Samuel Sevian

Last updated

Samuel Sevian
SamSevian23.jpg
Sevian in 2023
CountryUnited States
Born (2000-12-26) December 26, 2000 (age 23)
Corning, New York, U.S.
Title Grandmaster (2014)
FIDE   rating 2689 (September 2024)
Peak rating 2703 (May 2022)
Ranking No. 40 (September 2024)
Peak rankingNo. 32 (June 2022)

Samuel Sevian (born December 26, 2000) 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. [1] [2] He also broke all US age records in reaching the titles of National and International Master. [3] [4]

Contents

Chess career

Sevian started to play chess at the age of 5 and his first major success came in 2009 when he broke the record for the youngest Expert in USCF history at 8 years, 2 months of age, beating Brian Luo's previous record by over 10 months. [5] On December 9, 2010, Sevian became the youngest National Master in USCF history at 9 years, 11 months, and 23 days, beating Nicholas Nip's record by 3 days. [6] In 2012, he completed all the norms required for the title of International Master (IM) in the space of 6 months. He became an IM after crossing the 2400 FIDE rating mark during Norm tournament in November 2013 in Budapest, thus setting the new US record of 12 years, 10 months. [7]

In November 2012, he became the World Champion in the U12 category at the World Youth Chess Championships in Maribor, Slovenia. In May 2013, Sevian was invited to play in the U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis as the youngest ever participant. The field consisted of 24 players and Sevian scored 4/9 points, which placed him in shared 14th place ahead of several grandmasters.

In November 2014 Sevian became a Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days, a new US record. After completing all three norms required for the title at the Foxwoods Open in January 2014, Saint Louis GM Invitational in May and Washington International in August 2014 at age 13 years and 7 months, he then completed the final requirement for the title by reaching over a FIDE rating of 2500 during the Saint Louis GM Norm Invitational tournament, which he won convincingly with the score of 7½/9 points. [2]

He took part in the Tata Steel Challengers event in January 2015, sharing fifth place with a score of 7½/13 points. [8] Sevian shared fifth place in the US Chess Championship 2015, beating Wesley So, a world top ten ranked player, and drawing with Hikaru Nakamura as well as defending champion Gata Kamsky. This performance earned him a spot in the Chess World Cup 2015, where he drew both classical games against Teimour Radjabov in the first round of the tournament but was eliminated in the rapid playoff.

In June 2017, Sevian won the American Continental Chess Championship in Medellín, Colombia, which in that year had assembled the best Grandmasters of the Western Hemisphere, scoring 8½/11 points with superior tiebreak. [9] [10] Winning this coveted Cup at the age of 16, Sevian yet again added a new age record to the long list of his achievements, now as the youngest ever American Continental Champion. [11] In September, he participated in the Chess World Cup 2017. He defeated Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu in the first round, then was defeated by Li Chao in the second round and eliminated from the tournament.

In 2019, he participated in the Chess World Cup 2019. He defeated Aryan Tari in the first round, then was defeated by Sergey Karjakin in the second round and eliminated from the tournament. Also, in 2019 Sevian represented the US National Team at the World Team Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. He won the Individual Bronze medal for his performance on the second board.

In 2021, he participated in the Chess World Cup 2021. He defeated Sumant Subramaniam in the first round and Benjamin Bok in the second round, then was defeated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the third round and eliminated from the tournament.

Also in 2021, Sevian finished the United States Championship in the top three with the same score 6.5/11 as Fabiano Caruana and the eventual tie-break winner Wesley So, with a performance rating of 2747, higher than that of all the competitors.

In April 2022 Sevian participated in the first edition of the American Cup, a double elimination tournament where he defeated Wesley So in the classical match, before being knocked out by Fabiano Caruana in rapid tiebreaks, ultimately being eliminated by Ray Robson in the elimination bracket in rapid. This pushed him above 2700 for the first time. He won the annual Chess9LX event hosted by the St Louis Chess Club in 2023. [12]

Personal life

Sevian was born in Corning, New York, to Armine and Armen Sevian, both of Armenian heritage. His father, Armen, held the title of candidate master in Soviet Armenia before moving to the United States in 1996 for his PhD studies. As of 2015, Armen was the principal scientist for a laser manufacturing company near Boston. [13] [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irina Krush</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1983)

Irina Borisivna Krush is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the only woman to earn the GM title while playing for the United States. Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women's Champion and a two-time Women's American Cup Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Robson</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1994)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinay Bhat</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1984)

Vinay Subrahmanya Bhat is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Naroditsky</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1995)

Daniel Naroditsky often referred to as Danya, is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hess (chess player)</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1991)

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.

Kayden William Troff is an American chess grandmaster. He was World U14 Chess Champion in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Shankland</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1991)

Samuel L. Shankland is an American chess grandmaster. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awonder Liang</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2003)

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.

<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">Jeffery Xiong</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2000)

Jeffery Xiong is an American chess grandmaster. He earned the Grandmaster title in September 2015 at the age of fourteen, the fourth youngest player to qualify in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akshat Chandra</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1999)

Akshat Chandra is an American chess player. He started playing Chess during a visit to India in 2009 when he was nine years old. In 2015, he won the US National K-12 Championship and was also the US Junior Champion, the first time both titles were held by the same person in a single year. He earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in March 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R Praggnanandhaa</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 2005)

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess grandmaster. As of 2 September 2024, Praggnanandhaa is ranked 12th in the world by the International Chess Federation. Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aryan Chopra</span> Indian chess grandmaster (born 2001)

Aryan Chopra is an Indian chess prodigy who became a grandmaster (GM) in 2016, at the age of 14 years, 9 months and 3 days. The title was officially awarded by FIDE in 2017. He became the second youngest Indian to become Grandmaster, after Parimarjan Negi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Javokhir Sindarov</span> Uzbekistani chess grandmaster (born 2005)

Javokhir Sindarov is an Uzbekistani chess grandmaster and prodigy. He earned the title of grandmaster in October 2018, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 5 days.

Carissa Shiwen Yip is an American chess player and the winner of the 2021 and 2023 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. In September 2019, she was the top rated female player in the United States and the youngest female chess player to defeat a grandmaster, which she did at age ten. In October 2019, she became the youngest American woman in history to qualify for the title of International Master until surpassed by Alice Lee in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abhimanyu Mishra</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2009)

Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the grandmaster title on June 30, 2021, at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days, beating Sergey Karjakin's record of 12 years and 7 months, which had stood since 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Niemann</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2003)

Hans Moke Niemann is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became a FIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He had a peak global ranking of No. 16 in September 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Rosen (chess player)</span> American chess player

Eric Rosen is an American chess player. He was awarded the FIDE Master title in 2011 and the International Master title in 2015. Rosen began playing chess as a child with his father and brother and became the United States Chess Federation (USCF) K12 national champion in 2011. While attending the University of Illinois, Rosen was on the chess team that secured a spot at the President's Cup in 2013 and 2014.

Tin Jingyao is a Singaporean chess grandmaster. He is a five-time winner of the Singapore Chess Championship and has represented Singapore in the Chess Olympiad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Guo</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2006)

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.

References

  1. "Youngest-ever American Chess Grandmaster crowned in St. Louis". Fox News. November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Sevian, 13, Youngest-Ever American Grandmaster". US Chess Federation. November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  3. Jerauld, Brian (December 12, 2013). "World Chess Champ, 12, Earns International Master Title | St. Louis Public Radio". News.stlpublicradio.org. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  4. "The United States Chess Federation - Sevian Awarded IM Title". Uschess.org. December 5, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  5. "Mechanics' Institute Chess Room". Chessclub.org. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  6. "The United States Chess Federation - Samuel Sevian Youngest US Master Ever!". www.uschess.org. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  7. "Profile of a prodigy: Samuel Sevian". ChessBase. James Satrapa. December 17, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  8. Log in / Register (December 5, 2017). "Tata Steel Challengers 2015". chess24.com. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  9. "The Week in Chess 1180". theweekinchess.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  10. Londoño, Diego (June 20, 2017). "Samuel Sevian, campeón de América". Noticias de ajedrez (in Spanish). ChessBase. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  11. Guadalupe, Franc (June 19, 2017). "GM Samuel Sevian wins Continental Championship". US Chess . Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  12. "Sam Sevian wins 2023 Champions Showdown Chess 9LX". www.fide.com. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  13. "Samuel Sevian: Young Armenian-American Grandmaster Rises to the Top". HuffPost. December 15, 2014.
  14. DePaolo, Joe (March 30, 2014). "Could Sam Sevian become the youngest US chess grandmaster ever?". The Boston Globe . Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  15. Depaolo, Joe (January 8, 2015). "A Game's Grand Young Man". The New York Times via NYTimes.com.
Achievements
Preceded by
Nicholas Nip
Youngest ever United States chessmaster
2010–13
Succeeded by
Preceded by Youngest ever United States International Master
2013-2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by Youngest ever United States Grandmaster
2014-2021
Succeeded by