Andy Austin Woodward 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 and prodigy.

Chess career

Woodward earned his first IM norm in the 2021 North American Junior Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned four more IM norms in Novi Sad, Serbia. In October 2022, Woodward earned his first GM norm at the 1000GM Hollywood Masters with a score of 6.5/9, defeating GM

Illia Nyzhnyk Illia Ihorovych Nyzhnyk ( uk, Ілля Ігорович Нижник; born September 27, 1996) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster (2011). Chess career He was born in Vinnytsia (Ukraine) and gained worldwide attention when he won Group B of the 2 ...

and GM

Gergely Kántor Gergely Kántor (born 19 July 1999) is a Hungarian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM, 2019). Biography Gergely Kántor started playing chess when he was seven years old. At the age of 12, he was signed by the multiple Hungar ...

. Right before this, he made into the knock out stage of the FIDE Fischer Random World Championship qualifiers as the youngest player. In January 2023, Woodward was named to the age 11 section of the All-America Chess Team. He has been part of the All-America Chess Team since 2020. In April 2023, Woodward earned his second GM norm at the Vezerkepzo GM April tournament with a score of 7.0/9, defeating GM

Kaido Külaots Kaido Külaots (born 28 February 1976) is an Estonian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2001. He has won the Estonian Chess Championship in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2020. Külaots has repres ...

and GM

Valeriy Neverov Valeriy Neverov (russian: Валерий Неверов; uk, Валерій Невєров; born 21 June 1964 in Kharkiv) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster (1991) and four-time Ukrainian Chess Champion (1983, 1985, 1988 and 1996). Chess career ...

. In September 2023, Woodward defeated

Hans Niemann Hans Moke Niemann (born June 20, 2003) is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. Niemann first ...

during their encounter in the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...

. In December 2023, Woodward won the 17th Annual SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Cup ahead of

Aram Hakobyan Aram Hakobyan ( hy, Արամ Հակոբյան; born 15 August 1979) is an Armenian football coach and a former striker. Club career Aram was a top scorer in the Armenian Premier League 2006 season, scoring with 25 goals. He was also voted th ...

Yasser Quesada Yasser Quesada Pérez (born 1992) is a Cuban chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 2017, the 27th player from Cuba to earn the title. He won the 2022 Cuban Chess Championship. He qualified to play in the Chess ...

, and Safal Bora. Woodward's performance exceeded the 2600 requirement needed for a grandmaster norm, however did not qualify due to a lack of foreign opponents. In January 2024, Woodward made it to the finals of the Puzzle World Championship, but lost to defending champion

Ray Robson Ray Robson (born October 25, 1994) is an American chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Robson fulfilled the requirements for the title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 16 days, making him the young ...

. On January 30, 2024, Woodward earned his final GM norm at the Jeddah International Chess Festival with a score of 6.0/9 after losing his first two rounds against Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş and

Volodar Murzin Volodar Arturovich Murzin (russian: Володар Артурович Мурзин; born 18 July 2006) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Originally from Nizhny Tagil, Murzin lives in Khimki. Career Murzin won the U12 title at the European Yout ...

. With this, he became one of the youngest in history to qualify for the title by fulfilling the requirements for the title at the age of 13 years, 8 months, and 28 days. He is also the second youngest grandmaster in U.S. history, only behind

Abhimanyu Mishra Abhimanyu Mishra (born February 5, 2009) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the grandmaster title on June 30, 2021, at the age of 12 years 4 months and 25 days, beating Sergey Ka ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Andy Living people 2010 births American chess players Chess International Masters Sportspeople from Frisco, Texas American children