2nd Annual Schein-Friedman Awards Announced

PRESS RELEASE

2nd Annual Schein-Friedman Awards Announced !

The Schein – Friedman Scholastic Recognition Project is glad to announce its second year scholarship recipients.

The first and second place recipients were tied by FM Darwin Yang and WIM Alisa Melekhina, who will each receive a $4000 scholarship. Third place goes to Luke Harmon, who will receive a $2000 scholarship.

Darwin Yang, who hails from Texas, is at 12 one of the country’s leading talents. Number 1 for his age group, he is a National Scholastic champion, a Pan American gold medallist, and a bronze medallist at the recent World Youth (under age 12) championship. A NM over 2300, Darwin’s results have been stellar, and his aspirations for reaching the highest title are justified!

Pennsylvania’s Alisa Melekhina is a multi-time US representative and high place finisher at many world championships and other world events. Thanks to an impressive progress in recent years, she is also a NM with a rating of 2300+, a WIM and has her first IM and WGM norm. Alisa is the top girl for her age group, was the youngest participant at the 2007 US Invitational championship.

10-year-old Luke Harmon is an expert level player, and Idaho’s highest rated active player. A two-time National Scholastic champion, he currently ranks at #2 nationally for his age group. Luke has been working hard on his chess, playing in challenging open tournaments, and training vigorously for his goals: an immediate one to become a master, and a longer term other of becoming one of the country’s leading GMs.

The project is designed to help some of our younger champions improve and dedicate themselves more to chess, while offsetting the financial expenses that usually come with those.

Hopefully the project will reward excelling youngsters, and help them become tomorrow’s best players and Grandmasters. At the same time they would be serving as role models and inspiration to the entire scholastic community.

The program is generally designed for youngsters age 7-17. Occasionally, in cases of unusual excellence (considerably exceeding the program’s criterions), applications by players up to age 20 would be considered.

Congratulations to all the recipients!

Mark Schein and Aviv Friedman

FIDE Announces World Cup Qualifiers!

June 15th – FIDE announces World Cup qualifiers!

From the United States:

• Defending World Cup Champion – Gata Kamsky

5 Spots from the 2009 U.S. Championship:

• Hikaru Nakamura
• Robert Hess
• Varuzhan Akobian
• Alexander Onischuk
• Yury Shulman

…and from the 2008 Pan American Continental Championship:

• Jaan Ehlvest

Players will get another opportunity to qualify for the World Cup at the 2009 Continental Championships which will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil from July 25th thru August 2nd.  This event qualifies an extra SIX players!

According to the USCF, “our top five official Continental contenders get free room and board, but anyone over 1800 ELO is eligible to play.” CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

Additional details below from the FIDE website!

From FIDE.com

FIDE announces the first 28 original qualifiers for the World Cup to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, 20 November to 15 December 2009. In a few days the list with qualifiers from the Continental and Zonal Championships 2008-09 will also be published. The regulations of the World Cup can be downloaded here.

QUALIFIERS for the WORLD CUP 2009

a) From World Championship Match 2008:

1. V. Anand (IND – World Champion)

b) From World Cup 2007:

2. G. Kamsky (USA)
3. A. Shirov (ESP)
4. M. Carlsen (NOR)
5. S. Karjakin (UKR)

c) Women’s World Champion 2008:

6. A. Kosteniuk (RUS)

d) Junior World Champions 2007 & 2008:

7. A. Adly (EGY)
8. A. Gupta (IND)

d) From FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:

09. V. Topalov (BUL) 2786,50
10. V. Ivanchuk (UKR) 2780,00
11. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2779,50
12. V. Kramnik (RUS) 2773,50
13. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2752,50
14. P. Leko (HUN) 2746,00
15. L. Aronian (ARM) 2743,50
16. S. Movsesian (SVK) 2737,00
17. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2734,50
18. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2733,00
19. P. Svidler (RUS) 2730,50
20. A. Grischuk (RUS) 2730,50
21. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2726,50
22. M. Adams (ENG) 2723,50
23. R. Ponomariov (UKR) 2722,00
24. Wang Yue (CHN) 2721,50
25. V. Gashimov (AZE) 2720,00
26. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2713,00
27. L. Dominguez Perez (CUB) 2712,50
28. Ni Hua (CHN) 2707,00

e) 90 players from the Continental & Zonal Championships 2008 & 2009:

(to be published soon)…

Reserve players who may qualify by rating, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:

1. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2706,50
2. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) 2706,00
3. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2704,50
4. J. Polgar (HUN) 2702,00
5. S. Rublevsky (RUS) 2700,50
6. H. Nakamura (USA) 2698,00
7. K. Sasikiran (IND) 2697,50
8. Wang Hao (CHN) 2691,00
9. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2690,50
10. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2688,50
11. V. Milov (SUI) 2687,00
12. V. Bologan (MDA) 2686,50
13. V. Akopian (ARM) 2686,50
14. L. Nisipeanu (ROU) 2683,50
15. R. Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2683,00
16. I. Cheparinov (BUL) 2683,00
17. Z. Efimenko (UKR) 2679,00
18. A. Naiditsch (GER) 2679,00
19. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2676,00
20. A. Motylev (RUS) 2675,00

Schein – Friedman Scholastic Recognition Project

Reminder!  Deadline Approaching – June 20, 2009

Schein – Friedman Scholastic Recognition Project: PRESS RELEASE

Mark Schein and Aviv Friedman, in cooperation with the U.S. Chess Trust, are happy to announce their second annual scholastic recognition project.

The project is designed to help some of our younger champions continue to improve and dedicate themselves to chess while offsetting some of the financial expense. The project is designed to reward some top-rated youngsters, and help them become tomorrow’s best players and eventual Grandmasters. These youngsters will be serving as role models and inspiration to the entire scholastic community.

The program is generally designed for youngsters age 7-17. Occasionally, in cases of unusual excellence (considerably exceeding the program’s criterions), applications by players up to age 20 would be considered, but in a lower priority to applicants under age 17.

The scholarships for 2009 are:

The top recipient will get $5,000; the second recipient will get $3,000; and the third $2,000.

Applicants must have been US citizens or permanent legal residents for a minimum of 18 months prior to the deadline date (June 20th for 2009). They must show dedication to chess, talent and accomplishment. They also must exhibit a will to work hard and improve, as well as good sportsmanship and a positive attitude. Applicants must be active tournament players

The minimum ratings qualification formula is as follows:

Ages 7-14: age * 100 + 1000 for boys, and age * 100 + 800 for girls.
Ages 15-16: age * 100 + 900 for boys, and age * 100 + 700 for girls.
Age 17: 2500 for boys, 2300 for girls.

All applications should be in the form of an essay, describing the applicant’s chess accomplishments, and why he or she should receive a scholarship.

They should be sent via e-mail to Aviv Friedman at avivster@hotmail.com .

2009 Hall of Fame Inductees (August 9, 2009)

Burt Hochberg and GM John Fedorowicz will be inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame at the U.S. Chess Federation Awards Banquet in Indianapolis.

When: Saturday, August 9, 2009 at 12 noon
Where: Indianapolis Marriott East Hotel

GM John Fedorowicz has accepted and will be present at the awards banquet. Burt Hochberg’s widow Carol, will be attending as well.

Stay tuned for more coverage!