FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR #33 of 2007
Contact:
Jerry Nash
[email protected]

(Crossville, TN)  The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is pleased to announce the 2008 All-America Team sponsored by Trophies Plus.  Team members will be introduced at the 2007 National K-12/Collegiate Championship held in Houston, Texas, December 7th – 9th.  Each member of the 2008 All America Team who attends the event will be presented with a team jacket and plaque by Jerry Nash, Scholastic Director of the USCF.

The All America Team was created in 1987 to honor the very best players ages 18 and under. The team, one of the highest national honors attainable by a young chess player, is selected on the basis of age, rating, and activities during that year, similar to the selection process of “all conference” sports teams. This year’s candidates were selected based on their age as of January 1, 2007 and their peak post-tournament rating from July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.  Since this award is a “post season” selection, the minimum rating limits in each age group are reviewed annually by the USCF staff and the USCF Scholastic Council.

For the fourth year in a row the All America Team is being sponsored by Trophies Plus of Templeton, Iowa.  In addition to providing trophies for national tournaments, owner Doyle Engelen of Trophies Plus has also provided service with after-tournament trophy shipping. We are proud to have Trophies Plus as a part of scholastic chess by sponsoring this year’s All-America Team.  You can visit Trophies Plus at their web site http://www.trophiesplus.com or call them at 800-397-9993.

We wish to congratulate all of the members of this year’s All-America Team for receiving this prestigious award! It is with great pleasure that we announce the 39 members of the 2008 USCF All America Team Sponsored by Trophies Plus:

Age 18 (minimum peak rating 2450)
No Qualifiers

Age 17 (minimum peak rating 2400)
Salvijus Bercys, NY
Alex Lenderman, NY
Joel Cholo B. Banawa, CA

Age 16 (minimum peak rating 2350)
Daniel J. Ludwig, FL

Age 15 (minimum peak rating 2300)
Robert L. Hess, NY
Warren Harper, TX

Age 14 (minimum peak rating 2250)
Marc Tyler Arnold, NY

Age 13 (minimum peak rating 2200)
Mark Heimann, PA
Victor Shen, NJ
Michael Lee, WA
Alexander Heimann, PA
Alec Getz, NY

Age 12 (minimum peak rating 2100)
Ray S. Robson, FL
Parker Bi Guang Zhao, NY
Michael Yang, MN

Age 11 (minimum peak rating 2000)
Daniel A. Naroditsky, CA
Gregory Young, CA
Christopher Heung, FL
Ryan Joseph Moon, GA
Andrew C. Wang, MA

Age 10 (minimum peak rating 1900)
Darwin Yang, TX
Alexsandr Ostrovskiy, NY
Eric Zhang, CA
Srikar Varadaraj, OH
Atulya Shetty, MI

Age 9 (minimum peak rating 1850)
Brian J. Luo, WI
Varun Krishnan, CA
Kevin Wang, MD
Fernando Spada, TX
Alexander Velikanov, WI
Danil Fedunov, CA
Jarod M. Pamatmat, TX
David A. Hua, NJ

Age 8 (minimum peak rating 1700)
Nicolas Nip, CA
Benjamin Moon, GA
Christopher Wu, NJ
Kayden William Troff, UT
Raymond Sun, TX
Mika Andrew Brattain, MA

The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.