Awonder Liang

Awonder Liang is an American chess grandmaster born on April 9, 2003. A prodigy from a young age, Liang became the 2011 World Under-8 Champion and went on to become the third-youngest American to earn the Grandmaster title at just 14 years old, following Abhimanyu Mishra and Samuel Sevian.

Liang made headlines early in his career when, at the age of 9, he became the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster in a standard tournament game, beating GM Larry Kaufman. Since then, he has risen steadily through the ranks and is now one of the top-rated players in the United States, with a FIDE rating that places him among the world top 50.

In 2025, Liang won the U.S. Masters Chess Championship after defeating Andrew Hong in a playoff. His 2026 season has been especially impressive. He won the "Battle of Minds" match against GM Saleh Salem in Sharjah, and served as Hikaru Nakamura's training partner ahead of the 2026 Candidates, winning their practice match 6-4. He also advanced deep into the American Cup 2026, eliminating Levon Aronian along the way.

Liang's chess.com username is rednova1729, and his FIDE ID is 2056437. He continues to compete at the highest levels of international chess and is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the American chess scene.