Awonder Liang

Liang is this year’s youngest player. As a chess prodigy, he won the World Youth Championship in both 2011 and 2013. Currently, he is the youngest American player to defeat an International Master, 2011, and Grandmaster, 2012, in a classical rated game. 

In 2014, Liang broke the record of youngest American to earn an IM norm, and broke the record of youngest American to earn the IM title the year after. He still holds the latter record. When he achieved his Grandmaster title at the 2017 Chicago Open, he became the tenth youngest in the world to do so. He won the US Junior Championships in 2017, 2018, and 2019 which qualified him for the US Championship the following years.