Flash Report: U.S.A. Takes Gold at XXXIII Pan-American Youth Chess Festival

645 players from 21 countries came to Chicago, IL for the XXXIII Pan-American Youth Chess Festival. The tournament, held August 12 through 18, was organized by the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation in conjunction with the International Chess School, the Confederation of Chess for Americas, and US Chess.

Of the 12 sections (six open sections and six female sections, ranging by age from under-eight to under-18), American players earned 11 gold medals. Only Mia Fernanda Guzman Garcia — the gold medalist in the Under-10 Female section — prevented the clean sweep.

In addition to Guzman Garcia’s gold, Canada and Peru also boasted several medal winners. Indeed, Peru had two individual silver medalists, while Mexico and Canada each had one. Canada also boasted three individual bronze medalists. These were the only three federations (besides U.S.A.) whose players won individual medals.

FM Aviv Friedman served as U.S.A.'s head of delegation (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

IM Pablo Della led Mexico to a second-place finish (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Victoria Doknjas, Canada's head of delegation, accepts the third-place award (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

In the team standings, U.S.A. won the gold (with 58 points!), with Mexico taking silver ahead of Canada (five points each) on tiebreaks. Team scores were tabulated by awarding three points per gold medal, two per silver, and one per bronze. Due to winning an individual gold, Mexico took home the team silver medal on tiebreaks. Peru finished fourth in the team standings, one point behind Mexico and Canada.

This tournament is particularly prestigious due to the opportunity for medalists to earn direct titles. Most noticeably, American Kelsey Liu earned the WIM title. In all, 31 players earned new titles (in addition to several who already had the title they would have earned) across the 12 sections.

Additionally, FM Erick Zhao earned an IM norm for winning the Under-16 Open section and WFM Erin Bian earned a WIM norm.

The nine-round FIDE-rated tournament featured games played at the international classical time control of game-in-90-minutes with a 30-second increment starting from move one. Please check back later this week for annotated games from several of the medalists. (Update 8/25/2023: annotated games are available here)

For now, please see below for photos and norm information on medalists. (Note: for photo captions, please 'hover' your cursor over the photo.)

Robert Shlyakhtenko (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Shlyakhtenko, Hersh Singh (second), Max Rusonik (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-18 Open

First: IM Robert Shlyakhtenko (USA), 7/9

Second: Hersh Singh (USA), 6½/9

Third: CM Max Rusonik (CAN), 6½/9

Titles: Singh and Rusonik each earned FM title

Kelsey Liu (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Liu, Erin Bian (second), Sahana Aravindakshan (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-18 Female

First: Kelsey Liu (USA), 7/9

Second: WFM Erin Bian (USA), 7/9

Third: Sahana Aravindakshan (USA), 6½/9

Titles: Liu earned WIM title, Aravindakshan earned WFM title

Norms: Bian earned WIM norm

Erick Zhao (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Zhao, Santiago Zacarias Rodriguez (second), Krish Bhandari (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-16 Open

First: FM Erick Zhao (USA), 8/9

Second: FM Santiago Zacarias Rodriguez (MEX), 6½/9

Third: Krish Bhandari (USA), 6½/9

Titles: Bhandari earned CM title (pending 2000+ FIDE rating)

Norms: Zhao earned IM norm

Zoey Tang (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Tang, Maria Teresa Jimenez Salas (second), Angela Liu (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-16 Female

First: FM Zoey Tang (USA), 8½/9

Second: WFM Maria Teresa Jimenez Salas (PER), 7/9

Third: Angela Liu (USA), 6½/9

Titles: Tang earned WIM title, Liu earned WCM title

Sihan Tao (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Tao, Isaac Wang (second), Leo Lin (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-14 Open

First: Sihan Tao (USA), 7½/9

Second: Isaac Wang (USA), 7½/9

Third: Leo Lin (CAN), 7/9

Titles: Tao earned FM title, Wang and Lin each earned CM title

Chloe Gaw (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Gaw, Maria Fernando Herrada Blanco (second), Avery Yu (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-14 Female

First: Chloe Gaw (USA), 7½/9

Second: Blanco Maria Fernanda Herrada (PER), 6½/9

Third: Avery Yu (USA), 6½/9

Titles: Gaw earned WFM title, Herrada and Yu each earned WCM title

Ryan Sun (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Sun, Yiding Lu (second), Aiden Q liu (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-12 Open

First: CM Ryan Sun (USA), 7½/9

Second: Yiding Lu (USA) 7½/9

Third: Aiden Q Liu (USA), 7½/9

Titles: Sun earned FM title, Lu and Liu each earned CM title (pending 2000+ FIDE rating for Lu)

Megan Althea Paragua (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Paragua, Rae Chen (second), Jwalanthi Ram (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-12 Female

First: Megan Althea Paragua (USA), 7½/9

Second: Rae Chen (CAN), 7½/9

Third: Jwalanthi Ram (USA), 6½/9

Titles: Paragua earned WFM title, Chen and Ram each earned WCM title (pending 1800+ FIDE rating for Ram)

Ethan Guo (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Guo, Sharath Radhakrishnan (second), Kyle Qiyu Dong (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-10 Open

First: CM Ethan Guo (USA), 7½/9

Second: Sharath Radhakrishnan (USA), 7/9

Third: Kyle Qiyu Dong (USA), 7/9

Titles: Radhakrishnan and Dong each earned CM title (pending 2000+ FIDE ratings)

Mia Fernanda Guzman Garcia (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Guzman Garcia, Laura Qiu (second), Ashley Qian (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-10 Female

First: Mia Fernanda Guzman Garcia (MEX), 7½/9

Second: Laura Qiu (USA), 7/9

Third: Ashley Qian (CAN), 6½/9

Titles: Garcia, Qiu, and Qian each earned WCM title (pending 1800+ FIDE ratings)

Sasha Milo Schaefer (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Schaefer, Sriansh Katta (second), Yi Sha (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-8 Open

First: Sasha Milo Schaefer (USA), 7½/9

Second: Sriansh Katta (USA), 7½/9

Third: Yi Sha (USA), 7/9

Titles: Schaefer, Katta, and Sha each earned CM title (pending 2000+ FIDE ratings)

winner Abigail Zhou (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

(left-to-right) Zhou, Lillian Han (second), Celine Chen (third) (courtesy Deshaun Adams/Renaissance Knights)

Under-8 Female

First: Abigail Zhou (USA), 7½/9

Second: Lillian Han (USA), 7/9

Third: Celine Chen (USA), 7/9

Titles: Zhou, Han, and Chen each earned WCM title (pending 1800+ FIDE ratings)