U.S. Junior Chess Championship 2012 Begins Today

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Round 1 of the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship begins today in Saint Louis, and the marquee match-up pits GM-elect conrad Holt against IM Darwin Yang, who recently secured his second GM norm last month at the New York International. The first round begins at 11 a.m. CT, Noon EST, and the event will feature live play-by-play from GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman. Round two will take place today at 5 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. ET. Access the live commentary by visiting www.uschesschamps.com/live.

Tournament play will run through July 15, and the event will feature two rounds per day. The event features an overall prize fund of $18,000.

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NY Chess International R3 - IM Darwin Yang Leads with Perfect Score

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The fifth edition of the New York Chess International (June 20-24) being held at Saint John's University and sponsored by the Marshall Chess Club has already witnessed several upsets. The chess tournament began with more than 70 participants including seven Grandmasters and several talented juniors of the US chess fraternity.

First round upsets include: Christopher Gu defeated defending champion IM Robert Hungaski and Kevin Wang beat veteran GM Hecht. Alena Kats won against IM Bonin and WFM Amanda Mateer beat FM Aleksander Ostrovskiy.

Three rounds have been played so far and IM Darwin Yang leads with a perfect score. In second place are 14 players with 2.5 points each: GM Tamaz Gelashvili, GM Giorgi Kacheishvili, IM Marc Tyler Arnold, IM Conrad Holt, GM Mikheil Kekelidze, IM Mackenzie Molner, IM Nikoloz Managadze, IM Dean Ippolito, IM Zhe Quan, IM Raja Panjwani, FM Farai Mandizha, IM Michael A Mulyar, FM Thomas Bartell and FM Victor C Shen.

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