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 RankNameRating
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