2019 U.S. Junior Championship

Atulya Vaidya is a 20-year-old National Master from Plano, Texas. Atulya is currently a Junior at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is in the Business Honors Program and double majors in Finance. He managed to secure his spot in the U.S. Junior Championship by winning the U.S. Junior Open with a score of 5.5 out of 6.

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.

Craig, a 19-year old native to the Southern California area, is an experienced International Master with one Grandmaster norm. He has beaten several GMs and is known for his sharp intuition and quick calculation. Craig is currently on a full ride scholarship at the University of Texas at Dallas from chess and national merit scholarships. He loves ultimate frisbee, running, reading, meditating, and any activities involving a large adrenaline rush (such as skydiving!)

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.

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.

Brandon Jacobson is a 15 year old International Master from New Jersey. He is currently the highest rated chess player in the United States by age and the highest rated International Master in the country. He also ranks among the top players in the world by birth year. Influenced by his older brother Aaron, Brandon began playing chess at age 4 and has developed an enduring passion for the game. He recently earned his first Grandmaster norm and is working toward earning the Grandmaster title. Brandon was homeschooled and accepted to Columbia University at age 14.

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 2018 SuperNationals VI K-12 co-champion, and winning the Minnesota State Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019.  In addition to his classical chess skills, Andrew is extremely well known online and is one of the best blitz and bullet players out there.  This is his third time playing in the U.S. Junior Championship in Saint Louis.  He resides in Plymouth, MN.