IM norm
Which title was conferred to Razvan Preotu in 2014?
Razvan Preotu Razvan Preotu ( born August 11 , 1999 in Toronto , Ontario ) is a Canadian chess Grandmaster . Early life , family , and education . Preotu is the son of Rene and Gabriela Preotu , who came to Canada from Romania in 1998 . The family settled in Toronto , and moved to nearby Burlington , Ontario in 2003 . Razvan graduated from Dr . Frank J . Hayden Secondary School in the summer of 2017 and is currently studying computer science at The University of Texas at Dallas . He was awarded a chess scholarship and is a member of the university chess team . Chess career . Early years , coaches . Razvans first coach was his father Rene , a class B / Category II player , who is also a FIDE chess Arbiter . His first organized tournament was at age seven—the Grade 2 Chessn Math Association event in Toronto , in 2007 . Razvan studied with National Master Michael Egorov , a Hamilton , Ontario resident . He then began to work online with Romanian Grandmaster George-Gabriel Grigore . Upon Grigores retirement from coaching chess , Razvan worked with another Romanian GM Gergely Szabo , until summer 2016 . Early successes . Three straight national titles . Razvan won the Canadian Chess Challenge three consecutive times , for his grade 8 , grade 9 , and grade 10 years , in 2013 , 2014 , and 2015 . This annual event , organized by the Chessn Math Association , is Canadas national grade school championship , bringing together all of the provincial champions . FM title . Upon attaining a FIDE rating of 2300 , Razvan was awarded the FIDE Master title in 2013 , at age 14 . International Master . Razvan scored his first International Master ( IM ) norm at the 2013 North American Open in Las Vegas . He earned his first win over a Grandmaster when he defeated Bator Sambuev , a Canadian Olympic team member , at the 2013 Guelph Pro-Am . He made his second IM norm at the 2014 World Open at Arlington , Virginia ; this was also a Grandmaster norm . He attained his third and final required IM norm at the 2014 U.S . Masters , and was awarded the title by FIDE later that year , as his FIDE rating had topped 2400 . Grandmaster . Razvan achieved his second GM norm at the 2014 SPICE Cup , in St Louis , Missouri . He made his third and final required GM norm at the 2016 World Open in Philadelphia . One final step still remained before he could formally be awarded the GM title : the minimum 2500 rating , and Razvan completed this with his draw against GM Gata Kamsky in round five of the 2016 Washington , D.C . International . Razvan was granted the GM title during the 2016 FIDE Congress at Baku , Azerbaijan , in early September , 2016 , becoming the second youngest Canadian-born GM . Notable tournament results . Razvan played board one for Canada at the 2014 World Youth U16 Olympiad ; Canada placed fifth . He won the U16 Canadian title in 2015 , and placed sixth at the 2015 World Youth Chess Championship for U16 . Razvan won the championship at the 2016 Calgary International , ahead of five GMs , becoming the first Canadian to win this title outright . He also won the 2018 Quebec Open with an undefeated 7.5/9 , including wins over 2nd and 4th place GMs Edouard and Mikhalevskyi . As of August 1 , 2018 , Razvan is currently the #2 ranked Canadian for national rating , behind GM Anton Kovalyov . Razvan will be playing for Team Canada at the 2018 Chess Olympiad , Batumi , Georgia Chess writer . He has written articles for Chess Canada magazine , and recently released a book . Books . - Michael Song , Razvan Preotu , Foreword by Evgeny Bareev . 2017 . The Chess Attackers Handbook . Gambit Publications . External links . - Razvan Preotu blog website