Samuel Sevian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Samuel Sevian |
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Sevian in 2023
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| Country | United States |
| Born | December 26, 2000 Corning, New York, U.S. |
| Title | Grandmaster (2014) |
| FIDE rating | 2660 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2703 (May 2022) |
| Peak ranking | No. 32 (June 2022) |
Samuel Sevian is an American chess player. He was born on December 26, 2000. Samuel is a Grandmaster, which is the highest title in chess. He became a Grandmaster when he was 13 years old. At that time, he was the youngest American ever to achieve this. He also set new age records for other chess titles like National Master and International Master.
Samuel Sevian's Chess Journey
Starting Young and Breaking Records
Samuel started playing chess when he was just 5 years old. His first big success came in 2009. He became the youngest Expert in the USCF at 8 years and 2 months old. This broke the old record by more than 10 months!
In December 2010, Samuel became the youngest National Master in USCF history. He was 9 years, 11 months, and 23 days old. He beat the previous record by just 3 days.
Becoming an International Master
In 2012, Samuel earned all the requirements for the International Master (IM) title. He did this in only 6 months. He officially became an IM in November 2013. He was 12 years and 10 months old. This set another new US record!
World Champion and Youngest Participant
In November 2012, Samuel won the World Champion title. He competed in the Under-12 category at the World Youth Chess Championships. This big event took place in Maribor, Slovenia.
In May 2013, Samuel was invited to play in the U.S. Chess Championship. He was the youngest player ever to join this important tournament in St. Louis. He scored 4 out of 9 points. This placed him ahead of several Grandmasters.
Achieving Grandmaster Status
In November 2014, Samuel became a Grandmaster. He was 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days old. This was a new US record for the youngest Grandmaster.
He completed the final step for the title by reaching a FIDE rating of over 2500. He did this during the Saint Louis GM Norm Invitational tournament. He won this tournament with a great score of 7½ out of 9 points.
Playing Against Top Players
In January 2015, Samuel played in the Tata Steel Challengers event. He shared fifth place with 7½ out of 13 points.
He also shared fifth place in the US Chess Championship 2015. He even beat Wesley So, who was one of the world's top ten players. He also drew games against Hikaru Nakamura and the champion Gata Kamsky.
This strong performance earned him a spot in the Chess World Cup 2015. He drew both his first two games against Teimour Radjabov. However, he was eliminated in the faster rapid playoff games.
Winning the American Continental Championship
In June 2017, Samuel won the American Continental Chess Championship. This event was held in Medellín, Colombia. It brought together the best Grandmasters from North and South America. Samuel scored 8½ out of 11 points.
Winning this championship at 16 years old was another age record for him. He became the youngest American Continental Champion ever.
World Cup Appearances
Samuel has played in the Chess World Cup several times:
- In 2017, he won his first round but lost in the second.
- In 2019, he won his first round but lost in the second.
- In 2021, he won his first two rounds. He then lost to the eventual winner, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, in the third round.
Team and Individual Success
In 2019, Samuel represented the US National Team. They played at the World Team Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. He won a Bronze medal for his individual performance.
In 2021, Samuel finished in the top three at the United States Championship. He had the same score as Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So. His performance rating was 2747, which was higher than all other players.
In April 2022, Samuel played in the first American Cup. This was a special tournament where players could be eliminated twice. He beat Wesley So in a classical game. He was later eliminated by Fabiano Caruana and then by Ray Robson in rapid games. After this event, his rating went above 2700 for the first time!
In 2023, he won the annual Chess9LX event. This tournament is hosted by the St Louis Chess Club.
Samuel's Family Background
Samuel was born in Corning, New York. His parents are Armine and Armen Sevian. Both of his parents are of Armenian heritage. His father, Armen, was a chess player in Soviet Armenia. He moved to the United States in 1996 to study. In 2015, his father was a main scientist for a company that makes lasers.
