The
recent
death
of
Steve
Jobs,
a
man
who
dared
to
dream
and
create
beyond
the
constraints
of
the
prevailing
consciousness,
brought
many
people
including
me
to
a
place
of
deeper
reflection.
What
does
it
mean
to
be
really
alive?
How
do
I
make
sure
that
I
am
living
my
highest
potential
every
day?
How
do
I
ensure
that
I
will
feel
at
peace
when
it
is
my
time
to
leave
this
planet?
“Your
time
is
limited,
so
don’t
waste
it
living
someone
else’s
life.
Don’t
be
trapped
by
dogma
—
which
is
living
with
the
results
of
other
people’s
thinking.
Don’t
let
the
noise
of
others’
opinions
drown
out
your
own
inner
voice.
And
most
important,
have
the
courage
to
follow
your
heart
and
intuition.
They
somehow
already
know
what
you
truly
want
to
become.
Everything
else
is
secondary.”
--- Steve
Jobs
8 year old USA Team member Awonder Liang of Madison, Wisconsin is the best chess player in the world for his age group. He won the gold medal at the World Youth Championship in Brazil in the Under 8 Open, November 26, 2011.
This year's coach and World Chess Federation Senior Trainer (FIDE - Fédération Internationale des Échecs) was Michael Khodarkovsky.
Photo (Left): USA Team member 8 year old Awonder Liang wins Gold Medal at World Youth Chess Championship in Brazil.
Photo by permission Andrea Rosen
Here's a sample of the rankings from the American team competing at the World Youth Championship in Caldas, Novas Brazil this year:
Awonder Liang of Wisconsin earned a gold medal in the Under 8 Open with 7.5/9
Ruifeng Li of Texas earned a silver medal in the Under 10 Open with 7/9.
Sarah Chiang of Texas earned 4th place in the Girls Under 14Jeffrey Xiong of Texas earned 5th in the Open Under 12.
David Peng of Northbrook, Illinois earned 7th in the Under 8 Open.
Albert Lu of Southern California placed 12th in the Under 10 Open.
Kevin Wang of Maryland placed 15th in the Under 14 Open.
Varun Krishnan of La Jolla, California placed 14th in the Under 14 Open.
Click
here
for
the
story
from
NPR here
for
the
story
in
the
New
York
Times and
here
to
the