Alejandro Ramírez (chess player)
Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez (born in San José, Costa Rica, June 21, 1988) is a chess Grandmaster. At the age of 15, he became the first Centro-American to achieve the Grand Master Chess Title given by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) being, at that moment, the second youngest Chess Grand Master in the world.
Alejandro started playing chess at the age of four after watching the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." And with the guide of his father and mentor Jorge Ramírez started to progress and to revolutionized the way chess was played in Centro-America[citation needed].
Alejandro was named for the first time in the Chess World during the Chess Olympiad 2002, held in the city of Bled, Slovenia, when, at the age of 13, he historically got a draw against the Russian Chess Super Grand Master Alexander Morozevich.
He has recently graduated from the University of Texas in Dallas (UTD) with a Master Degree in Arts & Technology / Design and Production of Videogames.
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[edit] FIDE Master
The title of FIDE Chess Master was obtained by Alejandro at the age of 9 when obtaining the gold medal in the Pan-American Chess Championship Sub-10 held in Florianopolis, Brazil in the year 1998.
[edit] International Master
He obtained the title of International Master at the age of 13 when winning 6.5 points in the Sub-zonal Tournament held in Managua, Nicaragua in November 2001.
[edit] Grandmaster
The first grandmaster norm was obtained at the age of 14 when gaining 7 points out of 9 at the Capablanca in Memoriam Tournament held in La Habana, Cuba in May 2003.
The second norm was obtained at the age of 15 when tied for first place (together with GM Lenier Dominguez from Cuba) in the Zonal Tournament 2.3 held in Guayaquil, Ecuador in August 2003. In this tournament Alejandro also got the right to participate in the World Chess Championship 2004 becoming the only centro-American ever to participate in such a magnum event, which was held in Libya.
He obtained his third norm at the age of 15 gaining 7 points in the Los Inmortales Tournament at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in November 2003.
His Chess Grandmaster title was ratified by FIDE during its January 2004´s Assembly due to his completion of the three norms and meeting the 2500 Elo requirement. That way, he became the first and only Chess Grandmaster from the centro-American area.
Alejandro is keeping active in Chess playing with his college team UTD´s chess team, with which he has travelled to places like China. Individually, he continues to achieve triumphs like his first place in the Morelia Open 2008 and the first place in the US Chess Open 2010 held in Irvine, California. Also he is continuously a guest instructor at the Arizona Chess Camp.
In January 2011 he disappeared as a Costa Rican player and is now listed as a US Chess player. He is ranked number nine in the US according to FIDE rating list.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Alejandro Ramírez (chess player) player profile at ChessGames.com
- Alejandro Ramirez rating card at FIDE
- Interview with 15-year old GM Alejandro Ramírez
Chess prodigies at Chessbase http://www.chessbase.com/newsprint.asp?newsid=2858
