2021 National Scholar Chessplayer Award Applications Now Being Accepted

2021 National Scholar Chessplayer Award Applications Now Being Accepted

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A joint effort of the US Chess Trust, US Chess (Federation), and the National Scholastic Chess Foundation.

If you are a high school junior or senior looking for scholarship money, read on!

If you are a current US Chess member, you are eligible to apply for a 2021 National Scholar Chess Player Award if you:

  1. Played in at least 25 Regular-rated US Chess or FIDE games (not to include online games) during calendar year 2019 (entire year) AND 2020 (through November 23). Games with a Time Control less than Game-30 delay-0 do not count toward the 25-game requirement.
  2. Have shown outstanding achievement in academics and chess. 
  3. Completed at least one year of chess-related community service since you started the 9th Grade.
  4. Can articulate in an essay (of 500 words or less) how your being selected as a 2021 Scholar Chess Player would enable you to further your education, improve your chess, and continue contributing to the chess community for the next five years. of your life.

A total of five awards are available at $3,000 each for a total of $15,000 in scholarship money. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible. These scholarships, awarded annually by the U.S. Chess Trust, the National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF), and US Chess, recognize and encourage outstanding high school students who promote a positive image of chess.

Applications should be submitted using the online form: https://forms.gle/wSKX416vmgjTLCkd9

Documents (.doc, .pdf and other usual extensions) can be attached to the applications via this form.

Your completed application must include the following:

  • Submitted application form via https://forms.gle/wSKX416vmgjTLCkd9
  • Your uploaded high school transcripts showing all courses and grades.
  • Evidence listed in the form or uploaded that you have played at least 25 US Chess or FIDE rated qualifying games during the 2019 and 2020 (through November 23)  calendar year.
  • A list and brief description of your best chess accomplishments.
  • Examples of your community service since 9th grade or later.
  • A letter of recommendation from a teacher in a current or former school you have attended in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
  • A letter of recommendation from a Chess Coach or Tournament Director.
  • A letter of support from someone other than a parent or guardian, bearing witness to the nature, duration and impact of your chess-related community service. We also encourage you to submit newspaper articles or web-based stories as evidence.
  • Your essay uploaded in the application form of no more than 500 words describing how your being recognized as a Scholar Chess player would help you continue contributing to the greater US Chess community over the next five years of your life.
  • OPTIONAL: A recent color photograph of yourself, either a headshot or full-length.

Deadline for submitting the application form is March 1st, 2021 11:59PM PST. 

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed by the selection committee.

Awards will be announced at the US Chess 2021 SuperNationals and online at uschesstrust.org.

If you have any questions regarding this form, or if you need technical assistance in completing it, please contact Korey Kormick at US Chess at korey.kormick@uschess.org and write “2021 Scholar-Chess Player Award” in the subject line.

Recipients for 2020:

Praveen Balakrishnan, VA (Grade 12)

Praveen Balakrishnan; Photo Credit: Hanks

David Brodsky, NY (Grade 12)

David Brodsky; Photo Credit: Hanks

Akira Wood Nakada, NY (Grade 11)

Akira Wood Nakada (r) volunteers at the World Junior Chess Championship for Players with Disabilities; Photo Credit: Dora Martinez

Kimberly Liu, CA (Grade 12)

Kimberly Liu; Photo Credit: K Liu

Annie Wang, CA (Grade 12)

Annie Wang; Photo Credit:  Saint Louis Chess Club USChessChamps

Past Recipients:

2019

Forest Chen, TN
Albert Liang, GA
Emily Nguyen, TX
Jennifer Yu, VA
Howard Zhong, OK

2018

Abhimanyu Banerjee, FL
Maggie Feng, OH
Craig Hilby, CA
Seth Talyansky, OR
Andrew Tang, MN

2017

Ethan Li (NY)
Zhaozhi (George) Li (IL)
Prateek Pinisetti (AZ)
Joshua Sheng (CA)
Warren Wang (NY)

2016

IM Safal Bora, MI
WIM Agata Bykovtsev, CA
IM Akshat Chandra, NJ
IM Daniel Gurevich, GA
NM Christopher Yang, PA

2015

Jackson Chen, CO
Rachel Gologorsky, FL
Simone Liao, CA
Akshay Malhotra, TX
Darwin Yang, TX

2014

Jeevan Karamsetty, VA
Varun Krishnan, CA
Aleksandr Ostrovskiy, NY
Arthur Shen, NJ
Atulya Shetty, MI

2013

Miles Hinson, NY
Anna Matlin, NJ
Kevin Mo, PA
Benjamin Tong, CA
Thomas Ulrich, WI

2012

Yang Dai, VA
Joshua Mu, NC
Andrew Ng, NJ
Jesse Orlowski, CA
Alexandra Weiner, CT

2011

Chaz Daly, FL
Andrew Ng, NJ
Eigen Wang, NY
Kevin Zhang, AZ
Andrew Shvartsman, NJ

2010

Rohan Agarwal, CA
Richard Herbst, CO
Abby Marshall, VA
Jake Miller, NY
Victor Shen, NJ

2009

Adithya Balasubramanian, VA
Robert Lau, HI
Haotian Zheng, CT
Michael Thaler, NY
Troy Daly, FL

2008

Sarkis Agaian, NY
Jonathan Cox, AZ
Benjamin Marmont, AZ
Michael Sobin, NJ
Adam Weser, NY

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