2020 Scholar Chess Player Award Qualification – Deadline extended to May 15, 2020
2020 Scholar Chess Player Award Qualification – Deadline extended to May 15, 2020
Thanks to the generosity of it’s long-time supporters, the U.S. Chess Trust continues to fund many wonderful programs including the Scholar-Chessplayer Awards. Donations to the U.S. Chess Trust are tax-deductible.
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 2020 National Scholar Chess Player Award if:
- You played in at least 25 regular-rated US Chess or FIDE events held from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. (Games with a Time Control less than Game-30 delay-0 do not count toward the 25- game requirement.)
- You have shown outstanding achievement in academics and chess.
- You have completed at least one year of chess-related community service since you started the 9th grade.
- You can demonstrate in an essay (of 500 words or less) how your being selected as a 2020 Scholar Chess Player enables you to further your education, improve your chess, and continue contributing to the chess community for the next five years of your life.
A generous donation by Dewain and Susan Barber has made it possible to increase the amount of the awards for the year 2020. A total of five awards are available at $3,000 each, for a total of $15,000.
The scholarships are provided by the US Chess Trust, with a generous, supporting contribution from the National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF), to recognize and encourage outstanding high school students who promote a positive image of chess. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible.
Applications should be submitted using the online form:
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:
- Your uploaded high school transcripts showing all courses and grades.
- Your SAT or ACT scores.
- Evidence, listed in the form or uploaded separately, that you have played at least 25 US Chess or FIDE qualifying rated games held from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
- A list and brief description of your best chess accomplishments.
- Examples of your chess-related 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.
- OPTIONAL: A recent color photograph of yourself, either a headshot or full-length.
Deadline for submitting the application form has been extended to May 15, 2020 11:59 PM PST. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed by the selection committee.
Award recipients will be announced on May 22, 2020.
If you have any questions regarding this form, or if you need technical assistance in completing it, please contact Susan Kantor, Scholastics Associate, US Chess, at (931) 787-1234 x136, or email skantor@uschess.org and write “2020 Scholar-Chess Player Award” in the subject line.
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