Awonder Liang

Liang is the youngest player in the field this year. He is also a chess prodigy, who was the U11 Champion at the World Youth in 2011. He is also the youngest American player to ever defeat a International Master, 2011, and Grandmaster, 2012, in a classical rated game. Liang won the World Youth Championship again in 2013, that time playing in the U10 section.

Liang broke the record of youngest American to ever earn an IM norm in 2014, and the very next year broke the record of youngest American to earn the IM title. Liang still holds the record for the latter. When he achieved his Grandmaster title after the 2017 Chicago Open, Liang became the tenth youngest in the world to do so. He was also the US Junior Champion that year, which qualified him for last year’s US Championship. In 2018, Liang once again took the US Junior Champion title qualifying him for this year’s tournament.