2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is proud to host the U.S. Junior Closed Championship for the third consecutive year July 10 -15. The top Junior players in the nation will duke it out for the title of U.S.Junior Champion, $18,000 in prizes and a highly coveted invitation to the 2013 U.S. Championship.
Last year, Gregory Young, who was ranked seventh out of 10 players by rating, shocked the field with a superb 7.5/9 score to clinch the title of the 2011 U.S. Junior Closed Champion.
Gregory Young (left) with Ben Finegold at last year's championship
The 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship will be a 16-player event consisting of two eight-player round robins followed by a two-game “Championship Match” between the winners of each. Players will be ordered by rating (March USCF rating supplement) and seeded into the round robins as follows:
| ROUND ROBIN 1 | ||||
| No. | Title | Last Name | First Name | March Rating |
| 1 | IM | Holt | Conrad | 2580 |
| 2 | IM | Yang | Darwin | 2523 |
| 3 | FM | Shen | Victor | 2510 |
| 4 | FM | Getz | Alec | 2412 |
| 5 | NM | Fisher | Will | 2405 |
| 6 | FM | Xiong | Jeffrey | 2369 |
| 7 | NM | Shetty | Atulya | 2323 |
| 8 | NM | Michaelides | Matthew | 2179 |
| Average | 2412.6 | |||
| ROUND ROBIN 2 | ||||
| No. | Title | Last Name | First Name | March Rating |
| 1 | IM | Arnold | Marc | 2560 |
| 2 | IM | Naroditsky | Daniel | 2548 |
| 3 | NM | Perez | Robert | 2483 |
| 4 | FM | Rosen | Eric | 2425 |
| 5 | NM | Sturt | Raven | 2401 |
| 6 | FM | Troff | Kayden | 2392 |
| 7 | NM | Williams | Justus | 2314 |
| 8 | NM | Cao | Kevin | 2233 |
| Average | 2419.5 | |||
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Player biographies can be found here. Live commentary from GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman will begin on Wednesday, July 11th at 11am CST.
If two or more players are tied for first in their round robin, the following math tiebreaks will be used to determine who shall advance to the Championship Match: 1. Direct Encounter, 2. Most Blacks, 3. Koya System, 4. Sonneborn-Berger, 5. Won Games.
The schedule for the tournament is as follows:
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The prize fund breakdown is as follows:
About The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.
Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.
