The big local news comes all the way from Indianapolis, where Lexington High senior and soon-to-be Ohio State Buckeye Mika Brattain has just won the 2016 GM Denker Tournament of High School Champions with an undefeated score of 5-1. Along with the glory comes a $5,000 college scholarship and a place in next year’s US Junior Championship. In the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions, Andover’s Carissa Yip came in eighth on tie-break with a 4-2 score. Sadly, a loss in the fifth round cost her dearly. In the National Girls’ Tournament of Champions, Joy Cao of Westford finished in 23rd place with an even score of 3-3, but she got the honor of singing the national anthem at the US Open’s opening ceremony.

Elsewhere, Brandeis grad and Bay Area resident Sam Shankland won the Biel Chess Festival’s Master Open Tournament in Switzerland with an undefeated score of 7.5-1.5. This could be Shankland’s best tournament victory to date. This win gives notice that he is in great form, which is good news for our Olympiad team as he is the alternate. The Chess Olympiad (www.BakuChessOlympiad.com) takes place Sept. 1 to 9 in Baku, Azberjian.

The Sinquefeld Cup, the next stop on the 2016 Grand Chess Tour (www.GrandChessTour.org), started play at the St. Louis Chess Club on Aug. 5 and continues to Aug 14. The participants include Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So of the United States. Other participants include the new No. 2 in the world, Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, along with Armenian Levon Aronian, Dutchman Anish Giri, and former world champion Vishy Anand. The field was to include another former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, but he withdrew due to a health issue. He was replaced by Russian grandmaster and St. Petersburg native Peter Svidler, in what was probably the case of his being the strongest player available. You can follow the action live at www.USChessChamps.com.

Winners: Boylston Summer G/80, Open: 1st: Eric Feng, 3-0, 2nd: Mateos Sahakian, 2-5-.5, Under1800: 1st: Thomas Ha, 3-0, 2nd-3rd: Jason Xiong, Alexander Meng, 2.5-.5; MetroWest Independence Day Swiss: Open: 1st: David Winer, 3.5-.5; U2000: 1st: Nikita Konovalchuk, 4-0

Coming events: 45th Annual Continental Open, Aug. 11-14, Host Hotel at Cedar Lake, 366 Main St., Sturbridge, www.ContinentalOpen.com; Harold B. Dondis Memorial, Aug. 10, 17, 24, and 31, and Sept. 7, Wachusett Chess Club, McKay Complex, Room C-192, Fitchburg State University, 67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg, www.Wachusettchess.org.

Answer to today’s problem: In this messy position 1.Qf8+! Rxf8 2.Ne7# (mate) clarifies the situation.

Today’s problem

Chris Chase can be reached at BostonGlobeChessNotes@gmail.com.