Twelve-year old Matthew Stevens is the latest Illinois junior to achieve expert status according to "official" USCF ratings published September 18. Matthew's excellent performance at the Illinois Open did the trick as he defeated experts from Wisconsin and Illinois and drew a master.
Experts represent roughly the top five percent (USCF 2000) to one and a half percent (USCF 2199) of all active USCF competitors playing over the board.
Subsequent to the October cut-off, 17-year old Joe Fennessey crossed the threshold thanks to his whiz-bang performance at the Midwest Class. Joe's accomplishment will not be reflected in the Top 100 until next month, but, as a heads up, he defeated experts from Wisconsin, Kentucky and Illinois while drawing an expert from Minnesota.
Also on the cusp of "experthood" are 12-year old Akhil Kalghatgi, 13-year old Anshul Adve, 14-year old Spencer Lehmann and 17-year old Duncan Shepherd.
Adarsh Jayakumar (now second to only Ray Robson in age 18), David Peng (second in age 10), Aydin Turgut (third in age 9), Sam Schmakel (fifth in age 17), and Jonathan Kogan (ninth in age 17) remain the Illinois players in the top ten of their respective age groups nationwide.
Aged 18 years or younger, Illinois currently boasts three masters, Adarsh, Sam, and Jonathan, along with a dozen experts including Joe.
Jayant Maheshwari (age 7) has entered the top 100 for the first time, while Rishi Narayanan, David Zimmermann and Jonah Karafiol have returned after brief absences.
Abe Sun had appeared as America's fiftieth rated 12-year old on September's report, but his absence from rated-play for over a year has caused his deletion from the top 100's.
According to USCF specifications, ratings as of September 18 were used for this report and the top 100 lists were published October 17.
| US Rank | Name | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Age 7 and under | ||
| 32T | Aaron Gan | 1324 |
| 79T | Jayant Maheshwari | 1065 |
| 88 | Sam Fayn | 1031 |
| Age 8 | ||
| 34 | Stefan Musikic | 1517 |
| 77 | David Zimmermann | 1292 |
| 81 | Adam Bareket | 1288 |
| Age 9 | ||
| 3 | Aydin Turgut | 1942 |
| 40 | Ricky Wang | 1656 |
| 68 | Brian Gong | 1513 |
| 83 | Advaith Prabu | 1481 |
| 100 | Jonah Karafiol | 1422 |
| Age 10 | ||
| 2 | David Peng | 2138 |
| 27T | Jason Daniels | 1786 |
| 59 | Shreya Mangalam | 1640 |
| 84T | Edward Zhang | 1586 |
| Age 11 | ||
| 20 | Vincent Do | 2018 |
| 68 | Tej Rai | 1693 |
| 69T | Marissa Li | 1690 |
| Age 12 | ||
| 20 | Matthew Stevens | 2030 |
| 25 | Akhil Kalghatgi | 1996 |
| 42 | Daniel Bronfeyn | 1919 |
| 52T | Hanson Hao | 1872 |
| 50 | Nikhil Kalghatgi | 1848 |
| 77 | Jonathan Tan | 1789 |
| Age 13 | ||
| 20 | Zhaozhi Li | 2098 |
| 21 | Alex Bian | 2086 |
| 37 | Anshul Adve | 1992 |
| 55 | Jack Curcio | 1935 |
| 70 | James Wei | 1874 |
| 93 | Andrew Fei | 1792 |
| Age 14 | ||
| 36 | Zachary Holecek | 2031 |
| 52T | Spencer Lehmann | 1973 |
| Age 15 | ||
| 80 | Jonathan Hrach | 1900 |
| Age 16 | ||
| 28 | Max Zinski | 2112 |
| 37T | Gavin McClanahan | 2072 |
| 39 | Nathan Kranjc | 2071 |
| 66 | Penny Xu | 1966 |
| 76 | Timothy Zhou | 1946 |
| 85 | Eli Goering | 1918 |
| Age 17 | ||
| 5 | Sam Schmakel | 2376 |
| 9 | Jonathan Kogan | 2271 |
| 66T | Duncan Shepherd | 1967 |
| 74 | Joe Fennessey | 1954 |
| Age 18 | ||
| 2 | Adarsh Jayakumar | 2386 |
| 35 | Robert Moskwa | 2087 |
| 48 | Chengliang Luo | 2032 |
| 70 | Charles Swan | 1939 |
| 73 | David Korobov | 1928 |
| 85 | David Paykin | 1883 |
| 96 | Matthew Yang | 1836 |
| Girls Under 16 | ||
| 46T | Miranda Liu (12) | 1778 |
| 56 | Shayna Provine (13) | 1717 |
| 50 | Marissa Li (11) | 1690 |
| 62 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1640 |
| Girls Under 13 | ||
| 13 | Miranda Liu (12) | 1778 |
| 21 | Marissa Li (11) | 1690 |
| 28 | Shreya Mangalam (10) | 1640 |
Miranda raised her rating 69 points competing at the US Open and another 68 points through a September event at the Chess IQ Center in Skokie. At the US Open, she posted a 5.0/9 score, beating an Expert and a Class A player while drawing another Class A opponent.
Marissa bumped her rating 149 points through the Illinois Open, defeating four Class B players and drawing a fifth, earning a 4.5/6 score.
Having three young ladies under 13 in the top 30 is quite an accomplishment for this trio and reflects well upon a state with 4% of the American population. Shreya will be representing Illinois (along with David Peng) in the upcoming World Youth in Dubai at the end of the year.