2012 All-America Chess Team Announced

(Crossville, TN) The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is pleased to announce the 2012 All-America Team sponsored by Trophies Plus. Team members were announced at the 2011 National K-12 held this past November in Dallas, Texas. Each member of the 2012 All-America Team receives a team jacket and plaque.

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, 2011, and their peak post-tournament rating from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. 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.

The All-America Team is sponsored by Trophies Plus of Templeton, Iowa. Trophies Plus has sponsored the team since 2004. In addition to the support provided for this award, Doyle Engelen, owner of Trophies Plus, provides trophies for national tournaments as well as post-tournament trophy shipping. The USCF is 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 website: www.trophiesplus.com or call them at 800.397.9993.

The United States Chess Federation wishes to congratulate each of the fifty members of this year’s All-America Team for receiving this prestigious award!

2012 USCF All-America Team Sponsored by Trophies Plus:

Age 18 (minimum peak rating 2450):

• Marc Tyler Arnold, NY

Age 17 (minimum peak rating 2400):

• Steven Zierk, CA
• Conrad Holt, KS
• Victor Shen, NJ
• Raven Sturt, NY
• Alec Getz, NY

Age 16 (minimum peak rating 2350):

• Ray Robson, FL
• William Fisher, PA

Age 15 (minimum peak rating 2300):

• Daniel Naroditsky, CA
• Robert Perez, FL

Age 14 (minimum peak rating 2250):

• Darwin Yang, TX
• Alexsandr Ostrovskiy, NY
• David Adelberg, AZ
• Atulya Shetty, MI

Age 13 (minimum peak rating 2250):

• Yian Liou, CA
• Michael Bodek, NY
• Kevin Wang, MD
• Arthur Shen, NJ
• Daniel Gurevich, GA
• Varun Krishnan, CA
• Michael William Brown, CA
• Jarod Pamatmat, TX

Age 12 (minimum peak rating 2200):

• Kayden Troff, UT
• Luke Harmon-Vellotti, ID
• Christopher Gu, RI
• Justus Williams, NY
• Joshua Colas, NY
• Mika Brattain, MA

Age 11 (minimum peak rating 2100):

• Dachey Lin, TX
• Kesav Viswanadha, CA
• Andrew Tang, MN

Age 10 (minimum peak rating 2050):

• Jeffery Xiong, TX
• Samuel Sevian, CA
• Tommy O. He, TX
• Cameron Wheeler, CA
• Jonathan Chiang, TX
• Roland Feng, WA
• Kadhir Pillai, NY

Age 9 (minimum peak rating 1900):

• Albert Lu, CA
• Ruifeng Li, TX
• Bovey Liu, TX
• Brandon Nydick, NY
• John Michael Burke, NJ
• Michael Wang, CA

Age 8 & Under (minimum peak rating 1800):

• Praveen Balakrishnan, NJ
• Awonder Liang, WI
• Aravind Kumar, NJ
• Rayan Taghizadeh, CA
• David Peng, IL
• Andrew Titus, MN

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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: www.uschess.org.