PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

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

The 501(c)(3) US Chess Federation and the US Chess Trust are pleased to announce the five recipients of the 2021 Scholar-Chessplayer Awards. These awards recognize high school juniors and seniors who excel in academics, chess, and leadership. The 2021 winners will receive $3,000 each from the US Chess Trust, for a total of $15,000 in scholarship money. 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. Another thank you goes to the US Chess scholastic committee members who reviewed all the applications.

The recipients are:

• NM Destynn Keuchel: junior, Solon OH, age 17
• FM Christopher Shen: junior, Powell, OH, age 17
• FM Wesley Wang: junior, Jericho, NY, age 17
• WCM Iris Zhou: junior, Creve Coeur, MO, age 17
• WIM Evelyn Zhu: junior, Jericho NY, age 16

NM Destynn Keuchel, OH

FM Christopher Shen, OH

FM Wesley Wang: junior, Jericho, NY, age 17

WCM Iris Zhou: junior, Creve Coeur, MO, age 17

WIM Evelyn Zhu: junior, Jericho NY, age 16

 

Congratulations to all of the players!

To qualify, applicants must be US Chess members and were presented with these requirements:

1. Play at least 25 regular-rated US Chess or FIDE games during the current academic year;
2. Show outstanding achievement in academics and chess; 
3. Have completed at least one year of chess-related community service since starting the ninth grade;
4. Describe in an essay of 500 words how being selected as a 2021 Scholar-Chessplayer will enable the recipient to further their education, improve their chess, and allow them to continue contributing to the chess community.

For more information, please visit www.uschesstrust.org and www.nscfchess.org. The US Chess Trust is a separate 501(c)(3) organization operating independent of US Chess.

Past Recipients:

2020

Praveen Balakrishnan, VA
David Brodsky, NY
Akira Wood Nakada, NY
Kimberly Liu, CA
Annie Wang, CA

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