Joining the team this year are:
IM Irina Krush returns to the Knights after a one year hiatus. She recently won her second consecutive US Women's Chess Championship.
FM Akshat Chandra is making his USCL debut. Akshat is the 2013 K-9 champion, 4th ranked 14 year old in the United States and 11th in the world U14 (FIDE). He scored an impressive 6/9 at the New York International , netting his first IM norm. Akshat's ambitions are justifiably high (http://questtogm.com/).
NM Alex King joins the Knights from the Manhattan Applesauce. He started last year's season by beating the Knights (NM Nicolas Checa) and helped eliminate us from the Quarterfinals (NM Alexander Katz) en route to a Board 4/2nd Team All-Star award. Alex is a noted chess coach and a great addition to the team.
FM Aravind Kumar is also making his USCL debut. Aravind is the 7th ranked 11 year old in the United States and 32nd in the world U12 (FIDE). He won the 2012 Pan American U10 with a sparkling 8.5/9, netting him the FM title. Aravind was =4th at the 2013 Bradley Open and scored a strong 50% at the Manhattan Open, losing only to the aforementioned NM Katz.
Returning are:
GM Tamaz Gelashvili
GM Pascal Charbonneau
FM Michael Bodek (2nd ranked 15 year old and #27 U16 in the world!)
SM Matt Herman
FM Justus Williams (4th ranked 15 year old and 2013 US Cadet co-champion, winning the playoff!)
NM Nicolas Checa (2nd ranked 12 year old, having gained over 200 pts in twelve months!)
Our opening match is on Wednesday, August 28th against the New Jersey Knockouts
Board 1: Benjamin-Charbonneau
Board 2: Krush-Gulko
Board 3: Katz-King (rematch!)
Board 4: Checa-der Manuelian
Many thanks to our sponsors, ChessNYC!
--Matt Herman
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