Alice Lee (chess Player)

Alice Teresa Lee (born October 13, 2009) is an American chess player with the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is the youngest American female, and the third youngest female worldwide, to achieve the IM title. Her tournament accomplishments include being a two-time Women’s American Cup champion, a two-time U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, a three-time World Youth champion, and a two-time Women’s Olympiad medalist.

Early career

Alice Lee started playing chess at age 6 in her school’s chess club, where her older brother was already a member.

By age 8, she had already earned the title of US Chess Expert, and by age 10, she had become a US Chess National Master (NM). At age 9, she won the under-18 section of the 2019 National Girls Championships.

U.S. Women's Championships

Lee began competing in the U.S. Women's Championship in 2022 at age 12. She finished in clear third place in both 2023 and 2024.

Women's American Cup

Lee has set multiple records at Women's American Cup, becoming both the youngest participant and the youngest champion in the tournament’s history. She won the title in 2024 and 2025, and also finished as runner-up twice.

At age 12, she secured second place at the 2022 Women's American Cup, delivering a series of surprising victories.

At age 13, she again finished second at the 2023 Women's American Cup. She tied two classical matches with GM Irina Krush before losing in the rapid playoffs.

At age 14, she won the 2024 Women's American Cup by defeating GM Irina Krush in the Grand Final. Her victory places her alongside Bobby Fischer and Irina Krush as one of the youngest players to win a major chess title in the United States.

At age 15, she successfully defended her title at the 2025 Women’s American Cup, winning all of her matches and earning $49,000 in prize money.

U.S. Junior Championships

Lee started competing in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championships in 2020 at age 10.

At age 13, she won the 2023 US Girls' Junior Championship with a score of 7.5/9, making her the youngest winner in the tournament's history.

At age 14, she successfully defended her title at the 2024 US Girls' Junior Championship.

World Youth Championships

Lee is a three-time gold medalist at the World Youth Championships (under-10 girls section in 2019; under-12 girls section in 2020; under-12 girls section in 2021). She was also the winner of the online FIDE Youth Rapid World Cup (under-12 girls section in 2021).

International Team Competitions

Lee began representing the USA Women's Team in international competitions at age 13. So far, she has won three medals: two from the Chess Olympiads (a team bronze and an individual silver) and one from the World Team Championships (an individual gold).

At age 13, Lee played on the top board for Team USA at the 2023 World Women's Team Championship, where she won the individual gold medal with a score of 7.5/11. The U.S. women’s team achieved their best-ever finish in the tournament, placing 4th.

At age 14, she competed in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, helping Team USA secure its first medal in 16 years by winning the bronze. With a score of 8/10, she also earned the individual silver medal on board 4.

Other Notable Tournaments

At age 14, Lee became the youngest participant in the history of the Cairns Cup, one of the world's strongest female super tournaments. She finished with a score of 4/9.

At age 15, she secured clear second place at the 2025 Cairns Cup with a score of 5.5/9 (just half a point short of a GM norm) and a performance rating of 2572, earning $50,000 in prize money.

FIDE titles/ratings

Lee is the youngest American female to achieve the IM title (at 13 years and 7 months old), breaking the previous record held by Carissa Yip (at 16 years and 1 month old). Worldwide, Lee is one of three female players to earn the IM title at age 13, joining GMs Judit Polgár and Kateryna Lagno.

At age 11, she earned the WIM title by winning the under-18 girls section of the 2021 North American Youth Championships.

At age 12, she earned her FM title, first International Master (IM) norm, and first Woman Grandmaster (WGM) norm at the 2022 Southwest Class Championships.

At age 13, she won a second IM norm and a second WGM norm at the 2023 1000GM St. Louis IM Norm Tournament.

At age 13, sh
crossed the 2400 live rating mark after the first two rounds
during the 2023 1000GM NYC IM Norm Tournament, thereby fulfilling the rating requirement for the IM title.

At age 13, she won her final IM norm and final WGM norm at th
2023 Canadian Transnational Championship
and hence qualified for both the IM and WGM titles.

By June 2025, he
FIDE rating
had risen to 2412, making her the world's 35th highest-rated female player.

Notable games

At the 2022 Southwest Class Championships, Lee defeated IM Viktor Gazik (2543) to clinch her first IM and WGM norms.

At the 2023 Pro Chess League, she defeated GM Matthias Bluebaum (2661) (Berlin Bears) and GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2700) (Croatia Bulldogs) to help St. Louis Arch Bishops reach the playoffs; in the quarter finals, she drew GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) (Gotham Knights).

At the 2023 Canadian Transnational Championship, sh
defeated two GMs, including GM Arturs Neiksans (2605), and drew four other GMs, including GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista (2617)
A performance rating of 2531 secured her final IM and WGM norms.

At the 2024 Women's American Cup, she defeated GM Irina Krush (2421) in the Grand Final to become one of the youngest players to win a major chess title in the United States.

At the 2024 Cairns Cup, she defeated former Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2501
in the fourth round

At the 2024 World Open, she defeated GM Tuan Minh Le (2568
in the fourth round

At the 2025 Cairns Cup, she defeated another former Women's World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk (2492
in the second round

Other chess activities and awards

In July 2023, Lee was interviewed by ''Good Morning America'' after becoming the youngest American female IM.

At age 10, she began co-hosting the Chesskid.com show "Alice's Pawn Palace" alongside FM Mike Klein.

As an ambassador for Chesskid.com, she took part in various Chesskid.com and Chess.com activities.

She won the US Chess "Young Player of The Year" award in 2024, marking her as the first female player to achieve this distinction.

In May 2024, the Minnesota Senate passed a resolution to congratulate Alice Lee on her American Cup victory and extraordinary chess career.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Alice
Living people
2009 births
American female chess players
Chess International Masters
Chess Woman Grandmasters
World Youth Chess Champions
21st-century American chess players
21st-century American sportswomen
Sportspeople from Minneapolis
American sportswomen of Chinese descent
American children
Chess Olympiad competitors