The 2022 U.S. Cadet Championship was held from July 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency in Schaumburg, IL. Eight of the top American players under the age of 16 competed for $2,000 in place prizes and a $10,000 scholarship sponsored by US Chess and the Dewain Barber Foundation. Wilson-Chess and King Tournaments were the co-organizers, and the event was held alongside the 2022 Chicago Summer Open and Blitz.
Rated fifth coming into the event, FM Nico Chasin dominated the event, his six points leaving him a point and a half ahead of IM Arthur Guo in second place. I spoke to Chasin about his victory after the tournament.
Dan: What was going through your mind once you first took the lead?
Nico: Once I took the lead after round three, I was thinking we have four more games to play; anyone can catch me. Later on in the tournament, the lead started to become more meaningful.
Dan: Going into round six, how did you feel and what were your thoughts?
Nico: I felt good heading into the sixth round, but I was expecting the worst outcome: Arthur would win his game against FM Bach Ngo and I would lose mine. So going into the seventh round versus Arthur Guo, I was thinking that I would be okay, as I would have the white pieces. And if we drew and went to a blitz playoff, I felt like I could take him.
The following is Chasin’s sixth round game, where victory gave him the tournament with a round to spare. Thanks to Nico for this exclusive analysis.
Dan: One last question: With so many young chess players looking at your games, what advice would you give these young chess players that look up to you and want to be the best chess player they can be?
Nico: Make sure at the end of the day you remember [chess] is a board game; although it is more than that to many people. You just can't freak out when things don't go your way. You must live and learn as you will not win every game, nor make perfect moves all the time.
I also spoke to FM Ryo Chen who, at age 12, was the youngest player in the field. Chen scored 3/7, tying for fifth place with IM Eddy Tian. Here is his game against IM Arthur Guo with his analysis, exclusively for CLO.
Dan: As the youngest player in the 2022 Cadet Championship, some of the younger players watching you wanted me to ask what advice you would give to young kids trying to become the best chess player they can be.
Ryo: Play as many games as you can. They should also do tactics, but play chess, play online, play over the board, just play a lot of chess.
Quick Links:
2022 US Cadet Championship information and scholarship information
Categories
Archives
- December 2024 (16)
- November 2024 (18)
- October 2024 (35)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (31)
- July 2017 (28)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (36)
- February 2016 (28)
- January 2016 (32)
- December 2015 (26)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)