Gainesville's Best Scholastic Chess Players
(These lists include ALL scholastic players in Gainesville!)

The best beginner chess coach in Gainesville's history is George Pyne, who retired in 2017.
George was the first chess coach of over half of Gainesville's Best 25 Ever players.

Williams Elementary boasts an unrivaled combination of winning team and individual championships, both state and national, and producing most of Gainesville's highest-rated scholastic players.

Top 10 Current (updated 9/4/23)
-Gainesville players only
-As of September​ 2023 rating supplement
-Must have one rated tournament within last year
Name
Rating
School
Grade
1. Bach Ngo
2444
Buchholz High
10th
2. Abhiram Pothuri*
2079
Buchholz High
9th
3. Jason Shen
2079
Buchholz High
11th
4. Jerry Yao*
1993
Buchholz High
9th
5. Nate Ziegler*
​1965
​Lincoln Middle
8th
6. Jolie Huang*
1902
Buchholz High
9th
7. Aakash Jani*
1825
Oak Hall
3rd
8. ​​Lui Muneepeerakul*
1721
​Homeschool
6th
9. Sophie Li*
1708
​Oak Hall
4th
10. Brian Bird
1670
​Lincoln Middle
8th
Top 100 Lists (updated 9/4/23)
-As of August​ 2023, published by USCF
-Lists include players from all across USA
-Players rated over 1000 shown
Name
Rating
List
Position
Bach Ngo
​2426
Age 15
#4
Abhiram Pothuri*
2079
Age 13
#34
Jason Shen
2079
Age 16
#60
Jerry Yao*
1975
Age 14
#75
Nate Ziegler*
1965
Age 13
#62
Jolie Huang*
​1853
Girls Age 13
#11
Aakash Jani*
1830
Age 8
#4
​Sophie Li*
1723
Girls Age 9
#4
​Lui Muneepeerakul*
1627
​Age 11​
#94
Chloe Min
1570
Girls Age 16
#25
Damian Alexander
1561
Age 9
#54
Grace Yang*
1546
Girls Age 10
#20
Celine Chen*
1363
Girls Age 7 & Under
#5
Coco Yao*
1232
Girls Age 12
#58
James McDonald
1193
Age 8
#87
Sonam Jani*
1129
Girls Age 11
#43
Best 25 Ever (updated 9/4/23)
-Peak rating while living in Gainesville and enrolled in K-12
-​Since at least 1996
Name
Peak rating
Elem. school
HS grad.
1. ​Bach Ngo
​2444
Williams
2026
2. ​Erick Zhao*
2271
​Williams
2027
3. ​​Abhimanyu Banerjee*
2223
​Williams
2019
4. ​​Cindy Tsai
2190
Hidden Oak
2003
5. ​​​Britt Ryerson
2146
Terwilliger
2000
6. ​​Jason Shen
2118
N.A.**
2025
7. ​​Jackie Liu
2115
​Williams
2019
8. ​​Abhiram Pothuri*
2103
​Williams
2027
9. ​​Cindy Jie*
2084
​Williams
2019
10. ​Samvel Antonyan​
2020
N.A.***
2021
​11. ​Alan Wang*
2003
Hidden Oak
​2021
12. Nate Ziegler*
1997
Oak Hall &​Williams
2028
13. ​​Jerry Yao*
1993
​Williams
2027
14. Andy Wu*
1977
​Williams
2019
15. ​​Alex Sinnott​
1938
​Williams
2014
16. ​James Wnek
1902
Homeschool
2018
17. ​​Jolie Huang*
1902
​Williams​
2027
18. ​​Harish Vemuri*
1863
​​Stephen Foster
​2017
19. Ahan Mishra* 
1863
Williams
2023
20. ​​Jeffrey Lu*
1844
Williams
2020
21. ​​Sophie Li*
1842
​Oak Hall
2032
22. Grayson Cooke*
1832
Oak Hall
2026
23. ​​Aakash Jani*
1825
Oak Hall
2033
24. ​​Dylan Yu*
1812
Williams
2027
25. Kjell Ryerson
1806
Terwilliger
2002
*studied/studies with Coach Britt at Logic Lab
**Jason moved to Gainesville at the beginning of 6th grade
***Samvel moved to Gainesville at the beginning of 10th grade
Picture
#2 Best Ever Erick Zhao
Picture
Jerry Yao (L) and Abhiram Pothuri
Picture
After the simul against Victor from Chess-Steps
Picture
Erick
Picture
This happy group won prizes at the Amateur Team South
Picture
Andrew
Picture
The team in action at the Amateur Team South
Picture
Jerry