9-year-old boy from California becomes youngest ever US chess master
By ANIThursday, December 23, 2010
LONDON - Nine-year-old Samuel Sevian from California has become the youngest-ever chess master in the US following a match in San Francisco.
Sevian, from Santa Clara, was awarded the title by the US Chess Federation, reports the BBC.
He is coached by international master Andranik Matikozyan, who lives in Los Angeles.
The body gave him a rating of 2,201. A rating of 2,200 qualifies a player as a national master.
Samuel beats the previous record-holder Nicholas Nip, of San Francisco, by 11 days.
It is not the first record for Samuel, who celebrates his 10h birthday on 26 December.
At the age of eight he was also the youngest person to attain the US chess level of “expert”.
Samuel spends at least two hours a day studying chess, playing against his father Armen Sevian, 37, and practising over the internet with his coach, international master Andranik Matikozyan, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
“I met Samuel three years ago. When I saw him playing I was amazed. I thought, ‘This kid is really talented’,” Matikozyan told the paper. (ANI)
