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Anna Cramling facts for kids

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In this Spanish name, the first or maternal surname is Cramling and the second or paternal family name is Bellón.
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Anna Cramling
Anna Cramling 2021 DSC 1765 (cropped).jpg
Cramling in 2021
Born
Anna Yolanda Cramling Bellón

(2002-04-30) 30 April 2002 (age 23)
Fuengirola, Malaga, Spain
Parents
Chess career
Anna Cramling
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Country Spain (until 2014)
Sweden (since 2014)
Title Woman FIDE Master (2018)
FIDE rating 2046 (March 2025)
Peak rating 2175 (March 2018)
Twitch information
Channel
  • AnnaCramling
Years active 2020–present
Genre Gaming
Games Chess
Followers 481K
Associated acts Chess.com
Anna Cramling
YouTube information
Subscribers 1.53 million
Total views 682 million
Subscriber and view counts updated as of June 6, 2025.

Anna Yolanda Cramling Bellón, born on April 30, 2002, is a talented chess player from Sweden and Spain. She is also a popular live streamer on Twitch and a YouTuber. Anna holds the special chess title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM). Her highest chess rating, called a FIDE rating, was 2175 in March 2018. She has proudly represented Sweden in big chess events like the Chess Olympiad in 2016 and 2022, and also in two European Team Chess Championships.

Anna grew up in a family where everyone played chess. Her mother, Pia Cramling, is a Swedish Grandmaster (GM), which is the highest title in chess. Her father, Juan Manuel Bellón López, is also a Spanish GM. Anna started playing chess when she was just three years old in Spain. When she was eleven, her family moved to Sweden. Soon after, she started playing chess for Sweden instead of Spain. She has played in many important youth chess championships around the world. In team competitions, she often played alongside her mother, with her father as their team captain.

Anna earned her Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title in 2018 when she was 15. This was also the year she reached her highest rating. In 2018, she even beat a strong Spanish player named Renier Castellanos Rodriguez, who was an International Master (IM) with a very high rating. Anna started streaming online in early 2020, sharing her love for chess with many viewers. Her parents sometimes join her streams. About a year later, she joined the Panda esports team as their first chess streamer.

Anna's Early Life and Family

Pia Cramling staring at the camera while playing chess
Juan Bellón staring at the board while playing chess
Anna Cramling's parents, Pia Cramling (left) and Juan Manuel Bellón López (right)

Anna Cramling was born on April 30, 2002, in Malaga, Spain. Her mother, Pia Cramling, is from Sweden, and her father, Juan Manuel Bellón López, is from Spain. Both of her parents are amazing chess players and have earned the Grandmaster (GM) title. Her mother was once the top-ranked woman chess player in the world in 1984. She was also the fifth woman ever to become a Grandmaster in 1992. Anna's father has won the Spanish Chess Championship five times.

Anna began playing chess at the young age of three. Her parents were always busy competing in chess tournaments. When Anna was little, she usually went with them to these tournaments. This was because her only regular babysitter was her grandfather, who lived in Sweden. Anna and her parents lived in Spain until she was eleven. Then, they moved to Sweden. In 2014, Anna officially changed her chess country from Spain to Sweden. Her father also made the same change in 2017.

Anna's Chess Journey

Anna got her first official chess rating, called a FIDE rating, in February 2013 when she was 10 years old. She started with a rating of 1519 after playing in a tournament in Gibraltar. The next year, in 2014, she won a special prize for women at the same tournament. This win helped her rating go up to 1600.

Rising Through the Ranks

In early 2015, when Anna was 12, her rating jumped by over 300 points in just two months. This brought her rating above 1900. She played well in several tournaments, including one in Stockholm and two in Gibraltar. At the end of 2015, Anna played in the World Cadets Chess Championship in Greece. She finished 54th out of 125 players, which was a good result for her. Anna reached a rating of 2000 in June 2016 when she was 14. This happened after she played in a chess tournament in Stockholm. She even beat a strong player named Michael Backman, who had a rating of 2161.

Representing Sweden

In September 2016, at just 14 years old, Anna represented Sweden in the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan. She became the youngest Swedish female player ever to compete in the Olympiad, breaking her mother's old record. Her mother, Pia, also played in the event, and Anna's father was their team captain. Anna played in 7 of the 11 rounds. Sweden finished in 23rd place out of 134 teams, which was a great result.

In early 2017, Anna played in a big tournament in Gibraltar. She even had a draw (a tie) in a game against her own father! Later that year, she played in the European Youth Chess Championships and the World Junior Chess Championships. She did well in both, improving her rating.

Earning Her WFM Title

Anna earned the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title in 2018. She gained about 200 more rating points in early 2018, reaching her highest rating of 2175. She played very well in several tournaments. In one tournament in Sweden, she won all her games, beating two players with ratings around 2200. In July 2018, Anna again defeated Renier Castellanos Rodriguez, a Spanish International Master (IM) with a rating of 2498. This was a very impressive win.

After a small dip in her rating in late 2018, Anna got most of her points back in 2019. Her best tournament that year was the European Youth Championships. She finished 13th in her age group, gaining 103 rating points. She even beat a strong Azerbaijani WFM named Govhar Beydullayeva.

Recent Chess Activities

Since 2020, Anna has played in fewer chess competitions. This is partly because she became a full-time streamer. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic meant fewer in-person tournaments were happening. In September 2022, Anna represented Sweden again in the 44th Chess Olympiad in India. She played on board 3 and scored 5 out of 10 points. From November 10 to 21, 2023, Anna played in the European Team Chess Championship. She was the highest-rated player on her team and played on board one. She won five games, drew two, and lost two, scoring six out of nine possible points.

Playing for Her Country

Anna has represented Sweden in team competitions at the Chess Olympiad and the European Team Chess Championship. In all these tournaments, she played on the same team as her mother, Pia Cramling. Her father, Juan Bellón López, was always the team captain.

At the 2016 Chess Olympiad, Anna played well, helping Sweden finish 23rd out of 134 teams. She scored 3 out of 7 points and gained 17 rating points. Anna chose not to play in the 2018 Chess Olympiad because her mother, Pia, was not going to be on the team. Anna played in the European Team Chess Championship in 2019 and 2021. She did better in 2021, scoring 3 out of 5 points and gaining 22 rating points. In the 2022 Chess Olympiad, Anna played on board 3 and scored 5 out of 10 points.

Anna's Chess Style

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Anna likes to start her games with the white pieces by playing 1.d4, which is called the Queen's Pawn Game. She believes her chess style is a mix of her parents' styles. She said, "I think that I play very aggressively, especially when I play online. It's just more fun! I'd say I got that from my father, as he's definitely a very aggressive and tactical chess player. In that sense I play a lot like him, and in terms of openings, I play a lot that are similar to my mother's openings, because she used to teach me a lot of them. So I guess I'd say I play my mum's openings with my dad's style!"

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Symmetrical cow opening (black and white both playing "The Cow")

In 2023, Anna created a new chess opening that she named "The Cow." This opening is a special way to start the game that can be used with either the black or white pieces. It's a bit like another opening called the Hippopotamus Defence. In March 2024, Chess.com, a popular chess website, added a version of "The Cow" to its list of recognized openings. In a tournament on March 15, 2024, Anna even played against her own "Cow" opening for the first time in a classical chess game, and she lost to Grandmaster Platon Galperin.

Anna's Streaming Career

Anna started her own Twitch channel in early 2020. Before that, she had the chance to commentate on the 2020 Women's World Chess Championship match with her mother. On her Twitch channel, Anna often plays chess and talks about it. Sometimes, her mother joins her streams to play games or give advice. Her father also joins occasionally.

After about a year of streaming, Anna signed with the Panda esports team. She became their first chess streamer. This also made her the first Swedish chess player to join an esports organization.

Awards and Nominations

Anna Cramling has been recognized for her streaming work:

Ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
The Streamer Awards 2022 Best Chess Streamer Nominated
2023 Nominated
2024 Best Strategy Game Streamer Won

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anna Cramling para niños

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