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Ray Robson

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Ray Robson
Full nameRay Robson
Country United States
TitleGrandmaster (GM)
FIDE rating2559 (March 2010)
Peak rating2570 (January 2010)

Ray Robson (born October 25, 1994) is an American chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster. In October 2009, about two weeks before turning 15, he became the youngest grandmaster-elect in history who plays for the United States.[1]

Robson's norms were gained at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Norway, at the 23rd North American FIDE Invitational in Chicago, and at the Pan-American Junior Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay. Robson will be playing in the 2010 U.S. Championship (seeded as US Junior Champion).

Early life

Robson was born in Guam to Gary Robson, a professor at the college of education (applied linguistics) at St. Petersburg College, and Yee-chen, a kindergarten teacher at Country Day School.[2] They later moved to Largo, Florida, where they live today. An only child, he learnt chess from his father at age three. He attended public school for kindergarten, then a public school for the gifted in first grade, then from grades 2-5 he was at a private Montessori school. He started homeschooling in grade 6, and is now in eighth grade.

Robson has said he wants to become a professional chess player, and his parents hoped for him to gain a chess scholarship to college.[3] In April 2005, at the "Super Nationals" (the world's largest scholastic chess tournament) in Nashville, Tennessee, he won every match he played and emerged as the national champion in the elementary age (K-6) division. By winning this title, he earned a four-year scholarship covering full tuition and fees, along with a housing stipend, to the University of Texas at Dallas. The scholarship has a cash value of about $48,000 to non-Texas residents. The only stipulation is that the winner must meet the university's entrance requirements at matriculation, which for Robson won't be for several years.[4]

Chess career

Robson has won seven national scholastic titles (including regulation events and blitz events). In addition, he has represented the United States in international scholastic events since 2004. Robson finished in the top ten at the World Youth Chess Championship from 2004 to 2007, and he tied for first place in the 2005 and 2006 (U12 Boys, Silver on tiebreak) Pan American Youth Chess Championships.

Robson also plays in many of the major open tournaments in the United States. He finished in the top ten both at the 2006 National Chess Congress in Philadelphia and at the 2006 North American Open in Las Vegas.[5] Robson's performance at the former event qualified him for the 2007 U.S. Chess Championship, making him the youngest player in the history of the event to participate.

In 2004, at the age of nine, Robson defeated his first National Master in tournament play. In 2005, he defeated his first International Master (IM), and in 2006 he defeated his first Grandmaster (GM). He studied with GM Gregory Kaidanov for almost two years (2005-07), via mainly the phone and Internet. He is currently studying with GM Alexander Onischuk.[6]

Robson was awarded the FIDE Master (FM) title in June 2005 after tying for first place at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship in Brazil. He earned the USCF National Master (NM) title in January 2006 by raising his chess rating above 2200 (the minimum required for the title of National Master). Robson earned the three norms needed for the IM title in only six weeks: the first at the 6th North American FIDE Invitational on November 3, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois; the second on November 27 at the World Youth Chess Championship in Antalya, Turkey, and the third and final norm on (December 10) at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) GM Invitational in Dallas, Texas, making him the youngest IM-elect in the United States.[7]

Robson tied for first place in the 2008 Florida championship.[8] On July 16, 2009, he won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, becoming one of the youngest champions ever.[9] In August 2009, Robson tied for first at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromso, Norway, garnering his first GM norm in the process.[10] Later that same month, Robson then went on to earn his second GM norm by winning the 23rd North American FIDE Invitational in Skokie, Illinois.[11] He earned his third and final GM norm in October 2009 by winning the Pan-American Junior Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay, making him a GM-elect.[12] He was formally awarded the title in January 2010.[13]

Robson played in his first World Cup in November 2009 in Russia.

Standing on each FIDE list

Rating list Rating Games Change Age
January 2005 2021 9 - 10, 3 months
April 2005 2021 0 0 10, 6 months
July 2005 2021 0 0 10, 9 months
October 2005 2113 21 +92 11, 0 months
January 2006 2124 8 +9 11, 3 months
April 2006 2135 6 +9 11, 6 months
July 2006 2181 10 +46 11, 9 months
October 2006 2217 20 +36 12, 0 months
January 2007 2249 16 +32 12, 3 months
April 2007 2293 14 +44 12, 6 months
July 2007 2347 26 +54 12, 9 months
October 2007 2368 26 +21 13, 0 months
January 2008 2389 27 +21 13, 3 months
April 2008 2433 26 +44 13, 6 months
July 2008 2441 19 +8 13, 9 months
October 2008 2466 8 +25 14, 0 months
January 2009 2455 32 -11 14, 3 months
April 2009 2465 25 +10 14, 6 months
July 2009 2491 28 +26 14, 9 months
September 2009 2527 25 +36 14, 11 months
November 2009 2567 27 +40 15, 1 months
January 2010 2570 15 +3 15, 3 months
  • bold, new peak rating

See also

References

  1. ^ The Italian-American Fabiano Caruana qualified for the title at 14 years and 350 days, almost exactly the same age as Robson, but plays for Italy. Ray Robson Earns Final GM Norm!. United States Chess Federation. Accessed on 2009-10-20.
  2. ^ 2005 National K-12 Tournament ChessCafe.com
  3. ^ Largo boy one of the world's best youth chess players February 19, 2008. The Associated Press.
  4. ^ Chess king wins college scholarship at 10
  5. ^ 16th North American Open: Open Section
  6. ^ http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9156/517
  7. ^ McClain, Dylan Loeb (December 16, 2007). "Florida Boy, Just 13, Sprints to International Master Title". New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Florida championship 2008
  9. ^ Ray Robson Wins US Junior Championship. susanpolgar.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-17.
  10. ^ http://tournamentservice.com/standings.aspx?TID=ArcticChess2009-TromsoSjakklubb
  11. ^ http://www.nachess.org/naca/index.php?option=com_wordpress&p=392&Itemid=2
  12. ^ Ray Robson Earns Final GM Norm!. United States Chess Federation. Accessed on 2009-10-20.
  13. ^ "FIDE Titles Awarded at the Bursa Presidential Board 1/2010". FIDE. 08 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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