The Field
Sam Sevian
Sam Sevian is an Armenian-American grandmaster and former World Youth U-12 Champion. In 2014 Sevian earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years and 10 months, making him the youngest ever American player to do so at the time. He also broke records of being the youngest ever player to reach the Expert, Master, and International Master titles in U.S. history. Sam’s peak FIDE rating is 2703, which he earned in May 2022 when he crossed the 2700 barrier for the first time.
Dariusz Swiercz
Dariusz Swiercz is a Polish-American grandmaster and former World Junior Champion. He was just 14 years and seven months old when he achieved his GM title, making him the youngest Polish player ever to do so. Swiercz has won numerous prestigious events, including the 2016 Millionaire Open and the 2017 Spice Cup Open. Dariusz is a former member of the Saint Louis University Chess Team, having helped the team earn 2nd place in the 2017 Pan Ams.
Illia Nyzhnyk
Illia Nyzhnyk is a Ukranian grandmaster and former Ukranian No. 1. He earned the GM title at the age of 14 years and three months, making him the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time. Nyzhnyk is a former World Youth U12 silver medalist, as well as an U12 and U16 European Youth Champion. Illia has won multiple prestigious opens in recent years, including the 2018 World Open and 2019 U.S. Open.
Benjamin Bok
Benjamin Bok is a Dutch chess grandmaster who earned the GM title in 2014. He has represented the Netherlands in multiple team competitions and Olympiads, starting with the 2016 Olympiad in Baku. In 2015, Bok won clear first in the London Chess Classic FIDE Open with a score of 8/9. Benjamin is currently attending Saint Louis University and streams regularly on Twitch under the username GMBenjaminBok.
Benjamin Gledura
Benjamin Gledura is a Hungarian grandmaster and Hungary’s current No 2 ranked player. He previously won the U10 European Youth Championship and finished 3rd in the 2019 Tata Steel Challengers tournament. Some of his achievements include defeating former World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Viswanathan Anand in over-the-board play. Benjamin has previously represented Webster University, winning multiple national titles for the team.
Nodirbek Yakubboev
Nodirbek Yakubboev is an Uzbekistani grandmaster with a peak FIDE rating of 2667. He was part of the gold medal winning 2022 Olympiad team in Chennai, India, where he won an individual bronze medal for his performance on Board 2. Nodirbek is also a three-time Uzbekistan Champion, having won in 2016, 2018, and 2020. His older sister, WGM Nilafar Yakubbaeva, is a three-time Uzbekistan Women’s Champion.
Daniel Dardha
Daniel Dardha is an up-and-coming Belgian grandmaster who earned the title in 2021, making him Belgium’s youngest ever GM at the age of 15. In 2019 he won his first Belgium championship at 13, the youngest ever to do so, and he has since won the Belgian Championship two more times, in 2021 and 2022.
Yasser Quesada Perez
Yasser Quesada Perez is a Cuban grandmaster with a current peak FIDE rating of 2604. He became Cuba’s 27th grandmaster after earning the title in 2017, and has represented Cuba in multiple Olympiads and team events. Yasser’s tournament highlights include winning the 2018 and 2022 Cuban Chess Championship, as well as Group B of the 2019 St. Louis Fall Classic. He is the younger brother of fellow grandmaster Yuniesky Quesada Perez.
Christopher Yoo
Christopher Yoo is an American grandmaster with a current peak FIDE rating of 2591. In 2019 he became the youngest International Master in U.S. history and would earn the GM title in early 2022. Christopher’s tournament achievements include winning the 2022 U.S. Junior Championship, as well as the strong 2022 U.S. Masters.
Abhimanyu Mishra
Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess prodigy and current youngest player ever to earn the grandmaster title, which he did at the age of 12 years and 4 months in June 2021. Mishra also earned the International Master title faster than anyone in history (9 years, 2 months) and has broken a number of U.S. chess records, including the record for youngest Expert (2000 USCF) and youngest National Master (2200 USCF). In 2022, Mishra won Group B of the St. Louis Spring Chess Classic with 7/9 points.
Gergely Kantor
Gergely Kantor is a Hungarian grandmaster and who earned the title in 2019. He has represented Hungary’s national team in numerous team events, including most recently as Board 4 at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. Gergely has previously won the U20 Hungarian Junior Chess Championship and finished tied for 2nd place in the U16 World Youth Championship.
Jason Liang
Jason Liang is an American International Master originally from Ashburn, Virginia. He is currently ranked #33 among the FIDE Top 100 Juniors with a peak rating of 2529. Jason has two GM norms, which he earned in the 2022 New York City Grandmaster Norm Invitational and the 2022 Maplewood Invitational. Liang’s other tournament achievements include winning clear first in the 2022 Eastern Ontario Chess Championship and trying for first in the 2022 Washington International.
Dambasuren Batsuren
Dambasuren Batsuren is a Mongolian grandmaster and current Mongolian No. 1. He earned the GM title in 2020 and in 2022 won his first Mongolian Chess Championship with 8.5/11. In 2021, he qualified for the FIDE World Cup and has represented Mongolia in multiple team events, most recently in the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.
Victor Mikhalevski
Victor Mikhalevski is an Israeli grandmaster originally from Gomel, Belarus. He relocated to Israel in 1991 and achieved the title of Grandmaster in 1996. Victor was a member of the Israeli Olympic team in 2006 and 2010, helping the team earn the bronze medal in his second attempt. His best performance to date was in the 2007 Calvia International Open, which he won with 8/9 and a performance rating of 2876.
Balaji Daggupati
Balaji Daggupati is an American grandmaster originally from Northern California. He became an International Master in 2021, and achieved his GM title in 2022 after earning his final norm and crossing the 2500 FIDE threshold. In 2022, Balaji finished tied for 3rd place in the U.S. Junior Championship, along with GM Abhimanyu Mishra. He is currently ranked #47 on the FIDE Top 100 Juniors list for April 2023
Felix Blohberger
Felix Blohberger is an Austrian grandmaster originally from Vienna, Austria. He earned the International Master title in 2018 and the Grandmaster title in 2022. He is the winner of multiple European youth events and as of December 2022 was one of the world’s Top 100 juniors. His best tournament results include tying for 1st place in the 2021 Vienna GM with 6.5/9 points, as well as tying for 1st with 7.0/9 in the 2021 Prague International.
Luka Budisavljevic
Luka Budisavljevic is a Serbian grandmaster and current #61 on the FIDE Top 100 Juniors list. He earned his title in 2021 at the age of of 16 years and 10 months, becoming the youngest Serbian player ever to do so. Luka has represented the Serbian national team in numerous team and youth events, earning both the team and individual silver medal in the U18 European Youth Rapid Championship.
Kirk Ghazarian
Kirk Ghazarian is an American International Master originally from Los Angeles, California. He is currently ranked 68th in FIDE’s Top 100 Juniors in the world and has one GM norm, which he earned in the 2023 Rochefort Chess Festival Masters. Kirk earned his IM title in August 2022, after completing his final IM norm earlier in the year.
Gleb Dudin
Gleb Dudin is an International Master originally from Russia. With a peak FIDE rating of 2500, Dudin has been ranked as high as #48 on the FIDE Top 100 Juniors list and is currently ranked #67 as of April 2023. Gleb earned the FIDE master title in 2018 when he was 14 years old, and then went on to achieve the International Master title in 2021, at the age of 17.
Akshat Chandra
Akshat Chandra is an American grandmaster and former prodigy. His scholastic achievements include winning the 2013 K-9 Super-National Championship as well as the 2013 North American Youth Championship. In April 2015, Akshat won the National K-12 Championship and later that year he won the U.S. Junior Championship. His other victories include winning the 2018 UTD FIDE Open, as well as the 2019 SPICE Cup Open.