2017 U.S. Junior Championships

After winning a local competition at age 7, Bovey was inspired to start playing chess on national and international levels. He has participated in the 2011 World Youth Chess Championship and the 2013 U.S. World Youth U-16 tournament, and achieved his National Master title at the age of 12. Other accomplishments include the first place (Champion) at the 2016 U.S. Junior Open; the middle school Champion at 2014  in Texas and placed 3^rd in 2014  Barber tournaments of middle school champions in US; and the High School Champion at the 2016 Texas State Championships and placed 3^rd place in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in Indianapolis last August.

Mika learned how to play chess at age 6, and by 10, he had already won a college scholarship by placing first at the 2009 K-5 Chess Super National Championship. He was a participant in the 2014 U.S. Cadet Championship, and the winner of the 2014 83rd Massachusetts Open, where he had victories against two former champions, Alexander Ivanov and Robert Perez. He also placed first in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in Indianapolis last August. This will be Mika’s second appearance at the U.S. Junior Championship in Saint Louis.

Andrew Tang started playing chess in preschool, and earned a National Master title in sixth grade. He earned his IM title in 2014 when he won the North American Junior Chess Championship in Canada as the eighth seed with a dominating score of 7.5/9. He also earned a GM Norm at this event. Other achievements include tying for first at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championship in El Salvador, becoming the 2016 National High School co-champion, earning his second GM Norm at the 25th Kavala International Tournament in Greece, winning the Minnesota State Champion title in 2017, and recently tying for first in the K-12 section at SuperNationals VI this past May in Nashville. This is his first time playing in the U.S. Junior Championship in Saint Louis.

Michael began playing chess in first grade as an after-school hobby. A year later, he began training with a coach, and playing in tournaments. By fourth grade, he was competing in national tournaments, and soon after, Michael began playing internationally. He earned the title of National Master in 2011 and the FIDE master title in May 2014. In spring 2016, Michael broke 2500 USCF, a landmark goal of his. Notable achievements include third place in 2013 World Youth Championship in Dubai (where he placed third), first in the 2015 Utah Open  Championship, and first in the 2016 Utah G/60 Championship. Michael is a junior at Brigham Young University. This will be his second appearance at the U.S. Junior Championship Tournament in Saint Louis.

Awonder Liang is one of the most impressive chess prodigies in recent history. He holds a number of records including youngest ever to defeat an International Master, youngest to defeat a Grandmaster, youngest American to achieve a master rating, and youngest American to achieve the International Master rating.

Other achievements include winning the U8 Open world title (2011), U10 Open world title (2013), tying for first at the 2011 U-8 World Youth Chess Championship, achieving a GM Norm at the 2016 Continental Championships, and placing second in the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship. He enters this tournament having recently dominated Group B of the Spring Classic tournament, held in Saint Louis in May 2017, with a score of 7.5/9. He earned another GM Norm at that event.

Kayden started playing chess at age three when his father, Daniel, taught the game to him and his brothers. After it was discovered that Kayden had a special talent for chess, at age six he began training with Grandmaster Igor Ivanov. He was one of the first young chess players to be selected for participation in the Young Stars - Team USA program, where he was mentored by World Champion Garry Kasparov. He has also trained with GM Alex Chernin, GM Melikset Khachiyan, and GM Sam Shankland.

In addition to winning multiple Utah Scholastic and adult Utah Championships, some highlights of his chess career include winning the 2009 North American Championship (Under 12), placing second at the 2010 World Youth Championship U-12, taking gold in the 2012 World Youth Championship U-14, and competing in the 2013 and 2015 U.S. Chess Championships. Kayden also notably won the 2014 U.S. Junior Closed Championship with an impressive 7/9 score at age 16. You can learn more about Kayden on his website, www.kaydentroff.blogspot.com.

Ruifeng began playing chess at 5 years old. He won the Arkansas State Championship in 2011 at the age of 8, and later that same year placed second in the World Youth Chess Championships U-10 section. In 2012, after this early success, he was invited to participate in the Young Stars program, a chess training program coached by Garry Kasparov. Soon after, Li went on to earn his National Master title. He received his IM title in 2015, and recently earned his title as Grandmaster earlier this year.

Some of Ruifeng’s greatest chess accomplishments include several draws during major chess tournaments against world class players such as Fabiano Caruana, Gata Kamsky, Luke McShane, and Alexey Dreev. Ruifeng also won the 2016 North American Junior Chess Championship. He recently was able to participate in the 2017 Spring Classic tournament in Saint Louis. Ruifeng finished 4th place out of 6 in his group, but had notable draws against GM Sam Sevian.

Thalia Cervantes is junior member of Webster University SPICE program, and is determined to achieve great success in chess. Originally from Cuba, she relocated to Saint Louis to compete at a higher level. Already, she has racked up a number of accomplishments: in the 2016 Chicago Open tournament, Thalia, ranked around #30 her section, dominated and took first in the under 2100 section with a score of 7/7. Thalia also won the 2015 SPF Girls’ U-19 Invitational at age 12, the 2016 All-Girls National U-16 Championship, the 2016 Mid-America Open (U1900 section), and earned bronze in the 2017 All-Girls National U-18 Championship.

Rachel Ulrich comes from a chess-playing family; she and her three siblings all have played chess competitively starting at a young age. Rachel has competed on an international scale in the 2010 World Youth Championship, and nationally at the prestigious Susan Polgar Girls Invitational tournament later that same year. In 2015, she was invited to compete in the U.S. Junior Girls’ Invitational. She is currently the #6 female player under the age of 18 in the United States.