Mardov & Peng Represent Illinois in Rated Online Tournament

Update: Mardov Wins Under 6 National Title!  Peng Wins U12!

6-year old Dimitar Mardov and 12-year old David Peng will be the two Illinois competitors in the 4th ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship (CONIC). 

The five-round, three-day event kicks off this evening, June 5. All five rounds will be broadcast live on Chess.com/TV. Round one is Friday at 6:00pm, but it is anticipated that broadcasts will start after all games have begun, perhaps 15 minutes or so after the round begins.

Rounds two and three will be at 10am Saturday (June 6) and 4pm. Rounds four and five are at the same times on Sunday (June 7): 10am and 4pm.

Only 30 players nationwide are entered in five round robin sections. Invitations were based on January ratings and age. In addition to Dimitar and David, Aydin Turgut, Marissa Li and Miranda Liu were invited, but declined to participate.

Dimitar was the First Grade Champion at the 2014 Illinois All-Grade and the 2015 K-8 (conbined with Kindergartners). He was also the 2014 Champion of the Susan Polgar World Open for Boys Under 8. Fun fact: he speaks fluent Bulgarian! He is entered in the Boys 6 and Under section.

David recently won the National K-9 Championships in Louisville, KY and was the 2013 National K-6 Champion. He has represented Illinois and the US three times at World Youth Championships, earning a silver medal in 2013. David is entered in the Boys 12 and Under.

More information about the CONIC event can be found on the Chess.com website, and this reporter, who is also serving as a TD, will attempt to update the article throughout the weekend.

Winners do receive an official USCF National Title and all the games are rated by the USCF.

The time control is Game/90 with a 30 second increment.

In the first round, David is playing top-rated Avait Patel who won the 2014 Barber Tournament (for K-8's).

Dimitar's first opponent is Grayson Cooke, the 2015 Florida K-1 Champion and the 2013 Kindergarten Champion at a National event.]

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Our Illinois kids posted one win and one draw in round one. Dimitar managed to beat Florida state champion Grayson Cooke with superior endgame technique. David had a fascinating match with Advait Patel. Advait offered a draw with tactical chances a-plenty for David, David declined, but later it was David offering the draw, which Advait accepted.

David and Advait have drawn all three times they have played over the board.

Round two is off to a fascinating start -- ScaryNinja (Dimitar) is playing Californian BrianHuang2015 as white. David (Thunder_Penguin) is playing the dark colors vs. Titus369, Minnesotan Andrew Titus. These games are viewable at chess.com/live.

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Dimitar absolutely picked apart his second round opponent, going up two exchanges before trading down to fascilitate a pair of queen promotions. A very instructive game with some tactical opportunities for both players. Dimitar met those threats adroitly and went on to win handily.

84 minutes into his game, David appears to be even but I'm sure I don't see what David is able to see. Lifetime, David has a win and two draws against Andrew.

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Fantastic end game for David -- and he wins with a resignation on move 80.  Meanwhile, Advait loses his second round game. Things are getting mighty interesting in the U12.

Bottom line: the Illinois kids go 2-0 in round two. Next round at 4pm.

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Round 3: Dimitar has the bishop pair as black and is up 20 moves into a King's Indian Attack vs. chessbroethics aka Ronit Chandra. Dimitar beat Ronit in round 5 at Elementary Nationals this year. Dimitar has all but three minutes of his initial time as of move 24.

David and Tiny Peanut (Rayan Taghizadeh of California) are already trading down with over an hour left on both clocks. Are we out of here early tonight? Blackhawks anyone?

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Dimitar finished off his game in style. Really nice. Had more than 89 minutes left on his clock at checkmate. Wow.  David is struggling. Painful to watch.

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Dimitar is provided a gift draw... was losing if his opponent had played soundly... but a draw puts Dimitar within another draw of the championship.  Exciting times!

David appears upbeat as his opponent has blundered away her queen for two minors. Let's see if he can close this out... because a certain TD would love a long lunch break at my favorite all you can eat sushi place!

As usual, David is using his time... under 10 minutes left... I had asked Dimitar if he might donate some of his leftover time to David... but we're still working out the details.

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Last round: David (2.5/4) as black goes up against Michigan's Ben Li (3.0). Winner takes all. Dimitar (3.5) needs only a draw as white vs. Sriram Krishnakumar (2.5). Sriram edged Dimitar in Nashville in May so the Wheeling 6-year old is out for revenge. Armaggedon play-off possible if Dimitar loses.

As the lower rated, Dimitar's opponent would have a choice of white with 25 minutes, or black with 10 minutes and draw odds.