Sunday, July 23

NorCal Top 100 Lists


An incredible total of 145 boys and girls from Northern California earned recognition on the NorCal Top 100 Lists, which are compiled using the monthly US Chess Top 100 Lists. The junior rankings include 34 titled players, including 22 masters, 3 IMs and one WIM. The most competitive ages range from 10 to 12 and 16 to 17, each year with at least a dozen representatives. Hearty congratulations to all of these kids, their parents and coaches!

More than 90 of these talented youngsters hold a published FIDE rating recognizable around the globe, including almost all those age 12 or older. Merely a dozen years ago, the number was in the single digits. Many young globe trotters already represented California and the United States abroad, either at Pan American Youth or at the World Youth and World Cadet festivals. Indeed, success in chess can serve as a passport to travel.

Without further ado, I present the cream of the crop, the Best of the West. Check out my website for the complete NorCal Top 100 Lists for July 2017.


GOLD MEDAL (Top 5)
  • SM Jack Zhu #5 age 18
  • IM Vignesh Panchanatham #3 age 17 and National Champion K-12 
  • IM Kesav Viwanadha #4 age 17 and National Champion K-12
  • IM Cameron Wheeler #4 age 16
  • WIM Ashritha Eswaran #4 girls 16-18
  • SM Rayan Taghizadeh #4 age 14 and National Champion K-9
  • SM Andrew Hong #1 age 12
  • NM Balaji Daggupati #4 age 12
  • ** WCM Rochelle Wu #2 girls 10-12
  • NM Christopher Yoo #2 age 10
  • Rui Yang Yan #5 girls 10-12
  • ** Eric Li #2 age 9
  • CM Sriram Krishnakumar #3 age 8
** recently moved to California


SILVER MEDAL (Top 15)
  • NM Gabriel Bick (18)
  • FM Ladia Jirasek (16)
  • NM Siddharth Banik (16)
  • NM Michael Wang (15)
  • NM Ivan Ke (14)
  • FM Josiah Stearman (13)
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan (12)
  • CM Chinguun Bayaraa (11)
  • Kevin Pan (11)
  • WCM Aksithi Eswaran (11)
  • Adrian Kondakov (9)
  • WCM Ashley Pang (9)
  • WCM Anika Rajaram (8)

BRONZE MEDAL (Top 30)
  • NM Teemu Virtanen (18)
  • NM Allan Beilin (18)
  • NM Pranav Nagarajan (17)
  • NM Colin Chow (17)
  • NM Art Zhao (17)
  • NM Richard Yi (17)
  • Sophia Li (17)
  • Kimberly Liu (14)
  • Justin Feng (13)
  • David Pan (13)
  • Alex Kolay (12)
  • Maurya Palusa (11)
  • Krishna Nathan (11)
  • Vyom Vidyarthi (10)
  • Shawnak Shivakumar (9)
  • Kally Wen (9)
  • Nitish Nath (8)
  • Shaaketh Sivakumar (8)
  • Omya Vidyarthi (7)
  • Ryan Wang (7)

NorCal Top 20 JHS & High School (Age 12-17)

Presenting the three young Bay Area International Masters: Cameron Wheeler,
Vignesh Panchanatham and Kesav Viswanadha. Credit: USChess and ChessDryad

USCF Rating List
July 2017
Age as of July 1
  1. IM Wheeler, Cameron (16) 2486
  2. IM Panchanatham, Vignesh (17) 2477
  3. IM Viswanadha, Kesav (17) 2471
  4. SM Hong, Andrew Z (12) 2422
  5. SM Taghizadeh, Rayan (14) 2417
  6. FM Jirasek, Ladia (16) 2369
  7. NM Wang, Michael (15) 2338
  8. NM Banik, Siddharth (16) 2321
  9. NM Ke, Ivan (14) 2303
  10. FM Stearman, Josiah P (13) 2290
  11. NM Nagarajan, Pranav (17) 2264
  12. NM Daggupati, Balaji (12) 2247
  13. WIM Eswaran, Ashritha (16) 2231
  14. NM Chow, Colin (17) 2223
  15. NM Zhao, Art (17) 2218
  16. NM Yi, Richard (17) 2211
  17. nm Wang, Michael Lei (17) 2194
  18. Pan, Christopher (16) 2192
  19. Ravuri, Vinesh (16) 2170
  20. nm Iyengar, Udit (17) 2161
http://www.fpawn.com/NorCalTop20Juniors.pdf

NorCal Top 20 Elementary (Age 11 & Under)

Christopher Yoo became the youngest master in US history
at 30 days before his 10th birthday. Credit: USChess

USCF Rating List
July 2017
Age as of July 1
  1. NM Yoo, Christopher (10) 2235
  2. CM Bayaraa, Chinguun (11) 2112
  3. WCM Wu, Rochelle (11) 2082
  4. Pan, Kevin (11) 2051
  5. Li, Eric Yuhan (9) 2040
  6. Palusa, Maurya (11) 1974
  7. Yan, Rui Yang (10) 1970
  8. Vidyarthi, Vyom (10) 1958
  9. Nathan, Krishna (11) 1953
  10. CM Krishnakumar, Sriram (8) 1945
  11. Kondakov, Adrian (9) 1884
  12. Peng, Andrew Wayne (11) 1876
  13. Boldi, Ethan (10) 1838
  14. Sairam, Pranav (10) 1809
  15. WCM Eswaran, Aksithi (11) 1801
  16. Thirumalai, Atul (11) 1800
  17. CM Nachiappan, Aghilan (10) 1795
  18. Shivakumar, Shawnak (9) 1781
  19. Kamath, Atul (10) 1766
  20. Zhang, Nathaniel A (11) 1763
http://www.fpawn.com/NorCalTop20Juniors.pdf

Time odds: Mamedyarov versus Yoo


Time odds: white has 25 seconds and black has 3 minutes
White is GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (#6 in World)
Black is 10 y/o NM Christopher Yoo (youngest master in US history)
White wins
Credit: San Jose Hackers chess camp @ Bay Area Chess

Blitz: Naroditsky versus Mamedyarov


3-minute blitz
White is GM Daniel Naroditsky (#111 in World)
Black is GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (#6 in World)
Black wins
Credit: San Jose Hackers chess camp @ Bay Area Chess

NorCal Top 20 Women

Some top women are just girls. Here 10 y/o Rui Yan (white) faces California newcomer
11 y/o Rochelle Wu at the 2017 People's Tournament. Credit: Bay Area Chess

USCF Rating List
July 2017
  1. WIM Eswaran, Ashritha 2231
  2. WFM Byambaa, Uyanga (MGL) 2232
  3. NM Tsodikova, Natalya 2202
  4. WFM Tsegmed Munkhchuluun (MGL) 2132
  5. Saikhanchimeg Tsogtsaikhan (MGL) 2128
  6. WCM Wu, Rochelle 2082
  7. Yan, Rui Yang 1970
  8. Liu, Kimberly 1941
  9. WIM Haring, Ruth 1938
  10. Li, Sophia 1881
  11. Chatterjee, Trina 1860
  12. WCM Garai, Antara 1854
  13. Goodkind, Lauren 1849
  14. Ravindran, Ashwini (IND) 1849
  15. Nayberg, Simona 1840
  16. Hasteer, Divija 1810
  17. WCM Eswaran, Aksithi 1801
  18. Show, Serafina 1796
  19. Goodkind, Barbara 1795
  20. Meiyappan, Annapoorni 1760

NorCal Top 20

Two future Grandmasters battle at the 2007 CalChess Scholastics.
Daniel Naroditsky plays white against Sam Shankland. Credit: ChessDryad

USCF Rating List
July 2017
  1. GM Shankland, Sam 2752
  2. GM Negi, Parimarjan (IND) 2742
  3. GM Naroditsky, Daniel 2733
  4. GM Zviad Izoria 2702
  5. GM Holt, Conrad 2647
  6. GM Chirila, Ioan Cristian (ROU) 2630
  7. GM DeFirmian, Nick 2576
  8. IM Zierk, Steven 2555
  9. GM Sevillano, Enrico 2510
  10. IM Wheeler, Cameron 2486
  11. IM Panchanatham, Vignesh 2477
  12. IM McCambridge, Vincent 2475
  13. IM Viswanadha, Kesav 2471
  14. SM Sharma, Arun 2468
  15. IM Zilberstein, Dmitry 2466
  16. IM Kavutskiy, Kostya 2456
  17. IM Coleman, Teddy 2440
  18. IM DeGuzman, Ricardo (PHI) 2431
  19. SM Zhu, Jack Q 2422
  20. SM Hong, Andrew Z 2421