The Field
Title:
- Woman International Master
Rating:
- 2334
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 12
Bio:
- Alice Lee is an American chess Woman International Master. She is a three-time gold medalist at the FIDE World Cadet and Youth Championships. She won the under-10 girls’ division in 2019 (in person), the under-12 girls’ division in 2020 (online), and the under-12 girls division in 2021 (both World Cup and Super Final). Lee became a US Chess national master at the age of 10. She won the under-18 girls’ division of the 2021 North American Youth Championships for a direct WIM title. In 2022, Lee earned her FM title and an IM norm after a stellar performance at the Southwest Class Championships.
Tag:
Title:
- FIDE Master
Rating:
- 2283
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 14
Bio:
- Ruiyang Yan is an American chess FIDE Master. Her accomplishments include 3rd in 2019 World Cadets, and participating in 3 U.S. Junior Girls’ Championships. She received third place for the 2019 US Girls’ Junior Championship, second place in the 2021 US Girls’ Junior Championship and first place in the 2021 Ruth Haring National Open tournament.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2335
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 31
Bio:
- Katerina Nemcova is a Czech and American chess Woman Grandmaster. She was Czech Women’s champion in 2008 and 2010. She came second in the World Youth Chess Championship of 2007 and won the European Youth Chess Championship of 2008. Nemcova switched to the American chess federation in 2013 and has competed in several U.S. Women’s Championships.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2335
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 22
Bio:
- Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova is a American chess Woman Grandmaster. She was born in Uzbekistan and has been playing chess since 5 years old. In 2009, she won triple gold at the Asian Girls’ Championship, with gold medals in Classical, Rapid, and Blitz. In 2011, Gulrukhbegim won a bronze medal at the World Youth Chess Championship in the U12 section. In 2015, she won the Asian Girls Championship in the U20 section. She was the winner of the 2018 Uzbekistan Women Chess Championship. Gulrukhbegim played for Uzbekistan in 2 Women’s Chess Olympiads (2016, 2018). In 2019, She moved to the U.S. and joined the chess team at University of Missouri. She is currently studying Business with an emphasis on Marketing.
Tag:
Title:
- Woman Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2311
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 34
Bio:
- Tatev Abrahamyan is an Armenian American chess Woman Grandmaster. She started playing chess at the age of eight, after her father took her to the Chess Olympiad games in 1996. She was soon playing competitively among the top players in her age group throughout Europe and eventually competed in five Olympiads, earning a bronze team medal for the United States in her first appearance. Tatev has also competed for the U.S. team at the Women’s World Team Championships.
Tag:
Title:
- International Master
Rating:
- 2359
Federation:
- GRE
Age:
- 22
Bio:
- Stavroula Tsolakidou is a Greek Chess International Master. She started playing chess at the age of 8, and a year later she won the Greek U10 championship in the girls’ section. Her notable achievements include winning the 2013 World U14 Girls’ Championship, 2015 World U16 Girls’ Championship, and 2016 World U18 Girls’ Championship. In 2018, She won the Italian Women’s Team Championship with the Caissa Italia team. Currently, Tsolakidou is a student and chess team member at Saint Louis University.
Tag:
Title:
- International Master
Rating:
- 2393
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 43
Bio:
- Anna Zatonskih is an American chess International Master. Born in Ukraine in 1978, She learned chess at the age of five. She won the Ukrainian Women’s Championship in 2001, represented Ukraine in two Women’s Chess Olympiads (2000, 2002) and in two Women’s European Team Championships (1999, 2001). In 2003, she immigrated to the U.S., and has since been a dominant force on the U.S. women’s chess scene. Zatonskih is a four time U.S. Women’s Champion, winning the tournament in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2011.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2421
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 38
Bio:
- Irina Krush is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the first woman and only woman to earn the Grandmaster title while playing for the United States. Since earning the title of Grandmaster in 2013, she has entrenched herself as the figurehead of women’s chess in America. Krush had exceptional showings in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Chess Olympiads, as well as a gold-medal performance in the 2013 Women’s World Team Championship. She is an eight time U.S Women’s Chess Champion, winning the title in 1998, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2020. Because of her incredible chess career, Krush has been invited to all editions of the Cairns Cup thus far, an elite women’s tournament at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2693
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 21
Bio:
- Samuel Sevian is an American chess Grandmaster. He earned the title of Grandmaster in 2014 at the age of 13. In 2012, he became the World U12 Champion. During his appearance at the 2015 US Championship, Sevian defeated Wesley So, one of the top ten Grandmasters in the world. In 2017, he won the American Continental Chess Championship, being the youngest in history to do so. Recently, Sevian represented the U.S. national team at the 2019 World Team Championships, winning an individual bronze medal for his performance on the second board. In 2021, Sevian took third place in the U.S. Chess Championship.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2685
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 21
Bio:
- Jeffery Xiong is an American chess Grandmaster. He earned his Grandmaster title in 2015 at the age of 14. This young super star has achieved many impressive results since his start at seven years old. In 2010, he won the Under 10 North American Continental Championship, and then a silver medal in the Under 10 World Championship. Xiong was the 2016 US Junior Champion, and then continued on to become the 2016 World Junior Champion. In 2019, Xiong competed in the World Cup where he defeated grandmasters such as Anish Giri and Jan-Kryzystof Duda, pushing him to the quarterfinals. In 2020, he placed second in both the U.S. Junior Championship and the U.S. Championship. Xiong’s impressive results at such a young age earned him the wildcard spot at the 2021 Sinquefield Cup.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2709
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 30
Bio:
- Sam Shankland is an American chess Grandmaster. He won bronze at the 2008 World U18 Championship, and was the 2010 U.S. Junior Champion. In 2014, Shankland won a gold medal at the 41st Olympiad for best reserve board player. He was undefeated, ending with a score of 9 out of 10. In 2016, Shankland was part of the U.S. team at the 42nd Chess Olympiad, where the team earned gold for the first time since 1976. Shankland won the 2018 U.S. Championships, winning with a score of 8.5/11 and crossed the 2700 barrier for the first time. In the same year, he also won the American Continental Chess Championship, finishing clear first with 9/11.In 2021, Shankland won Prague Master, and reached the quarterfinals in the 2021 FIDE World Cup, earning him a spot in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2681
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 27
Bio:
- Ray Robson is a American chess Grandmaster. As a child chess prodigy, Robson won many national scholastic titles and represented the U.S. in international scholastic events. In 2008, Ray won his first major tournament at the Miami open, and later that year broke Hikaru Nakamura’s record for youngest American GM when he achieved his title at age 14 years, 11 months, and 6 days. Robson’s notable achievements include 2009 U.S. Junior Champion, 2009 Pan American Junior Champion, 2012 SPICE Cup Champion, 2014 Millionaire Chess 2nd place, and 2015 U.S. Championship 2nd place.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2756
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 38
Bio:
- Leinier Dominguez is a Cuban American chess Grandmaster. He is a 5 time Cuban Chess Champion (2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016) who completed his transfer to the United States Chess Federation in 2018, and is currently the 4 highest rated American player in the world. Dominguez won the 2008 World Blitz Championship, and won the 2013 FIDE Grand Prix. In 2019, he earned second place in the U.S. Chess Championship and was co-winner of the Netanya Masters in Israel.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2785
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 39
Bio:
- Levon Aronian is an Armenian American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000 at age 17. Aronian was the World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009 and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. He won the Chess World Cup in 2005 and 2017, and currently is the only player to win the tournament twice. Aronian has also led the Armenian national team to three gold medals in Chess Olympiads (2006, 2008, 2012) as well as to gold at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011. In 2014, he achieved his peak rating of 2830, making him the fourth highest rated player in history. Since then, Aronian has won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz twice (2017, 2019), 2018 sinquefield Cup, and 2019 Superbet Rapid & Blitz. In 2021, Aronian officially transferred his chess federation to the United States, making him the 2nd highest rated American player.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2778
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 28
Bio:
- Wesley So is a Filipino American chess Grandmaster. A child prodigy growing up in the Philippines, So was a three-time Filipino Chess Champion. In 2014, So transferred his chess federation to the United States, and then quickly entered the world’s top 10 after tying for second place at the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He then won the 2015 Bilbao Chess Masters and was the 2016 Grand Chess Tour champion after winning the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic. In 2017, So won the Tata Steel Masters tournament and became the eleventh player in history to surpass 2800 FIDE. Since then, So has earned many top accolades, including 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (2017, 2020, 2021), 2019 and current reigning Chess 960 World Champion, 2021 Paris Rapid & Blitz winner, as well as champion of the entire 2016 and 2021 Grand Chess Tour.
Tag:
Title:
- Grandmaster
Rating:
- 2781
Federation:
- USA
Age:
- 29
Bio:
- Fabiano Caruana is an American chess Grandmaster. He played for the United States until 2005, then transferred his chess federation affiliation to Italy. While playing for Italy, Caruana was a four time Italian Champion, winning the championship in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011. In the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, Caruana won with a score of 8.5/10 and a performance of over 3000, achieving a FIDE rating of 2844, becoming the third highest-rated player in history. In 2015, Caruana transferred back to the United States, and then won the 2016 U.S Championship. Caruana continued his stellar career with wins in 2017 London Chess Classic, 2018 Grenke Chess Classic, and tying for first in 2018 Sinquefield Cup. Also in 2018, Caruana won the Candidates tournament, becoming the first American to challenge the World Champion since Bobby Fischer. After drawing all classical games, Caruana lost the match in rapid tiebreaks. He won the 2020 Tata Steel Masters, and placed second in the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss, qualifying him for the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Caruana is currently the #1 American player.
Tag: