Daniel Dardha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Born | 1 October 2005 (age 19) [1] Mortsel, Belgium [1] |
| Title | Grandmaster (2021) |
| FIDE rating | 2645 (January 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2652 (February 2025) |
| Ranking | No. 86 (January 2025) |
| Peak ranking | No. 77 (February 2025) |
Daniel Dardha (born 1 October 2005) is a Belgian chess grandmaster. He won the Belgian Chess Championship in 2019 at age 13, becoming the youngest player to do so. [2]
In 2017, aged 12, he won the U-14 Blitz Chess Championship. [3] He earned his International Master title in 2019, shortly after winning the Belgian Chess Championship. [2] He earned his Grandmaster title in 2021 after winning the Belgian Chess Championship for the second time, becoming Belgium's youngest ever Grandmaster at age 15. [4]
He won the Belgian Chess Championship for the third time in 2022. [5]
He did not defend his title in 2023, playing instead in the 2023 Chess World Cup. He defeated Goh Wei Ming in the first round, but was defeated by Vincent Keymer in the second round.
He won the Belgian Chess Championship for the fourth time in 2024. [6] [7]
Dardha's father, Arben Dardha, who became U-20 Albanian Champion at age 16, is a FIDE Master and, as of 2019, Daniel's coach (Daniel is also intermittently coached by Ivan Sokolov). Dardha's grandfather, Bardhyl Dardha, coached the Tomori chess club in Berat, Albania as well as his son. At age 82, he was still active in online chess. [2] His family name means pear in English.
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