Cadets Begins This Weekend
By Michael Regan   
July 20, 2012
The 2012 US Cadet Championship kicks off this Saturday, 7/21, at 11 a.m. There is an opening reception Friday evening where pairing numbers will be drawn. The games are at 11 and 6 Saturday through Monday and at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The winner receives a scholarship to UMBC. The top three receive free entry into the Washington International. The games will be broadcast live at http://uscadet.mdchess.com. Pictures will be uploaded throughout the tournament on the Facebook page for the Maryland Chess Association. You can also follow along on twitter @marylandchess.

The participants in this year's cadet are:

James Black
(who was incorrectly left out of this report originally) will be a 9th grader at Edward R. Murrow. He has won the 6th grade championship, the K-8 Championship, and the K-9 Championship. He's a member of the IS 318 team (along with Justus Williams) that won the HS team Championship this year.

Michael Bodek, from New Rochelle, NY, will be a tenth grader in the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester in Hartsdale, NY. Michael became a National Master at age 12. He was co-champion of last year's US Cadet tournament.

Joshua Colas from White Plains, NY, became a life master at 13. He was the K-8 National champ, the K-12 Blitz champ, and has been on the All-American Chess Team for three consecutive years.

David Hua is a rising sophomore at Princeton High School and lives in Princeton, New Jersey. He is recognized as a current NJ State Co-Champion as he tied for first in the 2011 NJ Open State Championship. Additionally, he led his high school team to the Top High School Award at the 2012 World Amateur Team tournament in Parsippany, NJ.

Aleksandr Ostrovskiy
is a rising 10th grader at Hunter College High School in NYC. Aleksander is an FM with two IM norms. He was the 2010 New York State Champion (the youngest ever) and 2011 NY State co-Champion.

Justus Williams
is the youngest ever African American National Master. He was the 2011 Barber Co-Champion. He was the 2010 K-6 Elementary Champion. Justus was featured in the documentary, Brooklyn Castle as well as the online TV show, the Extreme "X Chess" Championships.

Christopher Wu
from Holmdel, NJ, will be an eighth grader at William R. Satz Middle School. Christopher is a 7-time Scholastic National Champion, including the 2011 National K-6 Elementary Championship.

Christopher Gu, from Wakefield, RI, will be an eighth grader at Curtis Corner Middle School. Christopher was the 2011 Rhode Island State Champion (youngest ever). Christopher won the High School Division of the New England Scholastic Championships when he was 10 years old.