2019 Saint Louis Norm Congress

Cemil Can was born in Ankara at 1998. He achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 19 and has a peak FIDE rating of 2552.  He has uniquely won the European Youth Chess Championships five times, once in each age category. Additionally, he has represented Turkey in the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiad. Cemil Can currently resides in Saint Louis where he is a junior studying Computer Engineering at Saint Louis University. He has been an active member of the SLU Chess Team since September 2016, and competed on the Saint Louis Archbishops team this year, who have qualified for the Pro Chess League Finals.

Brian Sebastian Escalante Ramirez (September 20, 1999) is an International Master with a 2460 FIDE rating who was born in Tarapoto, Peru. His first sign of interest in chess was at the age of 5 years when he saw his father and brother playing the game, and his father taught him the basics of chess. Soon after, Brian started training with his first coach, Jose Luis Chong Sanchez, and playing in scholastic tournaments. In 2011, he started competing in international tournaments such as the Pan American Youth Chess Championships and World Youth Chess Championships. In 2014, he achieved the Fide Master title by winning the under age 15 section of the Pan-American School Chess Championship. In 2017, he got his IM title and his first GM norm by winning the gold medal in the Pan-American Junior U20 Chess Championship. In 2018, he competed in the tiebreaks of the American Continental Championship, but did not manage to qualify for the World Cup. Currently, Brian is a freshman at Webster University, majoring in Management. He dedicates all of his accomplishments to his family, who have always supported him throughout whole chess career.