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April 17 2012
Congratulations to: National Master Eric Rosen, a senior at Niles North High School and a coach for two years at our Sherwood club, who took 2nd place at the National High School Chess Championship in Minneapolis on the weekend. Eric was also the co-winner of the national Bughouse Championship and led the Niles North team to a 5th place team finish. Niles won the Illinois state high school championship in February. … and to Jonathan Hrach, an 8th grader at Elm Place Middle School “playing up” in the high school national championship section, who finished in the top third of all competitors, ahead of dozens of higher-rated players. Hrach also finished 38th out of 268 players in the national Blitz K-12 championship, a spectacular showing for an 8th grader. His USCF rating is now 1781. * * * 105 players attended our April 14th tournament, including a record number of strong players from outside the district. The event was held at Northwood Middle School. Joey Harrigan, a 6th grader at Northwood, captured first place in the tournament’s largest and toughest section, for advanced players. Joey, a product of the advanced class at the Wayne Thomas club, has been coached by both Leo Vilker, the former Sherwood club director, and Eric Rosen (see above). Ezra Boldizsar, a 4th grader at Wayne Thomas and long-time top Highland Park player, captured 2nd place in the section. Other strong finishers from Highland Park in the advanced section were Harrison Burns (Northwood, 6th place), Sam Lichtman (Indian Trail, 7th place), Evan Rosenblum (Indian Trail, 9th place), Max Kaplan (Indian Trail, 10th place) and Patrick Tippens (Northwood, 14th place). Among the attendees were 16 players from Goudy Elementary School in Chicago, the strongest K-8 team in the city. Goudy won the 1st Place team trophy, 3 points ahead of the Wayne Thomas-Northwood team. There were also large contingents from Glenview and Evanston. Other top Highland Park finishers, with their schools and sections, were Jason Rosenblum (Indian Trail, 2nd place, 4-8), Uly Noffsinger (Indian Trail, 11th place, 4-8), Christopher Arzac (Wayne Thomas, 12th place, 4-8), Ethan Peal (Indian Trail, 5th place, 2-3), Dylan McDonough (Indian Trail, 6th place, 2-3), Colin Huh (Oak Terrace, 7th place, 2-3), Charlie Tiemeyer (Oak Terrace, 8th place, 2-3), Levi Goldberg (Indian Trail, 9th place, 2-3), Ethan Noffsinger (Indian Trail, 10th place, 2-3), Andrew Kourkine (Indian Trail, 11th place, 2-3), Gabe Goldstein (Wayne Thomas, 2nd place, K-1), Zach Lichtman (Indian Trail, 4th place, K-1), Carl Tatelli (Oak Terrace, 5th place, K-1), Charlie Goldberg (Indian Trail, 6th place, K-1), Nancy Flores (Oak Terrace, 7th place, K-1), and William Robles (Oak Terrace, 8th place, K-1). Also among the top competitors were two participants in the Highland Park Library’s Saturday drop-in chess program playing in their first tournaments: Charles Storczer (St. Patrick’s, 9th place, 4-8) , and Cooper Evans (Indian Trail, 10th place, K-1). Full results should be posted today under Tournaments/Results at left. * * * Bryce Robertson, a senior at Highland Park High School, was recognized at the April tournament for his outstanding contributions over four years to the District 112 chess program. Bryce set up the program’s website, served for more than two years as our chief tournament director, and provided technical and other assistance on a continuing basis. We will miss Bryce sorely but wish him well next fall, when he will be attending Emory University in Atlanta. * * * Welcome to Dan Wolf, our newest coach, who is teaching the advanced group at Wayne Thomas. Dan is a FIDE Master with a distinguished record in international chess. Born in Romania, Dan played for the Romanian Under-21 team, was Romania’s student champion, and a finalist in the Romanian national championship. He has lived in Israel, South Africa and France, and attained a FIDE rating of 2385. Dan also helps coach the Highland Park High School team. * * * Welcome also to Gopal Menon, a National Master who is teaching advanced players at Oak Terrace. Gopal made his Highland Park debut playing a simultaneous exhibition on December 9th against 82 players at Oak Terrace and won all his games. He joins what we believe is the strongest coaching staff in the state (see below). Sadly, but with many thanks, we say goodbye to Adarsh Jayakumar, our advanced coach at Wayne Thomas and also a National Master, who is devoting his spare time next semester to international competitions needed to achieve “IM Norms,” special points needed to become an International Master. Best of luck to Adarsh and we wish him the best. We are in the process of filling the coaching vacancy at Wayne Thomas. * * * Our teaching program continues to grow with what we believe is the state’s best coaching staff. Highland Park has featured a three-tiered system in each club, with instruction available at the beginner, intermediate and advanced level. This year, we added “Level 4” instruction for the district’s top players, who meet on Fridays at 4:30 at Oak Terrace. International Master Florin Felecan uses a Promethean board and combines top-level analysis with an easy style, keeping the kids engaged and leaving observers impressed at the pace, warmth and quality of his teaching. Visitors are welcome. Jonathan Kogen, a sophomore at Deerfield High School, took over as Indian Trail’s advanced coach this fall. Kogen is a long-time member of the state’s elite Warren Junior Scholars Program and has a USCF rating of 2148. Chad Hirsch, a freshman at Northeastern University and former top player on the state championship Niles North High School team, teaches at Lincoln. Another strength of the Highland Park program is that many of our top student players serve as coaches. Our top two student players, Jonathan Hrach (rated 1781) and Elli Faletsky (1230) coach at Sherwood and Oak Terrace. Other Highland Park student coaches include Ally Connors and Andre Cochran at Wayne Thomas, Sam Lichtman and Jack Kirkwood at Indian Trail, Mason Bates at Lincoln, Jacob Vilker at Sherwood, Michael Vilker at Sherwood and Indian Trail, and Emmanuel Guzman-Vega, Caitlin Hong, Harrison Burns, Mitchell Svetov and Jacob Hersh at Oak Terrace. * * * Drop-in Chess at the Highland Park Library is finished for the school year. We’ll post new dates when we have them in the section "Our Clubs and Library Programs." * * * Want more details about youth chess in Illinois? The Youth Committee of the Illinois Chess Association (ICA) has put together content considered by some to be among the best in the nation. The content is designed to foster the development of new clubs, provide an overview of youth chess in the state, and provide resources for parents, principals, coaches, and club directors. Go to www.il-chess.org and click the “Youth Chess” button. The content includes detailed guides on starting a youth chess program and on tournament play; a list of recommended curricula, including software and websites; an updated summary of the research on the value of chess; profiles of community-wide programs in Illinois; a summary of the major youth tournaments in the state; and lists of Illinois’ past youth champions. (Top current players are listed in the Warren Program section.) But there’s much more, and ICA is at work on additional sections including lists of clubs (with contact information) throughout the state. All the new content can be downloaded in pdf format. * * * Scheduling problems? Some kids are unable to attend particular clubs because of schedule conflicts with other after-school activities, but we can usually accommodate these kids in another club with a different schedule. We’ll be glad to help you find a suitable club. Registration forms for all clubs appear (or will shortly appear) in their respective sections of this website. To access those sections, “Create an account” at left (if you haven’t already done so). * * * Is your child ready for more? Consider our Tutors program. Most of our coaches do private tutoring for individuals or small groups, and approximately 30 kids in the district took advantage of this opportunity during the past year. See “Resources/Tutors.”
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