Christopher Woojin Yoo (born December 19, 2006) is an American

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster. He became the youngest

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 ...

in American history in February 2019, until being surpassed by

Abhimanyu Mishra Abhimanyu Mishra (born February 5, 2009) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he holds the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days. Career Mi ...

later in 2019.

Career

In April 2018, Yoo earned clear first place in the Charlotte Chess Center's Spring 2018 IM Norm Invitational held in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

with a score of 6.0/9. In September 2020, Yoo won the 2020 US Cadet (U16) Championship, held online. In May 2021, Yoo tied for first place with GM Peter Prohaszka in the Memorial Day 2021 CCCSA GM Norm Invitational tournament with a performance rating of 2600, earning his first GM norm. In September 2021, Yoo won the Labor Day 2021 CCCSA GM Norm Invitational tournament with a performance rating of 2620, earning his second GM norm. In November 2021, Yoo tied for 3rd place at the U.S. Masters with a performance rating of 2604, earning his third GM norm. On December 12, 2021, Yoo achieved a live FIDE rating of 2500.2 after round 5 of the Marshall Chess Club Championship, fulfilling the final requirement for the Grandmaster title. In December 2021, Yoo tied for 1st place at the 2021 Charlotte Open alongside GMs

Titas Stremavičius Titas Stremavičius (born 15 February 1998) is a Lithuanian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM, 2019). He is winner of Lithuanian Chess Championship (2021). Biography Titas Stremavičius was multiple participant of European Y ...

Cemil Can Ali Marandi Cemil Can Ali Marandi (born 17 January 1998) is a Turkish chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster in 2017. Biography Cemil Can Ali Marandi repeatedly participated in European Youth Chess Championships and World Youth Chess Champ ...

, Tanguy Ringoir, Robby Kevlishvili, and

Akshat Chandra Akshat Chandra (born May 28, 1999) is an American chess player. He started playing Chess during a visit to India in 2009 when he was nine years old. In 2015, he won the US National K-12 Championship and was also the US Junior Champion, the firs ...

with a performance rating of 2603, earning a fourth GM norm. In July 2022, Yoo won the US Junior Chess Championship with 7/9, a point ahead of the field. In October 2022, Yoo defeated GM

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster, a three-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the first World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 201 ...

with the black pieces in the second round of the

US Chess Championship The US Chess Championship is an invitational tournament organized by the United States Chess Federation to determine the country's chess champion. It is the oldest national chess tournament. The event originated as a challenge match in 1845, b ...

in an over 200 point upset. In November 2022, Yoo tied for 1st place at the 2022 U.S. Masters with a performance rating of 2653, and claimed the championship title after winning a blitz playoff against GM Alejandro Ramirez by a score of 2-0.

Controversy

In October 2024, Yoo was disqualified from the 2024 U.S. Championship due to code of conduct violations. After losing to

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...

in round five, he punched a female videographer from behind while leaving. Prior to being disqualified, he had a score of 1.5/5. His tournament results were annulled. He was banned from the hosting venue, the St. Louis Chess Club, and was charged with fourth-degree assault and taken into custody. His membership was also suspended by

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 The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national rating sys ...

for one year. Yoo later publicly apologized for the incident and indicated that the incident occurred because he lost his temper following the loss. In May 2025, Yoo was suspended by FIDE for 60 days pending an investigation into new allegations of harassment. The complainant later came forward and publicly alleged that Yoo had harassed her multiple times at the 2024 Grenke Chess Festival and followed her to her hotel room, where he attempted to gain entry by claiming to be from room service.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoo, Christopher Living people 2006 births American chess players Chess Grandmasters Sportspeople from Fremont, California American sportspeople of Korean descent