Arthur Guo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Born | (2006-05-19)May 19, 2006 (age 18) Atlanta, Georgia[1] |
| Title | Grandmaster (2023)[2] |
| FIDE rating | 2525 (March 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2529 (September 2023) |
Arthur Guo is an Americanchessgrandmaster fromAtlanta, Georgia. He is a nine-time National Chess Champion and also a three-time International Gold Medalist/Champion. Guo earned theFIDE title ofGrandmaster (GM) in July 2023 soon after he turned 17. As of January 1, 2024, he is the highest-rated 17-year-old in the country[3] and is ranked No. 29 among juniors (under 21) in the world.[4]
Guo picked up chess by accident from a free community chess class offered by a local library in Atlanta in late 2011. Soon after, he played his first chess tournament in January 2012. In December of the same year, he became the co-champion of the National K-12 Grade Championships held in Orlando, FL, in the first-grade section.[5]
In July 2014, Guo won the gold medal for Team USA in the Pan American Youth (U8) in Oaxtaepec, Morelos, Mexico.[6]
In May 2016, Guo won the National Elementary (K-6) Championship as a 4th grader in Dallas.[7][8]
In July 2016, Guo became the gold medalist in the Pan American Youth Chess Championship (U12) with an 8/9 score in Montevideo, Uruguay.[9] He was awarded theFIDE Master Title.
In April 2018, Guo won the National Junior High (K-9) Champion as a 6th grader in Atlanta.[10]He became the second person in US chess history to win both K-6 and K-9 national tournaments in their early chess career.
On June 24, 2018, at the age of 12 years, one month and five days, Guo earned theInternational Master title by scoring 7/9 and tying for the first at the Pan American Junior (U20) Chess Championship in Guayaquil, Ecuador.[11] He was the youngest American in U.S. chess history to hold the title until surpassed byChristopher Yoo six months later.[12]
In November 2018, Guo tied for second in the World Cadets Chess Championship (U12) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.[13]
In June 2021, Guo won the National Open at the age of 15 in Las Vegas ahead of GrandmastersIllia Nyzhnyk,Andrew Hong,Emilio Córdova, andLázaro Bruzón due to having the best tiebreaker results.[14][15] Guo achieved his first GM norm in the tournament which featured a strong field of 22Grandmasters (GM) and 29International Masters (IM). Past winners of the tournament include SuperGM Wesley So.
Guo was the 2022 National High School Champion by winning first-place[16] in the National High School (K-12) Championship with a score of 6/7 in Memphis.[17] He was also the champion of the 2021 National K-12 Blitz Chess Championship in Orlando.
Guo won theDenker National Tournament of High School State Champions back-to-back in 2022[18] and 2023.[19] In August 2023, he won the tournament clear first with a score of 6/6,[20] the only perfect score in the last 30 years of tournament history.[21]
In August 2023, Guo led the #6 seed Georgia team to capture the National Invitational Team Championship.[22]
In 2023 US Junior Championship,[23] Guo debuted with a second place finish on tiebreak with a score of 5.5/9.[24] The tournament featured ten of the "best of the best of America's chess youths" 20 years or under.[25]
In May and June 2023, Guo made back-to-backGM norms[26] by earning 6.5/9 points at the Six Days Budapest GM Round Robin[27] and scoring five wins and four draws with a final score of 7/9 at the First Saturday GM tournament in Budapest, Hungary.[28] Two weeks later he broke the 2500 FIDE rating and achieved his fourth GM norm with a 6.5/9 score at the SPARKASSEN CHESS TROPHY 2023 in Dortmund, Germany.[29]
In December 2023,FIDE officially awarded himGrandmaster title during the 3rd FIDE Council Meeting. Guo was the only American granted a GM title from late October 2022 through March 2024.
The May 2024 issue of the Chess Life Magazine published Guo's chess essay, "Achieving My Aim[30]", in which Guo detailed the ups and downs of his 12-year journey to the ChessGrandmaster (GM) title.
Guo graduated fromThe Westminster Schools in Atlanta, and is a student atYale University, the first Ivy League school to have two grandmasters pursuing undergraduate studies simultaneously[31]. He is also a nationally top-ranked policy debater and a Tournament of Champions (TOC) qualifier.