Ray Robson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ray Robson |
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Robson in 2010
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| Country | United States |
| Born | October 25, 1994 Guam |
| Title | Grandmaster (2010) |
| FIDE rating | 2673 (July 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2704 (April 2023) |
| Peak ranking | No. 32 (September 2024) |
Ray Robson (born October 25, 1994) is a famous American chess player. He earned the highest title in chess, called Grandmaster, from FIDE in 2010. Ray became a Grandmaster when he was 14 years old. At that time, he was the youngest American ever to achieve this amazing title!
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Ray's Early Life
Ray Robson was born in Guam. His father, Gary Robson, was a college professor, and his mother, Yee-chen, was a kindergarten teacher. His family later moved to Largo, Florida and then to Clearwater, Florida. Ray was an only child, and he learned to play chess from his dad when he was just three years old.
Ray went to public school for kindergarten and first grade. Then, from second to fifth grade, he attended a private Montessori school. After that, he started homeschooling in sixth grade.
Ray's Dream and Scholarship
When Ray was a kid, he always said he wanted to be a professional chess player. His parents hoped he could get a chess scholarship for college. In April 2005, Ray played in a huge school chess tournament called the Super Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee. He won every game and became the national champion for kids in elementary school (grades K-6).
Because he won, Ray earned a special scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas. This scholarship covered all his tuition, fees, and even helped with housing for four years! It was worth about $48,000. Later, in 2012, Ray decided to go to Webster University instead. In August 2012, he began studying there full-time as part of the SPICE Program, which was started by former Women's World Champion Susan Polgar.
Ray's Chess Journey
Ray Robson has won seven national school chess titles, including regular games and fast-paced "blitz" games. He has also played for the United States in international school events since 2004. Ray finished in the top ten at the World Youth Chess Championships from 2004 to 2007. He even tied for first place in the Under-12 section of the Pan American Youth Chess Festival in 2005 and 2006.
Ray also plays in many big open tournaments in the United States. He placed in the top ten at the 2006 National Chess Congress in Philadelphia and the 2006 North American Open in Las Vegas. His performance in Philadelphia helped him qualify for the 2007 U.S. Chess Championship. This made him the youngest player ever to compete in that event!
Beating the Best
In 2004, when Ray was only nine years old, he beat his first National Master in a tournament. In 2005, he defeated his first International Master (IM). Then, in 2006, he beat his first Grandmaster (GM)! He learned a lot from studying with GM Gregory Kaidanov for almost two years, mostly online. He also studied with GM Alexander Onischuk.
Ray earned the title of FIDE Master (FM) in June 2005. This happened after he tied for first place at the Pan American Youth Festival in Brazil. He became a National Master (NM) in January 2006 by getting his Elo rating above 2200.
Becoming an International Master
Ray earned the three special "norms" needed for the IM title very quickly, in just six weeks!
- His first norm was on November 3, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois.
- His second was on November 27 at the World Youth Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
- His third and final norm was on December 10 at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) GM Invitational in Dallas, Texas.
This made him the youngest IM-elect in the United States at the time, beating the previous record holder, Hikaru Nakamura, by one month.
Grandmaster Achievements
In 2008, Ray tied for first place in the Florida championship. On July 16, 2009, he won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship. In August 2009, Ray tied for first at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø, Norway, earning his first GM norm. Later that same month, he got his second GM norm by winning the 23rd North American FIDE Invitational in Skokie, Illinois. He earned his third and final GM norm in October 2009 by winning the Pan American Junior Chess Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay. FIDE officially gave him the Grandmaster title in January 2010.
Ray played in his first FIDE World Cup in November 2009 in Russia. He played in this event again two years later. In 2012, Ray won the Webster University - SPICE Cup Open in St. Louis without losing a single game! In 2014, he finished second in the Millionaire Chess tournament in Las Vegas. In April 2015, Ray finished second in the 2015 U.S. Championship, scoring 7½ out of 11 points.
Ray Robson is currently (as of January 2024) the five-time Chess.com Puzzle Battle World Champion! He has held this title for five years in a row, from 2020 to 2024. He won the 2023 tournament by losing only one individual battle. In November 2022, his classical FIDE rating went above 2700, which is a very high rating for a chess player.
See also
In Spanish: Ray Robson para niños
