California Boy Becomes Youngest Chess Master in American History !!!

December 23, 2010 by Nataly in Stories

Samuel Sevian Becomes Youngest Chess Master in American History

img.source: www.aolnews.com

A 9-year-old boy from California has become the youngest American chess master ever.

Samuel Sevian from Santa Clara, Calif., who has been playing chess since he was five and earned the “expert” rating at age eight, earned the title after beating the previous record-holder Nicholas Nip at the chess tournament held in San Francisco.

The United States Chess Federation gave the boy a rating of 2,201 after the match. Any players who scores 2,200 qualifies as a “national master.” Players are rated according to a system that estimates their strength, based on their performance versus other players.

In January this year with a FIDE rating of 2119, Samuel became world’s the highest rated chess player for his age and he also qualified for the 2010 World Youth Chess Championship.

Gary Kasparov, former world champion, scored the highest ever chess rating at 2851. The highest rated US player in history is Bobby Fischer at 2785.

Samuel’s coach, international master Andranik Matikozyan told the San Jose Mercury News: ‘I met Samuel three years ago. When I saw him playing I was amazed. I thought, “This kid is really talented.”‘

Samuel spends about two hours each day playing chess with his father, studying chess moves in books and practicing, over the internet, with his coach in Los Angeles.

Sources: 1, 2