The Field

Nicolas Checa is a junior at Dobbs Ferry High School in New York. He completed the Grandmaster requirements in November of 2018 and the title was approved by FIDE in March of 2019. Nicolas is the 2019 National High School Champion and the 2017 National High School Blitz Champion. In 2017 he was part of the American U-17 team in the “Match of the Millennials” played in Saint Louis. Also in 2017, he won the Marshall Chess Club Championship. In 2013, Nicolas won the New York State Championship as an 11-year old becoming the youngest New York State Champion in history. Since then, he has won several scholastic titles at the state level. In the summer of 2018, he served as a Senate Page representing New York in the United States Senate in Washington, DC. 

Joshua lives in Santa Monica, and is currently the #1 ranked junior in all of Southern California.  He tied for first in the North American under-20 Championship in 2016, defeating (now GMs) Ruifeng Li and Akshat Chandra in the process.  His best result to date was winning a GM norm round robin in Berkeley with a score of 7/9.  He also tied for first at the 2017 LA Open.  Outside of chess, Joshua likes academic competitions and enjoys good food with his friends.

Hans started playing chess when he was 8 years old and living in the Netherlands.  He moved back to California at the end of 2012 and his rating quickly jumped from 1000 to 2200 in two years, earning the national master title at 11 years old.  Hans moved to Connecticut in 2015.  He achieved the FM title in early 2016 and tied for first in the under-18 category of the 2016 North American Youth Championship at 12 years old.  He finished clear 1^st at SuperNationals 2017 in the K-8 category.  He earned the IM title and his first GM norm in the summer of 2018. Hans won the bronze medal for board 2 at the 2018 U16 Olympiad in Turkey.  In 2019, Hans has been actively streaming on Twitch.tv and chess.com and is an elite “Puzzle Rusher” with a high score of 86. Hans is moving to New York City in the fall to finish his last two years of high school at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, where he will be on the chess team and the debate team. Hans also enjoys swimming, playing basketball, soccer, and tennis.

The current U.S. Women’s Champion was born in Ithaca, New York and started playing chess in first grade, attending an after-school chess class. After the school finished its chess sessions, Yu wanted to continue her interest and asked her parents to find a coach. This simple request launched Yu’s chess career. They took her to group chess lessons and tournaments for kids, but didn’t realize how talented she was until that coach informed them. Today, the 17-year-old lives in Ashburn, Virginia and is a pretty typical tenth-grader, aside from her immense chess talent. Her well-rounded interests include playing the flute and piano, listening to music, drawing, and playing sports. She becomes a better player through competition in tournaments where she can think through difficult challenges as she encounters them. Yu holds a FIDE rating of 2273 and has participated in three World Youth Chess Championships. In 2014, Yu took home a gold medal at the World Youth Championship in the Girls under-12 section. She was the first American to do so in 27 years. She has also won the National Girls Tournament of Champions three times and competed on the U.S. Women’s Olympiad team for the first time in 2018.  Jennifer has participated in several U.S. Women’s Championships, and this spring shocked the world when she demolished the field with a monstrous score of 10/11, becoming the youngest U.S. Women’s Champion since GM Irina Krush.