Zhou Jianchao (; born June 11, 1988) is a Chinese-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 ...

player. In 2006, he became China's 21st Grandmaster at the age of 17. Zhou competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2009 and 2015.

Career

Zhou Jianchao learned to play chess at the age of 6. He achieved the norms required for the Grandmaster title at the 2005

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament organised through the joint efforts of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Russian Ministry of Sport with the sponsorship from the Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot. It is played in Moscow, ho ...

(A2 Group), the 2005 Dubai Open and the 2006

(A2 Group). Zhou was the runner-up of the National Individual Championship and joint runner-up of the World Team Championship in 2005. He is a co-champion of Asian Team Championship and won a Board Gold in 2008. Zhou reached round three at the World Cup 2007, where he eventually lost to Michael Adams. Zhou knocked out

Emil Sutovsky Emil Sutovsky (; born 19 September 1977) is an Israeli chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996. Sutovsky is the FIDE CEO since 2022. Previously, he served as FIDE Director-General (2018-22). He was the president of th ...

and

Andrei Volokitin Andrei Volokitin (, ''Andriy Volokitin''; born 18 June 1986 in Lviv) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He is a two-time Ukrainian champion and has competed in four Chess Olympiads, winning team gold in 2004 along with team bronze in 2012. Ches ...

in the first two rounds. In March 2009, Zhou became for the first time in his career
top 100
player in the world. At the 2009 Aeroflot Open, Zhou came third on

tiebreak In games and sport, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is any method used to determine a winner or to rank participants when there is a tie - meaning two or more parties have achieved a same score or result. A tiebreaker provides the additional criterion ...

scoring 6.0/9 (+3,=6,-0) with a 2753 performance. Also in 2009, he reached the second round of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

. Zhou Jianchao scored 6/9 points (+3,=6,-0) at the 2010 Aeroflot Open, coming 4th out of 80 players with a 2777 performance. In 2011 he came third in the Lake Sevan tournament in Martuni and won the 1st Chinese Rapid Championship in Hefei. In 2022 he won the Mission 360 GM/IM Norm #1 tournament in San Jose. In team events, Zhou played for China in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, the

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

in 2005 (winning the team silver), the Asian Team Chess Championship in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2018, the 2nd Russia-China Match in 2004 and the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad in 2004 (winning gold). Zhou Jianchao played for

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs play over the board and face to face chess a ...

in the China Chess League (CCL). In 2024, Zhou moved to Massachusetts and switched his national federation to the United States. He won the U.S. Chess 2024 Grand Prix.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Jianchao 1988 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess players from Shanghai Chess Olympiad competitors Asian Games medalists in chess Chess players at the 2010 Asian Games 21st-century Chinese chess players Asian Games gold medalists for China Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games American chess players