Caleb Levitan

Last updated

Caleb Levitan
CalebLevitanOlympiad.jpg
Caleb Levitan representing South Africa at the FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan
CountrySouth Africa
Born (2010-06-15) 15 June 2010 (age 14)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Title FIDE Master (2023)
Peak rating 2334 (November 2023)

Caleb Levi Levitan (born 15 June 2010) is a South African chess player who holds the title of FIDE Master. [1] He is among the top 10 South African chess players. [2]

Contents

Chess career

In 2018, Caleb won the Under 8 South African Junior Closed Chess Championships. [3] That year he won the Under 8 African Youth Chess Championships in Kisumu, Kenya earning him a provisional Candidate Master Title. [4] Caleb received the Candidate Master title in 2022 when his FIDE Elo crossed 2000 (the first South African to receive the Candidate Master title by meeting the minimum rating requirement). [5]

In 2019, Caleb won the Under 10 South African Junior Closed Chess Championships. [6]

In 2020, Caleb made it to the final 16 of the Fide Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid Chess Championships in the Under 10 Open Category. He lost to Ryo Chen from the USA. [7]

In 2022, Caleb won the Under 16 South African Junior Closed Chess Championships at 11 years old. [8] That year he finished second in the Under 16 section of the African Youth Chess Championships held in Lusaka, Zambia. [9] He earned the provisional FIDE Master Title by placing tie first on points. The FIDE Master title was awarded in 2023 when his FIDE Elo rating crossed 2100. Caleb became South Africa's youngest Fide Master to obtain the title by meeting the minimum rating requirement. [10]

Caleb played board 1 for South Africa at the FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad hosted in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan in 2022. [11]

In 2023, Caleb received the Amayanga-Yanga Athlete of the Year award from Gauteng Sports. [12] This award is a recognition given to young athletes who have demonstrated exceptional performance in their respective sports and shown great potential for the future. [13]

In 2024, Caleb was selected with Banele Mahango to represent South Africa in chess at the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana. [14]

In 2024, Caleb became the youngest person to be invited to compete at the South African Closed Chess Championships (at 13 years old). He finished second in the competition. In September 2024, Caleb became the youngest person (at 14 years old) to represent South Africa at a Chess Olympiad when he played Board 3 in the Open Section of the 45th Chess Olympiad which took place in Budapest, Hungary. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn</span> Vietnamese chess grandmaster (born 1990)

Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn is a Vietnamese chess player. The second-best player in Vietnam, he is the youngest Vietnamese ever to become a Grandmaster, and one of the youngest grandmasters in the history of the game, having qualified for the title at the age of fourteen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Srinath Narayanan</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1994)

Srinath Narayanan is an Indian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in August 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassem Amin</span> Egyptian chess grandmaster and medical doctor (born 1988)

Bassem Amin is an Egyptian chess grandmaster and medical doctor. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 2006. Amin is the highest rated Egyptian and African player and the only medical doctor to have a FIDE peak rating of 2700+. Amin has also won the African chess championship seven times, doing so in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harika Dronavalli</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 1991)

Harika Dronavalli is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She was part of the gold winning women's team at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024. She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Harika was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIDE titles</span> Title for chess players awarded by FIDE

FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms. Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wei Yi</span> Chinese chess grandmaster (born 1999)

Wei Yi is a Chinese chess grandmaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Narva</span> Estonian chess player

Mai Narva is an Estonian chess player holding the titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster.

Denise Bouah, formerly known as Denise Frick, is a South African chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master.

Jesse February is a South African chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master. She is a two-time South African women's chess champion and has also won the African women's chess championship twice, in 2021 and 2024.

Shahenda Wafa is an Egyptian chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (2017). She is a three-time African Women's Chess Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdulla Gadimbayli</span> Azerbaijani chess grandmaster (born 2002)

Abdulla Gadimbayli is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster (2022). He was the winner of the Azerbaijani Chess Championship in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguyễn Anh Khôi</span> Vietnamese chess grandmaster (born 2002)

Nguyễn Anh Khôi is a Vietnamese chess Grandmaster (GM) (2019), two-times Vietnamese Chess Championships winner.

Daniel Barrish is a South African chess player who holds the title of FIDE Master.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velimir Ivić</span> Serbian chess grandmaster (born 2002)

Velimir Ivić is a Serbian chess grandmaster since 2020, an International Master since 2018 and a FIDE Master since 2016. As of July 2022, he is ranked the third-best player in Serbia by FIDE rating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Cramling</span> Swedish chess player (born 2002)

Anna Yolanda Cramling Bellón is a Swedish-Spanish chess player, Twitch live streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM). She had a peak FIDE rating of 2175 in March 2018. Cramling represented Sweden in the 2016 and 2022 Chess Olympiad as well as two European Team Chess Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Mizzi</span> Maltese chess player

Jack Mizzi is a Maltese chess player. He was born on the 17 May 2006 in Malta. Mizzi is the 2024 Malta Chess Champion, the U-20 Junior Chess Champion, the National Rapid Chess Champion and the National Blitz Chess Champion in Malta. Mizzi is the youngest chess player to have won the Preliminaries in Malta at 13 years old. At 16 years old he became the youngest Maltese player to be awarded the Candidate Master title. He was called a chess "prodigy" by the online journal Malta Today in their short documentary about Mizzi. Mizzi participated in the World Youth Chess Championships in Romania 2022. In 2023 he set a new Malta chess record winning the Malta Blitz Championship with a perfect 9-0 score.

Banele Mhango, is a South African chess master and coach. Mhango was awarded the FIDE title of FIDE Master in 2020. He was named sportsman of the year after representing South Africa in competitions in Egypt and Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lina Nassr</span> Algerian chess player

Lina Nassr is an Algerian chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master (2018).

Jan Karsten is a South African chess player who was awarded the FIDE title of International Master in 2023.

Chloe Badenhorst is a South African chess player who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master, which she earned in 2023.

References

  1. "Levitan, Caleb Levi". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. "FIDE Country Top chess players". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  3. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2018 South African Junior Closed Chess Championships". chess-results.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. Masala, Kenya Chess (6 September 2018). "2018 African Youth Chess Championship". Kenya Chess Masala. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. Reporter, Sports (26 February 2023). "Master player: Chess prodigy Caleb Levitan is on the rise". The Citizen. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  6. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2019 South African Junior Closed Chess Championship". chess-results.com. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  7. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - FIDE ONLINE WORLD CADETS & YOUTH RAPID CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS". chess-results.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  8. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - South African Junior Closed Chess Championships 2022". chess-results.com. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  9. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2022 African Youth Chess Championships - U16 Open". chess-results.com. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  10. Vivier, Tyler Leigh (2 June 2023). "Caleb Levitan Becomes SA's Youngest Ever Chess FIDE Master". Good Things Guy. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  11. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - FIDE WORLD YOUTH U-16 CHESS OLYMPIAD 2022". chess-results.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  12. Import, Pongrass (6 March 2023). "Caleb Levitan shines at the Amayanga-Yanga Athlete of the Year award". Sandton Chronicle. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  13. Lindeque, Brent (20 February 2023). "12-Year-Old South African Chess Prodigy Wins Athlete of the Year Award". Good Things Guy. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  14. Beer, Rienk De (16 February 2024). "Blend of youth and experience in Team SA squad for Ghana". TeamSA. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  15. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - South African Closed Chess Championship 2024". chess-results.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  16. "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 45th Chess Olympiad Budapest 2024 Open". chess-results.com. Retrieved 23 September 2024.