Youth Chess News
Shivani and Mythreyi Break into US Top 100
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Illinois currently has no female player in the ‘Age 18’ category of the US Top 100 now that Class A player Emma Wang aged out. However, our group of 12-year olds ranking high enough to make the cut has grown to eight girls.
Players of note this month include Michelle Pankov, Angela Hu and Niyathi Girish, all of whom went from a 3-digit rating to a 4-digit rating---Niyathi even to 1107, gaining close to 150 rating points and moving from 98th to 62nd position nationwide. Olivia Lee climbed ten ranks and now sits at #28 among seven-year old girls.
Congratulations to the two young ladies from our state who broke into the US Top 100 for the first time: Mythreyi Govindarajan, in the “Age 7 and Under” group, and Shivani Manimaran, who is nine and (to my knowledge) a member of the Fox Valley Chess Club.
November 2019 US Top 100 Lists for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
The most recent lists are based on ratings achieved and processed by the third Wednesday of the previous month, so the Midwest Class tournament is included in this compilation.
Natalie Wisniowski is now less than 60 points shy of reaching the elite mark of 2000. Furthermore, four female juniors changed the hundreds digit of their rating last month, namely:
- Angela Hu – from 874 to 911;
- Himani Musku – from 1382 to 1437;
- Sruthi Bharath Kumar – from 1583 to 1621; and
- Sarah Lin – from 1587 to 1630;
Chaitra Madugula breaks into the Top 10 in US Ranking for Girls
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
Seven-year old Chaitra gained almost 300 rating points at the Labor Day Scholastic Tournament and another 100 points at last month’s Renaissance Knights Quest: With her standout wins, she moved into the Top 10 nationwide for her age. Other female girls from Illinois ranking among the best ten in the country in their respective age group are Nandini Prakash (age 9, rank 7), Natalie Wisniowski (age 13, rank 7), Aria Hoesley (age 14, rank 5), Shreya Mangalam (age 16, rank 6) and Marissa Li (age 17, rank 7).
Many other female players moved up the rankings over last month, including Olivia Lee, Enkhjin Namuunbayar, Saanvi Adusumalli, Himani Musku, Wenjing Han and Rebecca Phillips.
IL Top 100 Lists for Girls: Shakira, Mehak, Ria, Rebecca, Anisha and Sophia up a combined 800 points
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
48 female players from Illinois (including newcomer Neelotpala Nerella) clinched a spot on one of the Top 100 lists for September, which were generated on the third Wednesday of the previous month, i.e. August 21, 2019. This number should actually be higher but US Chess only posts current US Chess members with established ratings and ratings activity in the last year.
Counting Miranda Liu, Illinois has a trio of female Experts (rated 2000 or higher) and a trio of Class A players (1800 – 2000). Class B players include 9-year old Nandini Prakash, 11-year old Ria Raj, 12-year old Anisha Oberai, 13-year old Sruthi Bharath Kumar, and 14-year old Maggie Tsyganova. Shakira Luster, who is improving by leaps and bounds (a gain of 227 rating points over last month!), will probably join their ranks soon.
11-year old Sophia Zhao progressing fast
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- Written by Eva Harrison Eva Harrison
I will keep this report short and will highlight only three players whose rating changes were very impressive:
Last month, 7-year old Olivia Lee was ranked #80 among girls of her age in the US with a rating of 610. She gained over 100 rating points and her new rank is 48.
Angela Hu, 8 years old, shot up from 818 to 972 and improved her nationwide ranking from 57 to 35.
Sophia Ziyan Zhao has been steadily making progress since she played her first tournament a year ago. The 11-year old reached a rating of 1000 in April, 1200 in June, 1300 in July and 1400 in August, after beating two 1500s at the CCC Plus Score #45. The current US Chess Top 100 Lists have her sitting at 1317 (rank 51) on the cut-off date, up from 1206 (rank 71) last month.