The Field

Ioan-Cristian Chirila was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1991. He was introduced to chess at the age of five by his father, and by the age of 13, took 9th place at the 2004 Romanian Men’s Chess Championship. Cristian dominated the Romanian Junior competitions, won the prestigious World Youth Championship U16 in 2007, as well as tied for first place in the 2008 edition. In 2010 he started his higher education pursuing a Political Science diploma at the University of Texas at Dallas. After graduating in 2014, he has won multiple open tournaments in the US, his last success came late last year when he won the U2550 section of the Millionaire Open. He is currently the Head Coach and resident GM at Bay Area Chess, and has made his way into the Grandmaster in Residence rotation at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) since its opening in 2008. He has also appeared at CCSCSL to add to the live broadcast coverage of the 2017 U.S. Chess Championships as well as other tournaments in the past.

John picked up the game at the age of 6 and started playing in tournaments shortly thereafter.  He has earned multiple New Jersey high school state championships, as well as multiple US Chess All-American Team designations.  John earned the International Master title in January of 2016, and currently has 1 GM norm.  John is a Jersey Shore resident from Brick, NJ – he is 16 years old and in his junior year of high school.

Ashwin Jayaram is a Grandmaster from Bangalore, India and currently lives in St. Louis. He was a member of of the Webster University Chess Team, winner of numerous Pan American Championships and Final Four championships. He has won many Asian Junior championships and has tournament experience in 25 countries. He currently works as an Analyst for the Centene Corporation.

Raven Sturt grew up in New York City. Playing in tournaments since he was 8 years old, he made National Master at the age of 15 and the titles of FIDE Master and Senior Master at 17. He is the 2010 National 12th Grade Champion and a member of the 2011 All-American team. He graduated from McGill University with a degree in Economics and Mathematics. After graduating he continued to play chess, making International Master in 2017.

Atulya Shetty is a student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is pursuing a dual degree in computer science and business. He was introduced to chess at age four by two teachers at his daycare center. He won the First Grade Section at the National K-12 Grade Championships at age six.  Later, he won the Denker in 2012, and the K-12 Section at the Super Nationals V in 2013 . This achievement landed him on the cover of the June 2013 issue of Chess Life. He has represented the U.S. in several World Youth Championships. He is currently, and has been for several years, the highest rated player in the State of Michigan.

Sabina is a Woman Grandmaster and the reining US Women's Champion. Originally from Romania, Sabina is currently residing in Durham, NC. She has been representing the US Team at four consecutive Olympiads (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) and three Women's World Team Championships (2013, 2015, 2017). Prior to immigrating to the US, she won multiple European girls championship titles. Aside from playing chess, Sabina has graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) with an MA in Intercultural Communication in 2014 and an Undergraduate Degree in Linguistics in 2012. After winning the US Championship this year, Sabina has been actively involved in promoting chess among kids from under privileged background. She is very focused on promoting chess among girls and women using her skills she acquired from chess and academia. Sabina has two IM norms.

Luis Torres is from Mexico City, Mexico. He has represented Mexico in the World Olympiad and in several World Youth Championships. He became an International Master in 2013. His most prestigious achievements include finishing runner-up in the Mexican Absolute Championship, winning the North American Youth Championship-U14, and consecutively becoming National Youth Champion of Mexico. He also represented Texas Tech in 2014 and 2017 Final Four Editions.

Carissa Yip has been on a record-shattering pace ever since she started her first rated tournament at age 7.  At age 9, she became the youngest female ever to reach the title of Expert. At age 11, she broke the record for youngest female ever to achieve the title of National Master.  Recently this year, she broke another record as the only female ever who became the US Cadet co-champion. Carissa also broke an esteemed record by defeating Grandmaster Alex Ivanov in a classical game at age 10. Research suggests she was the youngest female in the world ever to do so.

Mauricio is an International Master from Costa Rica. He was the Costa Rican National Champion 2009 and first board of the Costa Rica national team in the Chess Olympiad teams of 2010 and 2012 ( Khanty-Mansiysk and Istanbul). Mauricio also received second place in the Centro american Sub-zonal 2014 and is the main head of the chess program for the under 20 national teams of Costa Rica 2017.