FIDE Rated NorCal Kids - December 2012

NM Cameron

NM Kesav

Back in the dark ages, or even at the turn of this millennium, earning an official FIDE rating served as a rite of passage for a rising young chess player.  Few opportunities existed to play internationally rated games in the Bay Area, and the old rating floor of 2000 FIDE meant only the best had a shot..  IM John Donaldson and Anthony Corrales at the Mechanics' Institute organized a series of rating tournaments designed to meet this need.  Most of the elite juniors from that generation picked up their international rating this way.  Still, the number of local kids with a published FIDE rating never exceeded a handful at a time.

Times change!  At the end of 2012, more than 30 NorCal juniors are rated, with 3 above 2300 and another 13 over 2000.  On average, a player's USCF rating exceeds the FIDE by 50 to 100 points.  Since FIDE rates only slow games, someone who performs better at G/45 or G/60 will be ranked lower.  Indeed, many masters believe the FIDE rating holds more meaning than USCF, in part because faster games do not count.

NORCAL TOP 20 FIDE RATED JUNIORS

1	IM Naroditsky, Daniel	2483 + GM norm
2	SM Young, Greg	2367
3	FM Liou, Yian	2352 + IM norm
4	SM Sevian, Sam	2343 + 2 IM norms
5	NM Wheeler, Cameron	2165
6	NM Viswanadha, Kesav	2130
7	Liu, Daniel	2095
8	Apte, Neel	2086
9	Tong, Benjamin	2064
10	Chow, Colin	2062
11	Zhu, Jack	2047
12	Shin, Kyle	2046
13	Panchanatham, Vignesh	2033
14	Klotz-Burwell, Hunter	2026
15	Beilin, Allan	2018
16	Nagarajan, Pranav	2009
17	FM Vasudeva, Tanuj	1999
18	Iyengar, Udit	1988
19	Richter, Paul	1957
20	Moy, Kevin	1945

Please contact me at michael(at)fpawn(dot)com if I overlooked someone.