Third Annual ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship
The 2014 ChessKid National Online Invitational Championship will take place live on ChessKid.com TV and will feature 30 of the nation's best and brightest young players. Included in the field are four national masters, a senior master, and many USCF National Schaolastic champions and World Youth medalists.
New for this year is a "6 and Under" section. Although five of the six players have turned seven since qualifying, the lone six-year-old has a peak rating above 1600!
The event, which is an officially recognized national championship by the USCF, will consist of five sections of six-player round robins. Games will be Friday June 6 to Sunday June 8, 2014 and will feature live commentary from ChessKid.com Director of Content FM Mike Klein and Vice-President IM Danny Rensch.
This tournament was envisaged as way for top American youngsters to face their peers in a rare round robin format. The online capability greatly reduces costs that families would incur to have their children be challenged in a far away event.
All players receive free one year Diamond Membership to Chess.com, one year Gold Membership to ChessKid.com, a free t-shirt, hoodie, hat and wristband. The top three finishers will receive a custom engraved plaque and the winner of each section will be awarded a $300 scholarship to be used for lessons with a top trainer.
Below is a complete list of players and pairings. Ages and ratings in the tables are current and not necessarily the same as at the time of qualification.
6 and Under
| # | Name | Rtg | Age | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | State |
| 1 | James Oh | 1482 | 7 |  |
NY | ||||||
| 2 | Chen, Andrew | 1435 | 7 | |
NJ | ||||||
| 3 | Arthur Xu | 1368 | 7 | |
IL | ||||||
| 4 | Lucas Foerster-Yialamas | 1575 | 6 | |
NY | ||||||
| 5 | Anshul Gokul | 1154 | 7 | |
GA | ||||||
| 6 | Vishnu Vanapalli | 1515 | 7 | |
NC |
8 and Under
| # | Name | Rtg | Age | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | State |
| 1 | Justin Wang | 1839 | 8 | |
TX | ||||||
| 2 | Benjamin Medina | 1845 | 9 | |
NY | ||||||
| 3 | Atreya Vaidya | 1866 | 9 | |
TX | ||||||
| 4 | Winston Ni | 1826 | 9 | |
NJ | ||||||
| 5 | Andrew Tang | 1761 | 8 | |
TX | ||||||
| 6 | Chinguun Bayaraa | 1842 | 8 | |
CA |
10 and Under
| # | Name | Rtg | Age | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | State |
| 1 | Kevin Chor | 1943 | 9 | |
AZ | ||||||
| 2 | Ajay Krishnan | 1931 | 10 | |
CA | ||||||
| 3 | Kevin S. Yang | 2001 | 10 | |
CA | ||||||
| 4 | Daniel Levkov | 1893 | 10 | |
NY | ||||||
| 5 | Anthony Ge | 1944 | 10 | |
CA | ||||||
| 6 | Alexander Costello | 1942 | 10 | |
CA |
12 and Under
| # | Name | Rtg | Age | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | State |
| 1 | Praveen Balakrishnan | 2294 | 11 | |
NJ | ||||||
| 2 | John M. Burke | 2271 | 12 | |
NJ | ||||||
| 3 | Ruifeng Li | 2409 | 12 | |
TX | ||||||
| 4 | Marcell Szabo | 2140 | 13 | |
WA | ||||||
| 5 | Albert Lu | 2250 | 13 | |
CA | ||||||
| 6 | Michael Wang | 2216 | 12 | |
CA |
Girls 13 and Under
| # | Name | Rtg | Age | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | State |
| 1 | Anupama Rajendra | 1976 | 14 | |
WI | ||||||
| 2 | Joanna Liu | 2017 | 12 | |
CA | ||||||
| 3 | Emily Nguyen | 2051 | 11 | |
TX | ||||||
| 4 | Chenyi Zhao | 1665 | 10 | |
CA | ||||||
| 5 | Julia Sevilla | 1823 | 12 | |
CA | ||||||
| 6 | Priya Trakru | 1910 | 13 | |
TX |
- Round 1 will be Friday June 6 at 7 pm EST (New York time): 3-6, 5-4, 1-2
- Round 2 will be Saturday June 7 at 11 am EST: 2-6, 4-1, 3-5
- Round 3 will be Saturday June 7 at 5 pm EST: 6-5, 1-3, 4-2
- Round 4 will be Sunday June 8 at 11 am EST: 6-4, 5-1, 2-3
- Round 5 will be Sunday June 8 at 5 pm EST: 1-6, 2-5, 3-4
Company Contact and News Accreditation:
- Email: Mike@chess.com
- Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
- Address: PO Box 60400 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
