The Field
Title:
- National Master
Rating:
- 2519
Federation:
- Lexington, MA
Age:
- 19
Bio:
- Mika Brattain is currently a National Master. He is 19 years old and lives in Lexington MA. Mika is excited to play in the 2018 U.S. Junior Championships.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2653
Federation:
- Madison, WI
Age:
- 15
Bio:
- Born in Madison, Wisconsin on April 9, 2003, Awonder Liang is the reigning U.S. Junior Chess Champion and hopes to defend his title again this year. He is currently the number one chess player in the world for age by FIDE rating. Awonder is also a two time world youth chess champion for the open section, as well as creator and keeper of many youth chess records.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2593
Federation:
- Saint Louis, MO
Age:
- 19
Bio:
- Akshat started playing chess at the age of around 9 1/2 years. He has recorded one of the fastest rises in the history of world chess when his chess rating climbed steeply from 1548 to a GM rating of 2500 in under 5 ½ years. Notable achievements for Akshat include winning the 2015 U.S. Junior Chess Championship in his first appearance and taking first in both the 2015 National High School Chess Championship as well as the National High School Blitz Championship. Since 2014, at age 14, Akshat has been the #1 ranked Junior Rapid Chess player in the country.
Tag:
Title:
- International Master
Rating:
- 2592
Federation:
- Midwest City, OK
Age:
- 15
Bio:
- Advait learned how to play chess when he was seven years old in India. He played his first tournament at eight and began to compete frequently after that. Advait won several scholastic tournaments including state championships, nationals, and eventually the Barber. He now lives in Oklahoma and will be a high school senior next semester.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman International Master
Rating:
- 2372
Federation:
- La Canada, CA
Age:
- 16
Bio:
- Annie Wang started playing chess when she was five, after being introduced to the game at a simultaneous exhibition in a nearby park. She is the reigning world champion for girls under 16, having won the GU-16 section of the 2017 World Youth Chess Championships with a score of 10.5/11. Her other accomplishments include placing second, after an exciting playoff against IM Nazi Paikize, at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Championship and earning a bronze medal at the 2016 World Youth Chess Championships. In 2014, at the age of 11, Annie broke Irina Krush’s record for the youngest female national master in the US; later that same year, she won the North American Youth Chess Championships for girls under 18, despite being only 12 at the time. Throughout the last few years, Annie has been promoting chess by running a free chess program for kids at a local library and volunteering in numerous chess-related activities. Today, Annie lives in Los Angeles, California, where she attends high school. Outside of chess, she plays the piano and enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her friends.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2608
Federation:
- Brick, New Jersey
Age:
- 17
Bio:
- John Burke earned his Grandmaster title in April 2018. John is a resident of Brick, NJ, and has earned multiple New Jersey State championships, as well as multiple U.S. Chess All-American team designations. John has played at the Saint Louis Chess Club many times before and finished in first place in the 2017 Saint Louis Invitational.
Tag:
Title:
- International Master
Rating:
- 2502
Federation:
- Centreville, VA
Age:
- 16
Bio:
- IM Praveen Balakrishnan is the 2017 Denker Champion and is also the current Virginia State Champion. Praveen also won the Cadet Championship in 2016. He also led his high school team, Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology of Virginia, to Championship titles in both the blitz and main categories at the National High School Championships held in Columbus, Ohio this year. He won the individual blitz title in that event as well.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2686
Federation:
- Plano, TX
Age:
- 17
Bio:
- Ruifeng began playing chess at five years old. He placed second in the World Youth Chess Championships U-10 section in 2011 and was invited to participate in the Young Stars program, a chess training program coached by Garry Kasparov. Ruifeng received his IM title in 2015 and his Grandmaster title in 2017. Some of Ruifeng’s greatest chess accomplishments include major open tournament wins, such the 2018 and 2016 Philadelphia Opens. He also tied for first in both the 2017 and 2016 North American Opens. Additional notable victories include the 2016 North American Junior Chess Championship and 2016 National Open.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2620
Federation:
- Plymouth, MN
Age:
- 18
Bio:
- Andrew Tang became the first Minnesota homegrown Grandmaster (GM) in November 2017 after tying for first at the Fall Charlotte GM Norm Invitational. He started playing chess in preschool, and earned the National Master title in sixth grade. He earned his International Master (IM) title in August 2014 when he won the North American Junior Chess Championship in Canada as the eighth seed with a dominating score of 7.5/9. Other achievements include tying for first at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championship in El Salvador, becoming a 2016 National High School and 2017 SuperNationals VI K-12 co-champion, and winning the Minnesota State Championship in 2017 and 2018. This is his second time playing in the U.S. Junior Championship in Saint Louis.
Tag:
Title:
- FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2411
Federation:
- Lincolnshire, IL
Age:
- 18
Bio:
- Alex began playing chess at age five. After going 5 and 0 at his first tournament, his passion for chess began. During the 2009 Supernationals IV, his first-place team finish and third place individual finish in the K3 section netted him a college scholarship. In 2013, he took first place in the U14 section at the North America Youth Chess Championships, earning an FIDE Master (FM) title at age 13. His most recent accomplishments include winning the U2300 section at the National Open two summers ago and passing 2400, as well as winning the 2017 Junior Open last summer. Alex will be a freshman at the University of California Berkeley this fall, and this is his first time playing at the U.S. Junior Championship Tournament in Saint Louis.
Tag:
Title:
Rating:
- 2155
Federation:
- New York, NY
Age:
- 16
Bio:
- In 2014, at the age of 11, Sophie tried to learn how to play chess after watching her friends play the game at school. She really enjoyed it, so she decided to play in her first tournament soon afterwards. Since then, her rating skyrocketed to above 1500 in July 2015, and then, in February 2016, she broke the 2000 barrier. Later that year, she won second place in the U14 section of the 2016 All-Girls National Championship. The following year, she won the 2017 New York Girls State Championship and the 2017 All-Girls National Championship (in the U18 section). She also carried the Stuyvesant High School chess team to first place victories in the 2016 K-12 Grade Championships and the 2017 All-Girls National Championship.Besides chess, Sophie’s main passion is singing. She is a member of her school’s chorus and she hopes to become a famous singer one day.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman International Master
Rating:
- 2355
Federation:
- Dublin, OH
Age:
- 18
Bio:
- Maggie Feng started playing chess when she was 8 years old. In 2016, Feng shattered the glass ceiling and became the first female in history to win the U.S. Junior High School Chess Championship with a strong score of 6.5/7. Feng competed in her first U.S. Women’s Chess Championship in 2017 and tied for fourth place; in that tournament, she won her game against the U.S. Women’s Champion Sabina Foisor. Over the course of the same year, she acquired her new title of FIDE Master. In March of 2018, she competed in her 2nd U.S. Women’s Chess Championship and tied for eighth place.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2196
Federation:
- Albany, NY
Age:
- 14
Bio:
- Martha Samadashvili is going to be a freshman at Emma Willard High school in Troy, NY. She enjoys reading and writing, and is a two-time Geography Bee school Champion. She started to play chess in 2012 when she was 8 years old. In 2013 Martha became North American Youth Champion GU10. In 2014, she won the North American Youth Chess Championship GU12, giving her the WFM title. The same summer, she became the Pan American Youth Chess Champion by winning all nine games in the GU10. She became a National Master at the age of twelve in 2017. In the summer of 2017, she also competed in the Match of the Millennials in Saint Louis. In 2018, Martha won the NY State Girls Championship, making her the State Champion.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman Candidate Master
Rating:
- 2217
Federation:
- Davis, CA
Age:
- 12
Bio:
- Rochelle started playing chess at the age of six. She won the gold medal in the 2016 World Cadet Chess Championship U10 Girl section. Her performance has been recognized by Senator Waggoner of Alabama by issuing her a Senate Resolution. In 2017, she took first place in the National Girls Tournament of Champions (NGTOC), which earned her a spot in the 2018 U.S. Girl’s Junior Championship. In addition, Rochelle has been granted the Ursula Foster award twice in NGTOC as a best player under the age of 13. Her other winnings include multiple Alabama Scholastic Championships. At age of 11 1/2, she earned her National Master title. With her success as a young player, she was invited to participate in the Young Stars program, a chess training program coached by Garry Kasparov. Rochelle is continuing her chess exploration despite the challenges she faced when she moved from Alabama to California last summer. She is currently ranked as the No.3 female player under the age of 12 in the World by June 2018 FIDE rating.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman International Master
Rating:
- 2344
Federation:
- Andover, MA
Age:
- 14
Bio:
- At just 14 years of age, Carissa Yip has quickly become one of the top female players in America. Known for her creativity over the board, she enters the tournament with an all time high rating of 2408. Yip has been on a record-shattering pace ever since she learned how to play the game from her father at age 6. Three years later, at age 9, she became the youngest ever to reach the title of Expert. Two years later she broke the record for youngest female to achieve the title of National Master at the age of 11 years, 5 months, and 18 days. Along the way to Master, she set the record for youngest female player to beat a Grandmaster for her win against GM Alexander Ivanov in the New England Open a few days before her 11th birthday.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman International Master
Rating:
- 2285
Federation:
- Austin, TX
Age:
- 15
Bio:
- Emily started playing chess competitively at a young age. She notably won the U.S. Junior Under 8 Championship (Open section) in 2010, the 2012 Pan-American Youth Championships (U10 Girls), and the 2016 North American U20 Girls Championship. She also won the Junior Girls Championship in 2016. Outside of chess, Emily enjoys swimming and playing the piano.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2259
Federation:
- Saint Louis, MO
Age:
- 16
Bio:
- Thalia started playing chess in Cuba, but in 2014 she moved to the United States seeking better chess opportunities. She has won such tournaments as the Susan Polgar Fundation Girls Invitational and KCF US Girls Championship. More recently Thalia has had good results at Carlos Torre Open, North American Open and Continental Championship, where she got a WIM norm. She is a national master, WFM, and member of the SPICE chess program at Webster University. Thalia played this tournament last year as the wild card, and despite being the lowest rated she tied for third place.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2423
Federation:
- Ashburn, VA
Age:
- 16
Bio:
- Jennifer Yu started playing chess when she was seven years old. Chess started to have a greater impact on her life after she moved to Virginia and began to play regularly when she was nine. In 2012, Jennifer played her first World Youth Chess Championships in Slovenia. With a mediocre score, she returned to play the 2013 World Youth and tied for 3rd but unfortunately missed out on a medal because of tie breaks. Jennifer’s first remarkable result came in 2014 when she won gold in World Youth in South Africa in the U12 girls section, the first time an American girl did so in 27 years. From 2014-2016, she won three NGTOC championships and in 2015, she won the VA State Closed Championship as the first girl and youngest person ever. Last November, Jennifer won bronze in the World Junior U20 Championships. She has also participated in the U.S. Women’s Championships for the last four years. Currently, she is on the hunt for her last IM norm.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2161
Federation:
- East Windsor, NJ
Age:
- 15
Bio:
- Sanjana began playing chess at the age of eight and was immediately drawn to the game. At the age of ten, she qualified to represent the United States for the World Youth and has been selected every year since, for a total of three. Sanjana won her first title of WCM by winning the silver medal in the 2013 NAYCC in Toronto, Canada. She won the WFM title by winning gold in the 2015 Pan American Youth Chess Championships in Cali, Colombia. She also won silver in the 2015 NAYCC and 2017 North American Junior Chess Championships. She is a National Master with a WIM norm. Sanjana is the winner of the 2017 Susan Polgar World Open for Girls and she has also been the NJ state champion three years in a row. Sanjana is currently a freshman in high school pursuing STEM. She is also an avid reader and has been trained in classical dance for eight years.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2183
Federation:
- Plymouth, MN
Age:
- 13
Bio:
- Nastassja Matus is thirteen years old and was born and lives in Minnesota. She started playing in chess tournaments when she was around six and a half, but only started playing “professionally” shortly before her first World Youth, when she was eight. Nastassja has gone to the World Youth five times and, last year, achieved second place in Girls Under 12, in Brazil. She also won Susan Polgar’s Girls Invitational Tournament last year and became National Master in October. Along with chess, Nastassja attends math classes at the University of Minnesota and will be starting calculus in September. She is also learning Spanish and likes to play the flute outside of school. In the summer, Nastassja really enjoys biking and swimming outside in the nice warm weather with friends.
Tag: