Bobby Cheng

Bobby Cheng (born 20 March 1997) is an Australian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2019. Cheng was world champion in the under 12 category in 2009 and was awarded the title of Australian Junior Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.[1] Cheng won Australian Open championship in 2013 and Australian chess Championship in 2016.

Bobby Cheng
Bobby Cheng in 2010
CountryNew Zealand
Australia
Born (1997-03-20) 20 March 1997
Hamilton, New Zealand
TitleGrandmaster (2019)
FIDE rating2539 (June 2020)
Peak rating2529 (December 2019)

Biography and career

Cheng was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.[2] His early trainers in New Zealand were Bruce Wheeler[3] and Ewen Green.[4] , followed by GM Darryl Johansen after Cheng arrived in Australia.

He finished tied for third place in the Under 10 division of the World Youth Chess Championships in 2007, the year he and his family moved to Melbourne, Australia.[5] In November 2009, Cheng transferred national federations from New Zealand to Australia[6] and won the Under 12 title at the World Youth Championships in Kemer, Turkey.[7][8][9]

Cheng won the Australian Junior Championship in January 2010, at age 12, becoming the youngest player ever to do so, and won the same title again in 2011. Also in 2011, Cheng became the youngest ever winner of the Victorian Championship title, finishing ahead of Grandmaster Darryl Johansen. In 2012 Cheng tied for the Australian Masters title with Anton Smirnov. He played for the Australian team in the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad in 2012 and 2013.

In January 2013 Cheng won the Australian Open Championship, the youngest player ever to do so.[10] In January 2016, Cheng became the Australian champion in Melbourne.[11] In 2018, he played on the Australian national team in the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia.[12]

In December 2019 Cheng won the Australian Young Masters tournament with a perfect 9/9 score, ahead of top seed Norwegian Grandmaster Frode Urkedal.

References
  1. "Australian Junior Player of the Year". auschess.org.au. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  2. IM title application (JPG). FIDE.
  3. Kiong, Errol (5 December 2005). "Small fry share big chess talent". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  4. "New world chess champ got start in NZ". nzherald.co.nz. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  5. Cheng, Bobby; Cordover, David (8 December 2009). "World U12 Chess Champion, Bobby Cheng reports …". chesskids.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  6. Player transfers in 2009. FIDE.
  7. Stuart, Hamish (23 November 2009). "Aussie, 12, crowned world chess champion". 9News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  8. Hohenboken, Angus (24 November 2009). "Student takes nation's first world chess title". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  9. "World Youth Championship in Antalya". ChessBase. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  10. "Bobby Cheng is the new Australian Champion". chessvibes.com. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. "Internet generation dominates Australian chess titles". ABC News. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  12. 43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Open. Team composition for federation AUS - Open. chess-results.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.