More from the Illinois Open

Jimi Akintonde is a very talented young player with a predilection for concrete, forcing play. Tam Nguyen may seem mild-mannered, but I've never known him to back down from a fight. And if the opening is the Sãmisch Variation of the King's Indian, the game will be entertaining.

Illinois players at National Junior High School - final results

Several Illinois players tied for fifth place in the National Junior High School championships in Minneapolis last weekend.  Congratualtions to Maximillian Zinski (who's gained 199 rating points in the past ten days), Gavin McClanahan, and Jimi Daniel Akintonde (who knocked off a player rated more than four hundred points higher in the last round!).  All three players are seventh-graders with one more shot at the title....

St. Michael's School in Wheaton (Zinski, Nathaniel Kranjc, Grant Kozeny, and Joseph Ives) took 11th place 

Results are here: click on "K-8 Championship."