In July, 17-year-old Dobbs Ferry resident Nicholas Checa is headed to the U.S. Junior Championship to compete for a grand total $20,600 prize purse. The tournament is the country’s most elite, invitation-only junior chess competition, and is being held in the U.S. Chess Capital of St. Louis at the Saint Louis Chess Club from July 10 to 20.
Checa’s first big chess achievement was in 2012 when he became the U12 national champion in the USCF/Chess.com invitational championship. He has since been a member of the All-American Chess Team. At age 11, he became the youngest New York State champion in history – a record that he still holds. The year 2015 brought continued success, as he tied for fifth place in the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece, where he was the official U.S. player in the U14 section.
All eyes will be on 17-year-old Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Yu, who made history as the first teenager to win the U.S. Women’s Championship in nearly 20 years this March with a dominating 10/11 score. Yu will be competing for her share of the $20,000 prize fund against all male opponents in the U.S. Junior Championship, as well as the coveted qualifier spot to the 2019 U.S. Chess Championship.
Alongside her in the field will be other talented juniors, including previous U.S. Junior Champion Awonder Liang.
