Samuel Sevian

Samuel Sevian is an American Chess prodigy. He has set records as the youngest American Expert in history, the youngest American National Master in history and is currently the youngest American International Master in history - a record he set last year at 12 years and 10 months old.

Today, at 13 years old, he continues to climb at a record-setting pace: Sevian has already notched all three of his Grandmaster norms and needs only his rating to pass the 2500 watermark -- only 16 points away entering the CCSCSL Invitational. If Sevian passes that mark within the next year, he will become the youngest Grandmaster in American history, a record currently held by Ray Robson at 14 years and 11 months.

One of the most promising Juniors in the country, Sevian has already served as a World Champion in the U12 category, a title he earned in Maribor Slovenia in November 2012. His pre-tournament (FIDE) rating at the World Youth was 2347, almost 100 points above his nearest competitor.
 
"I really worked hard for it, hours of preparation every day before and during the tournament," Sam said.

Sam is a product of the Young Stars - Team USA program, a joint partnership between the Kasparov Chess Federation (KCF) and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to find and train the country's top emerging chess players. Sam received intensive training with legendary World Champion GM Garry Kasparov, which he said was a big contributing factor to his recent success.

"The KCF helped me enormously," Sam said. "First, it was Garry's camps held in Saint Louis and New York where we got to train with the Champion himself, and of course long and frequent training sessions with GM Alexander Chernin, who helped me grow."