The 2010 US Junior Open will take place in Houston, Texas from July 23-25, 2010.

By Franc Guadalupe
June 25, 2010

In less than one month, the U.S. Junior Open returns to Texas and this time the event will be held at the beautiful facilities of the Hilton Houston Hobby Airport Hotel, 23-25 July. This National event, open to all players under the age of 21 as of 1 January 2010, has been held in Dallas on two occasions, 2002 and 2006, both times drawing record crowds. The organizers in Houston are hoping for another record this year. There will be four sections in this event: Under 21, Under 15, Under 11 and Under 8 (age as of 1 January 2010).

Past winners of the top section of this event include GM Gabriel Schwartzman in 1995 and IM Greg Shahade in 1996. Not to be outdone by Greg, lil’ sister WGM Jennifer Shahade won the event in 1998. IM Salvijus Bercys won in 2003 when he was only 13 years old!

Last year’s US Junior Open was held in Milwaukee, WI, and the Champions were: Brady Harder (U11) from Wisconsin, Marc Christian Nazario (U15) also from Wisconsin, and the U21 section resulted in a two-way tie between Experts Eric Rosen from Illinois and Kevin Bu from Minnesota. There was no U8 section last year. The winner of the US Junior Open U21 division gets an automatic spot in the 2011 US Junior Closed (if still eligible by age). >> CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS.

For more information about the 2010 U.S. Junior Open, and to sign up, please visit the tournament webpage, http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2010/junior/.