Youth Chess News
47th Kumbaya Tournament
- Details
- Written by Alice Holt Alice Holt
The 47th Kumbaya Tournament had over 130 participants at this event!
Some players included the current 8 and under World Chess Champion -- Awonder Liang and his brothers Adream and Abel. Participants included "Top Gun" Jonathan Hrach from Highland Park, together with heavy hitters like Jack and Henry Curcio from Park Ridge and Ryan Toepher, of Chicago. Ryan was the talk of the tournament winning against the 2 top rated players in the tournament.
Tournament Crosstables.
Dynamic Chess's Third Tournament
- Details
- Written by Paul Kash Paul Kash
On Sunday December 18th, Dynamic Chess, Inc. hosted the third in a series of eight monthly scholastic tournaments at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. Thirty-three players were divided into three sections, K-2, K-8 U800, and K-8 Open.On this day, the Musikic twins, Ivana and Stephan, stole the show. Ivana won the K-2 section with 3.5 points and Stephan won the K-8 Open with a perfect 4 points, beating a Ricky Roman in the final round.Stephan is quickly climbing the USCF U7 Top 100 list. The K-5 U800 section was won by Sawyer Harris. Though three players took home first place trophies, all of the players enjoyed the friendly yet competitive environment in the Whitney Young High School library.
The next tournament will be held on January 22nd.
Highland Park Draws 104 to December Unrated Tournament
- Details
- Written by Jerry Neugarten Jerry Neugarten
The Highland Park chess program ran its first tournament of the year on December 10th, drawing 104 players to Edgewood Middle School. The tournament was unrated and for the first time had a designated section for more advanced players.
The section winners were Ezra Boldizsar (Advanced), Samuel Harris (4-8), Jonas Vriend (2-3) and Andrew Arzac (K-1). Wayne Thomas Elementary School captured the first place team trophy. Team awards are based on a team’s top six scores across all sections. Complete results are posted on the Highland Park program’s website ( www.hpchess.org, Tournaments/Results).
Dynamic Chess Finishes First in a Series of Tournaments
- Details
- Written by Paul Kash Paul Kash
On Sunday October 23rd, Dynamic Chess, Inc. hosted the first in a series of eight monthly scholastic tournaments at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. This central Chicago location attracts chess players from across the city as well as the suburbs. Participants not only compete for tournament trophies for the top five places but also the overall series championship which earns the top finisher in each section a free entry into a Dynamic Chess summer chess camp.
On this Sunday, thirty-one participants enjoyed a friendly yet competitive chess tournament. In the K-2 section, Jake Joseph of Evanston cruised to a first place finish. Finishing out the top five were Samuel Pastor, Messiah Akhanatan, Jonah Karafiol, and Jeffery Huang.
Cheryl Liu Wins Scholarship
- Details
- Written by Cheryl Liu Cheryl Liu
My name is Cheryl and I spent a week at a Texas Tech University SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) program/tournament called the Susan Polgar Girls Invitational. 44 girls, one from almost every state, came to listen to lectures and play in a tournament. I, along with two other girls going into their senior or junior year of high school, won a $40,000 scholarship to Texas Tech University.
Read the continuation of this article for one of Cheryl's games from this event.