YOUNGEST U.S. CHESS MASTER

Maximillian Lu is 10 years old and is the youngest-ever chess master in the United States. He became the national master in the U.S. Chess Federation (U.S. Chess). Lu doesn’t think that he is good enough. He still wants to get better at chess. “I need to improve my game” he says. After all, national master is not the highest level in the world of chess.

Max plays chess 45 minutes to an hour a day. He plays an hour or two on weekends or before important tournaments. He started playing chess in an after-school program when he was 6 years old. He competed in countries around the world. Some of those countries are the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Dubai, and Greece.

What makes a chess master? It’s based on how many points a player has. Players get points by playing in chess tournaments. Max became the U.S. chess master in September 2015. He was 9 years, 11 months, and 2 days old. Before him Awonder Liang of Madison became the youngest chess master in the USA in 2013. Liang became the youngest master at the age of 9 years, 11 months, and 15 days only two years after Liang.

Jean Hoffman is the director of U.S. Chess Federation. She says U.S. chess players today are stronger than in the past. That is because online chess games allow players to get more practice alone.

For Max’s parents, supporting their son’s interest is not much different from other parents. They also travel from one competition to another like people who have kids that play soccer. “We didn’t plan anything out,” said his father, David Lu. “It just happened.” He’s not sure if Max wants a career in chess. But Max’s parents support their son’s interest. They want Max to enjoy what he does because Max is still just a kid.

What does Max say about chess? “I just want to do it for fun.”