Alice Lee (born October 13, 2009) is an American

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player with the titles of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...

(IM) and

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

(WGM). She is the youngest American female, and third youngest in the world, to achieve the IM title. Her list of tournament victories includes being the 2024 Women's American Cup Champion, the 2023 US Girls' Junior Champion, and a three-time World Youth Champion.

Early life and U.S. chess career

Alice Lee began playing chess at age 6 in the school chess club where her older brother was already playing. She became a

US Chess The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating sy ...

Expert at age 8 and a US Chess National Master (NM) at age 10. At age 9, she won the under-18 section of the 2019 National Girls Championships. Lee'
US Chess rating
reached 2484 (October 2023), placing her among the top USA female players (all ages) and the top USA players for her age group (all genders). Because of her talent and accomplishments, Lee received the prestigious Samford Fellowship in 2022 and 2023.

U.S. Women's Championships

At age 12, Lee debuted at the 2022 U.S. Women's Championship and finished tied for 5th place in a field of 14 players. At age 13, Lee took clear third place in the 2023 championship with 7.5 out of 11.

Women's American Cup

At age 12, Lee finished second place at the 2022 Women's American Cup. At age 13, she finished second place again at the 2023 Women's American Cup after tying two classical matches with GM Irina Krush and losing the rapid playoffs. At age 14, she won the 2024 Women's American Cup by defeating GM Irina Krush in the Grand Final, joining

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an ...

and

Irina Krush Irina Borisivna Krush ( uk, Ірина Борисівна Круш; born December 24, 1983) is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the first woman, and as of August 2022 the only woman, to earn the GM title while playing for the United States ...

as the youngest players to win a major chess title in the USA.

U.S. Girls' Junior Championships

Lee started playing in the US Girls' Junior Championships since the age of 10. At age 13, she won the tournament in 2023 after finishing 7.5 out of 9.

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 The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

Youth Rapid World Cup (under-12 girls section in 2021).

World Women's Team Championships

At age 13, Lee played the top board for team USA at the 2023 World Women's Team Championship. She earned the individual gold medal on the top board by finishing 7.5 out of 11. The US Women's team had their best finish in this tournament, securing 4th place.

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 Carissa Shiwen Yip (born September 10, 2003) is an American chess player and a former U.S. Women's Chess Champion. In September 2019, she was the top rated female player in the United States and the youngest female chess player to defeat a gr ...

(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 Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the you ...

and

Kateryna Lagno Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno (russian: Екатерина Александровна Лагно, ; born 27 December 1989) is a Russian (formerly Ukrainian) chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, she earned the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM) at the ...

. 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

(IM)

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

, and first

(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. Lee'
FIDE rating
reached 2406 (November 2023), becoming the world's #46 rated female player and the #2 rated female player in the USA and the Americas.

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 defeate
GM Matthias Bluebaum (2661) (Berlin Bears)
an
GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2700) (Croatia Bulldogs)
to help St. Louis Arch Bishops reach the playoffs; in the quarter finals, she dre
GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) (Gotham Knights)
At the 2023 1000GM NYC IM Norm Tournament, sh
defeated GM Oliver Barbosa (2492)
to cross the 2400 live rating mark for the first time. 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 the one of the youngest players to win a major chess title in the USA.

Other chess activities

Since the age of 10, Lee has co-hosted the Chesskid.com show "Alice's Pawn Palace" with FM Mike Klein. In 2023, Lee was interviewed by ABC's Good Morning America after becoming the youngest American female IM.

References

External links

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