Congratulations to our latest and 18th CCL graduate, Neo Zhu.

• Neo is the first person from North Carolina to become a CCL graduate
• Neo earned his graduation with a 2nd place finish in the North Carolina K-8 championship.
• Neo is a 7th grader from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• On the right is a picture of Neo with Super GM Boris Gelfand
• This Who’s Who chess list has been growing with great talent which is clearly characterized by a high value on perseverance, hard work, and passion.
• What is a CCL graduate?  It is an honorary degree that we give to any CCL player who has worked their way through the ranks while in CCL and has made a USCF experts rating (>= 2000).   This group is becoming a who’s who of the top young talent around. It entitles them to lifetime membership in CCL, based on good behavior, without the requirement of taking lessons (although most still do).  They are allowed to receive email spam from me for the rest of their lives!!
• Who will be next?

CCL graduates are (in order of obtainment):

• John Hughes
• Walker Griggs
• Maggie Feng
• Rahul Ramaswamy
• Annorjan Naguleswaran
• Luke Xie
• Chris Shen
• Noah Keating-Adams
• Sam Massick
• Anagh Kulkarni
• Vikram Srivastava
• Aristo Liu
• Abhi Ramaswamy
• Jason Wang
• Ricky Wang
• Vincent Baker
• Forest Chen
• Neo Zhu

CCL and the Dayton Chess Club are teaming together to present an advanced endgame seminar on rook endgames,  This will be a full day seminar at the Dayton Chess Club on Saturday February 20th.  If you are an advanced player, do not miss this essential training about one of the most important topics in chess.

For more details and registration, please CLICK HERE!

The National Grade Levels have just finished. Vincent Baker swept through the field to take sole 1st place.  He was 6-0 through the first 6 rounds and got a draw in the last round to earn this National Championship. Congratulation to another National Champion from CCL.

Vincent’s thoughts

“I am very happy and grateful for the opportunity to participate in the National event and become the national champion for 7^th grade. There were 141 players in my grade, many of whom are at expert level. It was great to have GM Varushan Akobian and GM Irina Krush looked at some of my games while I am playing at the top board. I also made some new friends from other states. I want to thank all my CCL teachers including coach Goran, coach Alan, Walker Griggs, and particularly coach Atanas for helping me to develop my chess abilities from a Class B to an expert level player.”

Vincent’s Parents On Coach Atanas

“As the parents of a recent National chess champion (Vincent Baker), we want to particularly express our gratitude to Coach Atanas for teaching and guiding Vincent in the last 2 years. It has been an honor and privilege for Vincent to study with Coach Atanas, one who embodies the standards for a professional chess coach of the highest level. His extraordinary knowledge on openings and outstanding analytical skills, passion for the game of chess, as well as the respect for parents and students are exemplary.  Each lesson is intense and purposeful. Always focused at task, Coach Atanas is very meticulous in showing different variations and clearly explaining all detail. One can sense his energy and enthusiasm (even online), offering students the opportunity to try out a line while encouraging questions. His professionalism is imbued with kindness; always uplifting and respectful of all students regardless their abilities and age. He is remarkable in sending homework files after each lesson to reinforce study and promptly answers any question on email. Most importantly, he instills in the young minds the value of hard work and determination making him an excellent chess coach and inspiration for all chess players.”