I am trying to get a handle on who the youngest masters in USCF history were. From memory and a quick internet search, I have the following:
Bobby Fischer, 13 years
Stuart Rachels, 11 years 10 months
Jordy Mont-Reynaud, 10 years 209 days
Vinay Bhat, 10 years, 176 days
Hikaru Nakamura, 10 years 79 days
Where do Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson fit on this list? There probably have been a few others who reached 2200 USCF before their 12th birthday.
Does anyone (Mike Nolan?) have statistics on the number of players who became USCF masters at age 10, 11, 12 for all time? The list should be pretty small especially for age 10 and 11.
I am asking because three California kids are on the verge of breaking 2200. 11 year old Daniel Naroditsky is expected to crack 2200 once the Tuesday Night Marathon that ended last night gets rated. Naroditsky defeated SM Craig Mar in the final round to earn the master title according to everyone’s calculations. And 12 year old Gregory Young sits at exactly 2199 after last weekend’s CalChess Masters.
But it is the youngest of the local kids who has the chance of creating history. Nicholas Nip, who was born in April 1998, now has a rating around 2100. He broke 2000 in May, less than 5 months ago. Last weekend, he scored 1.5/4 in the CalChess Masters, facing one 2400, two 2200s and the near master Gregory Young. Now he has 7 months to be America’s first 9 year old master and over 9 months to break Nakamura’s record. Can he do it? Stay tuned!
I’ve been following Nicholas Nip’s rating progress for some time now.
I’ve also done some research into the exact age when various people made 2000, 2100, 2200, etc, at least since 1992, which is as far back as our detailed records go.
Nicholas was not the youngest expert, Brian Luo was. Caruna is #2 on the list, Nicholas is #3.
Marc Arnold is #4 on that list, Nakamura is #5, Darwin Yang is #6, Ray Robson #7 and Vinay Bhat #8. All of them made Expert when they were 9 years old.
For youngest Master, Nakamura currently holds the record, followed by Bhat, Jordy Mont-Reynaud and Caruna, all age 10 at the time. Robson is #5 on that list, at age 11. The other 11 year old Masters are Parker Zhao and Arnold.
BTW, as far as I can tell, Nakamura also holds the record for the shortest time between making Expert and making Master, a little over 4 months. That record appears secure for now, Nicholas Nip made Expert in May.
These statistics are misleading in the cases of:
Jordy Mont-Reynaud, 10 years 209 days
Vinay Bhat, 10 years, 176 days
Both Jordy and Vinay nosed barely above 2200 in just one tournament and then dropped down, hitting their floors at 2100. Both did not become solid masters until they were 12 years old.
In fact, the MSA does not even show Jordy making master until 12, probably because his initial master result has since been re-rated.
Yes, it does. Mont-Reynaud went over 2200 in a tournament on 3/13/94, which was, as claimed, at age 10 years 209 days. Sam is correct that his rating immediately dropped to Expert, and he didn’t make Master again until August 1995, but his inclusion on the list is technically correct.
Rerating didn’t exist in 1994, and the only events that are rerated are those that were initially rated on or after 1/1/2004, which is the start of the ‘rerate window’.
Unfortunately, Jordy Mont-Reynaud, like so many other strong young players, stopped playing with any frequency several years ago and is not even a current USCF member.
I disagree with John. I recall years ago an article on young masters in Chess Life. If my memory is correct, in that article they referenced a case where the player went over 2200 and then dropped down before it was published. On that list, at least, they did not put him on the list. I think it was Michael Wilder. I know he was in the article, so that should give us a good idea on when it was published.
Based on that precedent, I think Sam is correct in looking at the rating supplements and not the individual tournament post-rating. Perhaps someone with a more complete collection can find that article and confirm or contradict my recollections.
As I understand it, back in the 1990’s when someone’s post-event rating went to 2200 or higher, they got the ‘USCF Master’ certificate from the office, they didn’t wait to see if that player was still 2200 as of the next Rating Supplement.
Rerating kind of messes that up, because someone could be a master after the initial rating of an event but not after a rerate, possibly because of a correction to the original report.
I haven’t seen any situations yet where someone made master for the first time but lost it due to a rerate, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.
I don’t think the office has been sending out master certificates for a few years except upon request, possibly dating back to before the ratings department was moved to TN.
If this were an “official” USCF list, you might have a point. I would probably even agree with it. However, the definition of “made Master” Bill is using for his list is “obtained a rating over 2200,” which Mont-Reynaud clearly did.
12 year old Gregory Young cracked 2200 at the Dolan G/45 tournament in San Francisco today! He started at 2199 and played three rounds, beating three players under 2000 and bringing his rating to an estimated 2203. Over the past 3 months, Gregory has a win against IM DeGuzman and an amazing undefeated 6 wins and 4 draws in his last 10 games against players rated 2200-2300.
California star Nicholas Nip is now up to 2193 and stands to break Hikaru Nakamura’s youngest USCF master record soon. He is still nine years old and has about two months to become the USCF’s first nine year old master.
13062538: NICHOLAS NIP 2187 → 2207 at age 9 years and 11 months. He becomes the USCF’s first ever nine year old master, defeating FM Ron Cusi (2339) in the critical game.
Jennifer has an article up on Nicholas already, she’s hoping to be able to add to it as she gets more information and quotes.
I’ve been watching Nicholas’s progress since he reached class A and have exchanged several emails with his mother.
They tell me that at one time the USCF office had a rule that in order to become a Master you had to defeat or at least draw with a Master. According to MSA, Nicholas now has 10 wins and 10 draws against players rated 2200 or higher at the time.
