(CROSSVILLE, TN)Ten of the strongest junior players will gather in Dallas, Texas to compete for the title of 2006 U.S. Junior Chess Champion. In addition to the prize fund offered is the incentive of qualifying the World Junior Championship. The round robin event will start on July 15, 2006 and end on July 20 with the awards ceremony the following day. The tournament is open to the highest rated players under age 20 (as of January 1, 2006) using the average of the April 2006 rating and the peak published rating.

All of these juniors have earned the right to be invited: Salvijus Bercys (average rating: 2468.5) from New York, Igor Schneider (average rating: 2424.5) from New York, Robert Hess (average rating: 2386.5) from New York, Mackenzie Molner (average rating: 2377) from New Jersey, Joel Banawa (average rating: 2358) from California, Adam Maltese (average rating: 2338) from New York, Daniel Ludwig (average rating: 2334.5) from Florida, Jake Kleiman (average rating: 2318) from Tennessee, Kazim Gulamali (average rating: 2302.5) from Georgia, and Benjamin Coraretti (rating: 2049) who earned the right to play by virtue of winning the 2005 U.S. Junior Open.

The 2006 U.S. Cadet Championship will be run concurrently, followed by the 2006 U.S. Junior Open beginning July 21 – 23 at the Marriott Dallas/Addison Quorum. Details for online registration for the “Open” can be found at: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1287555. Note that active.com charges a small fee. Enter: Susan Breeding, 7909 La Guardia Dr, Plano, TX 75025. Ph: 972.208.1802. E-mail: susanbreeding@hotmail.com. website: http://www.swchess.com.

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The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.