Aman Hambleton (born 30 December 1992) is a Canadian

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

streamer, and Youtube content creator. He is a member of the 'Chessbrahs' (a Canadian chess entertainment company), along with other grandmasters such as Eric Hansen (founder), Robin van Kampen, and

Yasser Seirawan Yasser Seirawan (; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States Chess Championship, United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess au ...

Chess career

Hambleton was born in 1992 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and learned to play chess at age five. He moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

at age six, and played in his first tournament in the same year. He earned his

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 (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(IM) title in 2013, and was awarded his grandmaster (GM) title by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in April 2018, becoming Canada's tenth GM.Sunway Sitges: Aravindh Wins, Hambleton To Shave Beard
Chess.com He earned his first GM

norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

at the UNAM Chess Festival in 2012, while still a

FIDE 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 (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

, but did not achieve the second norm until the

Reykjavik Open The Reykjavik Open is an annual chess tournament that takes place in the capital city of Iceland. It was held every two years up to 2008, currently it runs annually. The first edition was held in 1964 and was won by Mikhail Tal with a score of 12. ...

in April 2017. He had vowed in March 2017 not to shave his beard until he attained the GM title, resulting in a lengthy beard by the time he earned his third GM norm in December 2017. He also won the

Canadian Open Chess Championship The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013. ...

in July 2017, sharing first with Razvan Preotu on a score of 6½/9. Hambleton represented Canada at the

41st Chess Olympiad The 41st Chess Olympiad (), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess even ...

. On the reserve board, he scored 3½/7 (+2–2=3). He played on the reserve board again at the

43rd Chess Olympiad The 43rd Chess Olympiad ( ka, 43-ე საჭადრაკო ოლიმპიადა, ''43-e sach’adrak’o olimp’iada''; also known as the Batumi Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) ...

. He lost to the 1937-rated Rijendra Rajbhandari in the first round, but won his last four games to finish on 4½/7 (+4–2=1). Hambleton is the No. 8 ranked Canadian player, with a rating of 2454.

Education

Hambleton attended high school in

Scarborough, Ontario Scarborough (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Census 629,941) is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the eastern part of the City of Toronto. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue (Toronto), Steele ...

Woburn Collegiate Institute Woburn Collegiate Institute is a semestered, English-language public secondary school on Ellesmere Road in the Woburn neighbourhood of the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada operated by the Toronto District School Board. From its ...

where he played on the soccer and chess teams, along with being a member of the spoken word club. He graduated in Spring of 2010 with a CFC rating of 2315 after competing in the 2010 Hart House Toronto Open. Hambleton was accepted into both Queen's University's Commerce program and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

Ivey School of Business Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

. Electing to go to Western, he became president of the UWO Chess Club during his second year. During this year, Hambleton organized and competed in the 2012 Canadian University Chess Championship which took place at Western University. He placed second in the tournament, helping Western to the championship along with teammates Shiyam Thavandiran (1st-place), Raja Panjwani (6th-place), and Justin McDonald (13th-place). 2012_CUCC_Champion_Team

Chess boxing

Hambleton had a

chess boxing Chess boxing, or chessboxing, is a hybrid sport that combines two traditional disciplines: chess and boxing. Two combatants play alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout. It is also possible to win by ...

contest with IM Lawrence Trent on 11 December 2022.

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

described it as "the highest-rated chessboxing match in history". Hambleton won via

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the first round of the boxing portion of the match.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambleton, Aman 1992 births Living people Canadian chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Chess players from Toronto University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian Twitch (service) streamers