peakrating fideid title article_title name
2461 -lrb- january 2012 -rrb- 14300192 grandmaster kenny solomon
 kenny solomon
kenny solomon

kenny solomon -lrb- born 8 october 1979 -rrb- is a south african chess grandmaster and fide trainer -lrb- 2005 -rrb- .
he took up chess at the age of 13 , inspired by his elder brother 's qualification for the chess olympiad in manila in 1992 .
borrowing a chess book from him to study , solomon was soon taken under his brother 's wing to study and within two years , he was the south african under-16 champion .
currently the third highest-ranked active player in the country , he has won the south african closed once , in 2003 and the south african open three times , in 1999 , 2005 and 2007 , and was also the top ranked south african in 2003 .
he became an international master in 2004 .
during the 40th chess olympiad in istanbul solomon earned his final gm norm .
although solomon has never reached a peak rating of 2500 , the usual criteria , along with the gm norms , for becoming a grandmaster , he earned the grandmaster title after winning the africa chess championship in december 2014 , thereby becoming the first grandmaster from south africa .
