A 9-year-old California boy has become the youngest-ever chess “master” in the United States. Samuel Sevian, of Santa Clara, earned the title after a match in San Francisco. Born on December 26, 2000 he is an American chess player and was the youngest chess player to attain the United States Chess Federation classification of an expert, accomplishing the feat in February 2009, at the age of 8 years and 64 days. On December 11, 2010, he became the youngest National Master in USCF history with a rating of 2201 at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 15 days.

Sevian started his chess career in on August 12, 2006. His first major success occurred when he became the youngest expert in US history, an achievement that was featured in an article of the ‘Los Angeles Times” by International Master Jack Peters. He wrote that Sevian learned to play chess at age five and earned a modest Elo rating system|rating of 315 from his first chess tournament, when he was living in Florida. By the time his family moved to California in 2007 (when he was seven years old) his rating had risen to 1614, higher than most adults. In February 2009 he was named the Bay Area Chess Player of the Month.

Sevian earned a spot on both the 2009 and 2010 All-America Chess Team. In 2009, at the age of eight, Sevian defeated his first National Master in tournament play. In January 2010 with a of 2119, FIDE Rating Progress Chart for Sevian, Samuel(USA) he became the highest rated chess player in the world for his age. He also qualified for the 2010 World Youth Chess Championship, and has reached the norms for the USCF Candidate Master title.

On December 11, 2010, his rating rose from 2187 to 2201, making him at 9 years, 11 months and 15 days, the youngest-ever American master and breaking the record previously held by Nicholas Nip.

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