| 16T | Aaron Gan | 1548 |
| 37T | Arthur Xu (6) | 1366 |
| 84T | Vrishank Ramnath (new) | 1121 |
| Age 8 | ||
| 13** | Martin Stukan | 1760 |
| 18 | David Zimmermann | 1660 |
| 69 | Jai Mahajan | 1340 |
| 88T | James Zhang (new) | 1282 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 3 | Aydin Turgut | 2005 |
| 41 | Stefan Musikic | 1670 |
| 72 | Adam Bareket | 1535 |
| 81 | Brian Gong | 1507 |
| 83T | Jonah Karafiol | 1504 |
| 89T | Frederich Yuan (new) | 1491 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 2 | David Peng | 2236 |
| 24 | Shreya Mangalam | 1818 |
| 35 | Jason Daniels | 1775 |
| 43 | Edward Zhang | 1737 |
| 50 | Ricky Wang | 1711 |
| 88 | Advaith Prabu | 1607 |
| 98T | Emmett Madigan | 1573 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 53T | Marissa Li | 1778 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 21 | Vincent Do | 2021 |
| 31 | Hanson Hao | 1971 |
| 49 | Akhil Kalghatgi | 1877 |
| 64 | Jacob Furfine | 1845 |
| 76T | Miranda Liu | 1798 |
| 79T | Nikhil Kalghatgi | 1790 |
| 83 | Tej Rai | 1771 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 33 | Alex Bian | 2086 |
| 45 | Daniel Bronfeyn | 2007 |
| 46 | Jack Curcio | 2003 |
| 50 | Matthew Stevens | 1985 |
| 81 | James Wei | 1874 |
| 84 | Jonathan Tan | 1871 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 29 | Zhaozhi (George) Li | 2109 |
| 55 | Anshul Adve | 1992 |
| Age 15 | ||
| 45 | Zachary Holecek | 2059 |
| 47 | Spencer Lehmann | 2056 |
| 62 | Jonathan Hrach | 1977 |
| Age 16 | ||
| None From Illinois | ||
| Age 17 | ||
| 4 | Sam Schmakel | 2406 |
| 13 | Nate Kranjc | 2209 |
| 22T | Max Zinski | 2147 |
| 35 | Gavin McClanahan | 2072 |
| 59T | Jimi Akintonde | 1974 |
| 61 | Penny Xu | 1966 |
| 72 | Timothy Zhou | 1946 |
| 76T | Eli Goering | 1934 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 11 | Jonathan Kogan | 2273 |
| 46 | Duncan Shepherd | 2048 |
| 49 | Chengliang Luo | 2032 |
| 60T | Joe Fennessey | 1998 |
| 65 | David Korobov | 1980 |
| 78 | Charles Swan | 1933 |
| 92 | David Paykin | 1883 |
| 95 | Edgar Talayko (new) | 1866 |
| 97 | Arjun Nandy (new) | 1857 |
| Girls Under 21 | ||
| 37 | Penny Xu (17) | 1966 |
| 69T | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1818 |
| 77 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1798 |
| 83 | Shayna Provine (14) | 1782 |
| 84T | Marissa Li (11) | 1778 |
| Girls Under 16 | ||
| 40 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1818 |
| 45 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1798 |
| 49 | Shayna Provine (14) | 1782 |
| 50 | Marissa Li (11) | 1778 |
| Girls Under 13 | ||
| 14 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1818 |
| 17 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1798 |
| 19 | Marissa Li (11) | 1778 |