U-8 world chess champion FIDE Master
Which title was conferred to Awonder Liang in 2011?
Awonder Liang Awonder Liang ( born April 9 , 2003 ) is an American chess prodigy . He is the second youngest American to qualify for the title of Grandmaster ( after Samuel Sevian ) , at the age of 14 . Liang was twice world champion in his age category . Education . Liang attended Madison West High School and has committed to the University of Chicago . Career . On April 16 , 2011 , when he played in the Hales Corners Challenge chess tournament in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , Liang became the youngest chess expert in United States Chess Federation ( USCF ) history with a rating of 2000 at the age of 8 years and 7 days . He broke the earlier record , held by Samuel Sevian , by 64 days . ( That record was later broken by Abhimanyu Mishra who became expert at 7 years , 6 months , and 22 days ) On August 5 , 2011 , at the age of 8 years 118 days , he became the youngest to defeat an international master in a standard tournament game . This occurred in round 6 at the U.S . Open in Orlando , Florida , when Liang defeated IM Daniel Fernandez ( rated FIDE 2401 and USCF 2448 at that time ) . The previous record , which was held by Fabiano Caruana , was broken by 4 months and 15 days . On November 27 , 2011 , he won the gold medal in the Under 8 section of the World Youth Chess Championships in Caldas Novas , Brazil . This win earned him the titles of U-8 world chess champion and FIDE Master . On July 29 , 2012 , he became the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster ( GM ) in a standard time limit tournament game . It occurred in round 3 of the Washington International in Rockville , Maryland , when he defeated GM Larry Kaufman . Liang was 9 years , 111 days old at the time , breaking the previous record by about 2.5 months . the record was previously held by Shah Hetul at the age of about 9 years , 6 months . At the same time , Liang broke the USA record for the youngest to win against a GM by 10 months , 9 days ; the previous record having been held by Fabiano Caruana . On March 23 , 2013 , he became the youngest person ever to obtain a masters rating within the United States Chess Federation . While playing in the Midwest Open Team Chess Festival in Dayton , Ohio , his win over a Life Master in round 2 brought his estimated USCF rating to 2206 . Liang was 17 days shy of his tenth birthday at the time of this achievement , 10 days younger than the age at the previously existing record ( held by Samuel Sevian , 7 days prior to his tenth birthday ) . On September 2 , 2015 , Maximillian Lu broke Liangs record by 12 days . At the 2013 World Youth Championships , which took place in Al Ain , Liang won the Under 10 section . On June 30 , 2014 , at the age of 11 years and 92 days , while competing in the 2nd Annual DC International , he became the youngest American to achieve a norm for the title International Master ( IM ) . Liang earned his third and final IM norm in Dallas on November 25 , 2015 at 12 years , 7 months and 6 days old , thus becoming the youngest American ever to qualify for the title of International Master . From July 8 to July 17 , 2016 , Liang participated in the U.S . Junior Closed Championship at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St . Louis , Missouri . Liang achieved a score of 6/9 , for second place behind Jeffery Xiong , who won with a score of 6½/9 . He won four games , drew four , and lost one game to Xiong . In May 2017 , Liang earned his final two Grandmaster norms in back-to-back tournaments at the Spring Chess Classic in St . Louis ( Group B ) and the Chicago Open , with the latter won on May 29 . He won the former tournament with a score of 7½/9 and ended up getting 6½/9 at the latter tournament to share 5th to 9th place . At the time , he became the tenth youngest player ever to achieve the Grandmaster title in chess . On July 17 , 2017 , Liang won the US Junior Closed Championship with a score of 6½/9 . This earned him a spot in the 2018 US Chess Championship . External links . - Awonder Liang chess games and profile at Chess-DB.com