NorCal Top 20 Masters

GM Sam Shankland in Ningbo, China

FM Yian Liou in Chongqing, China.

Check out the Top 20 Masters in Northern California ranked by their August USCF or FIDE rating.  The top 7 names are identical, and should be familiar to the readers.  The young stars GM Sam Shankland, GM-elect Daniel Naroditsky and FM Yian Liou spent the summer trotting across the country (St. Louis, New York and Washington DC) and flying around the globe (China, Spain, Germany and Latvia), at each destination playing the royal game and representing the USA.

Unfortunately, there are no juniors under age 16 to be found on the international rankings, and just one on the national list.  Indeed, I count merely five players (six on USCF) under age 30, with four of those near the top.  Perhaps we should investigate the "graying of California chess masters" under 2475 USCF or 2400 FIDE.  The Nachwuchs, currently represented only by 13-year old NM Colin Chow, better arrive soon!

	TOP 20 USCF			TOP 20 FIDE
Rank	Name	USCF		Name	FIDE
1	GM Shankland, Sam	2673		GM Shankland, Sam	2599
2	GM DeFirmian, Nick	2586		GM DeFirmian, Nick	2509
3	GM-e Naroditsky, Daniel	2570		GM-e Naroditsky, Daniel	2503
4	IM Zierk, Steven	2543		IM Zierk, Steven	2485
5	GM Browne, Walter	2525		GM Browne, Walter	2454
6	FM Liou, Yian	2491		FM Liou, Yian	2402
7	SM Sharma, Arun	2478		SM Sharma, Arun	2398
8	IM Zilberstein, Dmitry	2454		IM DeGuzman, Ricardo	2397
9	IM Mezentsev, Vladimir	2441		IM Donaldson, John	2390
10	IM DeGuzman, Ricardo	2439		IM Zilberstein, Dmitry	2389
11	IM Pruess, David	2431		IM Mezentsev, Vladimir	2364
12	IM Donaldson, John	2413		IM Pruess, David	2363
13	IM Kaufman, Ray	2408		IM Kaufman, Ray	2326
14	NM Ishkhanov, Tigran	2379		NM Ishkhanov, Tigran	2314
15	IM Tate, Emory	2362		IM Winslow, Elliott	2300
16	NM Manvelyan, Hayk	2340		IM Tate, Emory	2284
17	FM Lee, Andy	2316		FM Cusi, Ronald	2272
18	NM Chow, Colin	2313		NM Manvelyan, Hayk	2270
19	FM Porter, Ryan	2308		FM Cunningham, Robin	2266
20	IM Winslow, Elliott	2280		FM Lee, Andy	2260