![]() |
Nicolas Checa | |
---|---|
Full name | Nicolas de T. Checa |
Country | United States |
Born | Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S. | December 19, 2001
Title | Grandmaster (2019) |
FIDE rating | 2517 (April 2024) |
Peak rating | 2574 (May 2021) |
Nicolas de T. Checa (born December 19, 2001) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He is from Dobbs Ferry, New York. [1] A chess prodigy, he began playing competitive chess at age 7. He is the recipient of the 2020 and 2021 Samford Fellowships, an award granted to the top American chess players under 25 years old. [2] He is the 2021 and 2022 Connecticut State Champion and an undergraduate student at Yale University.
Checa is the youngest Annual New York State Champion since the official championship started in 1878, a record that he achieved as an 11-year-old in 2013 and still holds. [3] Although he finished tied for second in the 2013 tournament behind Alexander Ivanov, only New York residents are eligible for the title of state champion. [1]
Checa fulfilled all the FIDE Grandmaster title requirements in November 2018 at age 16. [4] His Grandmaster Title was formally approved by FIDE in March 2019 in Astana, Kazakhstan. He became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2016. [5]
In 2017 he placed first (tiebreaks) in the VI SuperNationals High School (K-12) Blitz Championship held in Nashville, becoming the national scholastic blitz champion as a freshman. [6]
In 2017, he also became the Marshall Chess Club champion after beating Grandmaster Sergei Azarov in a blitz match playoff. [7]
In 2017 he was part of the US National Team in the Match of the Millennials when the top 5 junior players in the US faced the top 5 juniors from the rest of the world. [8]
In the summer of 2018, Checa was a United States Senate Page, working as a Senate floor assistant and residing in Webster Hall, the official residence for US Senate Pages.
In November 2018, Checa earned his final GM norm by earning clear first place in the Charlotte Chess Center's Fall 2018 GM Norm Invitational held in Charlotte, North Carolina with an undefeated score of 6.5/9. [9]
In July 2019 he tied for first (tiebreaks equal second) in the US Junior Invitational Championship with the only undefeated score of 7/9. [10]
Checa also placed first in the 2019 National High School Championship (K-12) (first on tiebreaks), the highest national scholastic title in the US in classical chess time controls. [11] As a high school junior, he placed first in the national championship held in Chicago by the US Chess Federation.
In 2019 he defeated Fabiano Caruana in the Professional Chess League Group Stage. [12]
In 2020, Checa won the national Denker Tournament of High School Champions named after Arnold Denker. [13]
In 2022, he won the Connecticut State Chess Championship for a second consecutive time. [14] [15]
The United States Chess Federation is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating system, awards national titles, sanctions over twenty national championships annually, and publishes two magazines: Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids. The USCF was founded and incorporated in Illinois in 1939, from the merger of two older chess organizations. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its membership as of 2020 as COVID hit was 97,000; as of 2024 the membership was 112,000.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin is a Russian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months.
Ray Robson is an American chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Robson fulfilled the requirements for the title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 16 days, making him the youngest ever United States Grandmaster at the time.
Wesley Barbossa So is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822, making him the fifth-highest-rated player in history.
Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning three-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.
Leinier Domínguez Pérez is a Cuban and American chess grandmaster. A five-time Cuban champion, Domínguez was the world champion in blitz chess in 2008. He competed in the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2002 and 2004, and the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster.
Daniel Naroditsky is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator.
Robert Lee Hess is an American chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 2009. In May 2012, his FIDE rating was 2635, fifth in the United States. Hess is a commentator for Chess.com, covering events such as the World Chess Championship and Candidates Tournament. He also streams chess content on his Twitch channel GMHess, which has 73,000+ followers.
Samuel Sevian is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 27 days, making him the youngest ever American grandmaster at the time. He also broke all US age records in reaching the titles of National and International Master.
Samuel L. Shankland is an American chess grandmaster. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2018.
Awonder Liang is an American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy in his youth, he was the third-youngest American to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, at the age of 14. Liang was twice world champion in his age category.
Nils Axel Grandelius is a Swedish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked player of Sweden.
Jennifer Yu is an American chess player. She was awarded the title Woman Grandmaster by FIDE in 2018. Yu is a two-time U.S. women's champion, winning in 2019 and 2022.
Hans Moke Niemann is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He became a FIDE Grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He first entered the Top 100 Junior players list at position 88 on March 1, 2019, and as of September 2023, he was the eighth-highest-rated Junior in the world. His peak global ranking was No. 31, in May 2023.
Praveen Balakrishnan is an American chess grandmaster from Centreville, Virginia. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 2021, and he is a recipient of the 2021 Samford Fellowship. As of January 2022, he is ranked the 35th best player in the United States.
Arthur Guo is an American chess grandmaster from Atlanta, Georgia. He is a nine-time National Chess Champion and also a three-time International Gold Medalist/Champion. Guo earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in July 2023 soon after he turned 17. As of January 1, 2024, he is the highest-rated 17-year-old in the country and is ranked No. 29 among juniors in the world.
The 2022 edition of the United States Chess Championship took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri from 4 October to 21 October 2022. As with every United States Chess Championship tournament since 2014, it was a round-robin tournament. Fourteen players were invited to compete. Besides the reigning US champion, these included the winners of the US Open Chess Championship, the US Junior Championship, and the US Senior Open Championship. The remaining players were chosen by highest invitational rating, or were selected by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as wildcards.
The 2021 edition of the United States Chess Championship took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri from 6 October to 20 October 2021. As with every United States Chess Championship tournament since 2014, it was a round-robin tournament. Twelve players were invited to compete. Besides the reigning US champion, these included the winners of the US Open Chess Championship, the US Junior Championship, and the US Senior Open Championship. The remaining players were chosen by highest invitational rating, or were selected by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as wildcards.