News
2025 KCF All-Girls National Chess Championship
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief
- Created: 29 April 2025 29 April 2025
The Illinois Chess Association is proud to congratulate David Heiser from Renaissance Knights for organizing the 20th Annual All-Girls National Chess Championship. The event took place from April 4–6, 2025, at McCormick Place in Chicago. We extend our gratitude to the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, the Kasparov Chess Foundation, and the United States Chess Federation for bringing this tournament to Chicago.
The championship was open to girls under 18 years old as of January 1, 2025. Participants competed in the following sections: Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, and Under 18. The champion in each age group earned the honor of representing the USA at the World Cadet (U8, U10, U12) and World Youth (U14, U16, U18) Championships, in accordance with US Chess Scholastic National and International Invitation Events and Awards.
Over 500 players participated in this national event. All games were played with a time control of 90 minutes and a 5-second delay.
Under 18 Championship
We had a very exciting final round with two players entering with 4.5 points out of 5: Iris Mou and Megan Althea Apragua. Close behind them were six players with 4 points: Sophie Li, Aradh Kaur, Stella Xin, Tori Porat, Irene Fei, and Hema Vikas.
In the last round, Iris defeated Irene Fei, and Megan defeated Tori, resulting in both players finishing with 5.5 points out of 6. Megan was awarded first place on tiebreaks.
Photo of Megan courtesy of Eric Ortega
Here are the players who finished with at least 4 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 8 players received awards.
Under 16 Championship
The Under 16 section also came down to an exciting final round. Jasmin Su and Chloe Gaw both entered the last round with a perfect 5 out of 5. Jasmin defeated Chloe to become the Under 16 Champion.
Additionally, Eight players entered the final round with 4 points: Evelyn Oiao, Gaofei Wang, Marina Xiao, Emel Bayrambeyli, Aarna Nitton Warekar, Lisa Sun, Patricia Ian, and Fiona Tushman.
Here are the players who finished with at least 4 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 8 players received awards.
Under 14 Championship
This section had four players entering the final round with 4.5 points: Audry Zhou, Nethra Vinayagaram, Leah Yang, and Audry Keyan Li. Audry Zhou defeated Audry Keyan Li to become the outright champion with 5.5 points.
Nethra drew with Leah, and Anjyu Fujita and Asha Silva both won their final games to create a four-way tie for second with 5 points.
Here are the players who finished with at least 4.5 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 16 players received awards.
Under 12 Championship
Two players entered the final round with perfect scores: Emma Yang and Aadya Kakarla. Emma defeated Aadya to become the Under 12 Champion.
Vaisali Garnepudi and Christine Nguyen both had 4.5 points entering the final round. Vaisali defeated Christine to take clear second place.
Here are the players who finished with at least 4.5 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 16 players received awards.
Under 10 Championship
In another thrilling finale, Melanie Liang and Celine Chen entered the last round with perfect scores. Melanie defeated Celine to become the Under 10 Champion.
Wan Oin Li, Allyson Yu, and Elizabeth Zhou had 4.5 points each before the final round. Celine drew with Wan to finish with 5 points, resulting in an eight-way tie for second place with Alexandra Liu, Kayra Ananya Ganesh, Olivia Xu, Diya Balamurugan, and Dana H. Wang.
Here are the players who finished with at least 4.5 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 16 players received awards.
Under 8 Championship
In the Under 8 section, Emma Ge entered the last round as the only undefeated player with 5 points. Three players — Emily Jiaying Tang, Irene Lin, and Hanwen Lu — had 4.5 points.
Emily defeated Emma to win the championship, while Irene defeated Hanwen and tied with Emily at 5.5 points. Emily was awarded first place on tiebreaks.
Here are the players who finished with at least 4.5 points out of 6, listed in tiebreak order. The top 16 players received awards.
Illinois Representation
The Illinois Chess Association congratulates the following Illinois players who received awards:
Picture of Stella 4th place Under 18 Courtesy WJS Director Edwin Walker
Picture of Elizabeth 7th place Under 16 Courtesy WJS Director Edwin Walker
Picture of Victoria 9th place Under 14 Courtesy of her family
Picture of Emily 1st place Under 8 Courtesy of her family
Linked here is a complete cross-table for the event, including all individual and team awards, courtesy of Renaissance Knights, and linked here is the US rating report. Following these links, you can view the full results across any sections instead of the abbreviated standings above. Once again, we are happy to congratulate everybody who participated and gave it their best in this tournament and to congratulate David Heiser along with Renaissance Knights for running the tournament so smoothly.
2025 Greater Peoria Open – Fourth ICA Tour event 2025
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief
- Created: 19 April 2025 19 April 2025
2025 Greater Peoria Open – Fourth ICA Tour event 2025
The Illinois Chess Association is happy to congratulate Patick Cohen and Emily Dawson from Greater Peoria Chess Foundation for running the Greater Peoria Open, our fourth ICA tour event for 2025 from April 12 to 13, 2025 in Peoria, Illinois.
There were a total of 51 players split between reserve and open sections. The tournament consisted of four rounds of game 80 with a 5 second delay.
Courtesy of Greater Peoria Chess Foundation
Open
An exciting finish with two players entering the final round undefeated: Jacob Gregory Butcher had 3.5 points out of 4 games due to a requested bye in Round 3 and Alvin He, with a perfect 4 wins out of 4 games. Jacob finished as the open champion with 4.5 points after defeating Alvin in the final round. Two players ended up with 4 points: Alvin and Jacob Whitten who defeated Bysen Lovel in the final round.
Below are the players that finished with at least two and a half points out of four games:
Reserve
Only one player, Sean Keiya Pepper, entered the last round undefeated with four points. Nolan Collins entered with 3.5 wins out of 4 games. Five players, Daniel Lyman, Dylan Simon, Nabhya Sham, Priya Sadhama Mathanm and Bryce McMillan, entered the final round with 4 points. Afterwards, Sean defeated Nolan to finish with a perfect 5 wins. Daniel and Dylan both won to tie for second place with 4 points.
Here are the players that ended with at least three points out of four games:
Linked here is the US rating report. Following these links, you can view the full results instead of the abbreviated standings above. Linked here are the 2025 Illinois Chess Tour Prizes. Here is a list of all 2025 Illinois Chess Association Tour Schedule. Once again, we are happy to congratulate everybody who participated and gave it their best in this tournament and to congratulate Patrick Cohen and Emily Dawson on running the tournament so smoothly.
Springfield Chess Club hosts our third ICA Tour Event
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief
- Created: 18 April 2025 18 April 2025
Springfield Chess Club hosts our third ICA Tour Event
On March 29, 2025, the Springfield Chess Club hosted the Springfield March Checkmate Open, third in our ICA tour series. The Springfield Chess Club has a long history dating back to an early printed reference found in the Sangamo Journal in 1835, just 14 years after Springfield was founded and four years before it became the state capital. The current chess club formed in 1929 will be celebrating their centennial anniversary in just four short years.
The Illinois Chess Association is happy to congratulate David Long on running the event which consisted of 34 players in a four round event of Game 60 with a five second delay.
Entering the last round there was a three-way tie with a perfect 3 points: Maddox Todd, Brooks Sonethongkham and Andres Luca Maldonado. Maddox defeated Brooks to win with a perfect 4 points whilst Andrew was defeated by James Healy, who entered the final round with 2.5 points.
A complete rating report can be found at the US Chess Website. Linked here are the 2025 Illinois Chess Tour Prizes. Here is a list of all 2025 Illinois Chess Association Tour Schedule. Once again, we are happy to congratulate everybody who participated and gave it their best in this tournament and to congratulate David Long on running the tournament so smoothly.
Greater Peoria Chess Foundation (GPCF) 60 years and running
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief
- Created: 21 February 2025 21 February 2025
The Greater Peoria Chess Foundation (GPCF) has been at the forefront of the chess scene in Peoria for over 60 years. Though, the official nonprofit organization as we know it today was established in 1996 after merging with the Greater Peoria Chess Federation. The GPCF’s mission is rooted in the intrinsic understanding of the power of chess to develop many important life skills – logical thinking, problem-solving, and self-confidence, to name a few.
They achieve this by striving to make chess accessible to the public, especially young players, via incorporation into local school systems. They make a point to invest into programs which support students in their academic and personal growth, rather than simply chess and nothing more. Through scholarship opportunities, talented youth programs are offered scholarships to help them access various chess opportunities – the largest example is several youth players being able to play in the Supernationals in just a few months. Further, the foundation helps integrate chess into school to further enrich students' lives through chess.
Beyond the basic educational initiatives, the GPCF organizes numerous tournaments throughout the year. The most impressive of which is the Bradley Summer Open, which is one of, if not the longest-running college chess tournaments in the United States. This event draws in players from all over the country and cements Peoria in the national chess scene. Adding onto this prestigious event, the GPCF coordinates many other local events which make it possible for players of all ages and experience to get involved.
Through six decades of tireless work, the GPCF has cemented chess as a vibrant and unending part of the local Peoria culture. Their commitment to provide resources and create an amazing space for players of all ages is an ongoing effort that has no end in sight. By fostering an environment which values community, intellectual growth, and education, the GPCF helps guarantee that chess will remain an enduring and accessible sport for all those that want to.
Finally, I’d like to thank Emily Dawson for meeting with me to provide all of this information. Emily is the current secretary for the GPCF and an amazing asset to the team. Though she only joined the chess community when her son started playing chess back more than 10 years ago, she’s been of vital importance to the chess scene in Peoria ever since; helping to coordinate and run tournaments. She is truly an embodiment of the fact that it’s never too late to start whatever you aspire towards.
Once again, make sure to pay attention towards the Greater Peoria Chess Federation, and give them a visit if you’re ever in the neighborhood.
2025 Bradley Winter Open – Second ICA Tour event 2025
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- Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter
- Created: 09 February 2025 09 February 2025
2025 Bradley Winter Open – Second ICA Tour event 2025
The Illinois Chess Association is happy to congratulate Patick Cohen from the Greater Peoria Chess Foundation for running our second ICA tour event for 2025, the Bradley Winter Open. This event was held on February 1, 2025 in Peoria, Illinois.
The tournament had one section with 20 participants, which contained four rounds of game 80 with a 5 second delay.
Courtesy of Greater Peoria Chess Foundation
There was a very exciting last round with David Long and Mahendra Lavanur leading with a perfect 3 points and six players tied with 2 points going into the final round: Joshua Long, Sean Keiya Pepper, Kavin Sivagnanam, Nathan Pulley, Tony Seghetti and Kyle Churchill. David and Mahendra drew to finish tied in first place with 3.5 points out of four games. At the same time, two players with 3 points.
Here are the players that finished with at least two out of four points:
Linked here is the US rating report. Following these links, you can view the full results instead of the abbreviated standings above. Linked here are the 2025 Illinois Chess Tour Prizes. Here is a list of all 2025 Illinois Chess Association Tour Schedule. Once again, we are happy to congratulate everybody who participated and gave it their best in this tournament and to congratulate Patrick Cohen for running the tournament so smoothly.