Nicolas Checa
{{Short description|American chess grandmaster (born 2001)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| name = Nicolas Checa
| image =
| caption =
| full_name = Nicolas de T. Checa
| country = United States
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2001|12|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S.
| title = Grandmaster (2019)
| rating =
| peakrating = 2574 (May 2021)
| FideID = 2069342
}}
Nicolas de T. Checa (born December 19, 2001) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He is from Dobbs Ferry, New York and lives in New York City.{{cite web |last=McClain |first=Dylan Loeb |date=2013-09-07 |title=Young Prodigies Turn In Good Performances |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/crosswords/chess/young-prodigies-turn-in-good-performances.html |access-date=2021-12-17 |work=The New York Times}} A chess prodigy, he began playing competitive chess at age 7. He is the recipient of the 2020 and 2021 Samford Fellowships, an award granted to the top American chess players under 25.{{Cite web |title=Frank P. Samford, Jr. Chess Fellowship – the U.S. Chess Trust |url=http://www.uschesstrust.org/frank-p-samford-jr-chess-fellowship/ |website=US Chess Trust}} He is the 2021, 2022, (second on tiebreaks in 2023), and 2024 Connecticut State Champion and a graduate of Yale University. In March 2025, he led Yale University to win the Inter-Ivy League Chess Championship, which was held at Columbia University.{{cite web |title=inter ivy league |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/arts-and-culture/2025/03/03/columbia-chess-club-hosts-2025-inter-ivy-league-championship/}}
Yale University profiled Grandmasters Checa and Guo in March of 2025: Checkmates: Chess phenoms share a college and a mastery of the ‘royal game’.{{cite web |title=Checkmates: Chess phenoms share a college and a mastery of the ‘royal game’ |url=https://news.yale.edu/2025/03/19/checkmates-chess-phenoms-share-college-and-mastery-royal-game https://vimeo.com/1062139249/9ade4b82cd |website=Yale News}}
In May of 2025, he was inducted into the Connecticut Chess Hall of Fame.{{cite web |title=hall of fame news release |url=https://www.chessct.org/csca/Uploads/HOF-25.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawKf30lleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETExRk1Uc3c5NGw2cjh1Z3dFAR4r7iK-7AmUJlbOj9pHanZR-bpbCCvQqSSujncjeIMWmFG1e1dSK0-tbjxeSg_aem_206JNo8-vCPgxiMPJeZK-A}}{{cite web |title=hall of fame |url=https://www.facebook.com/Chess.CT/posts/csca-announces-hall-of-fame-class-of-2025-gm-nicolas-de-checanm-michael-casellan/122203810454090994/ |website=facebook}}
Biography
Checa is the youngest Annual New York State Champion since the official championship started in 1878, a record that he achieved as an 11-year-old in 2013 and still holds.{{Cite news |last1=LaMagna |first1=Maria |date=2013-09-14 |title=It's Checkmate, and then Back to School for 11-Year-Old State Champ |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-checkmate-and-then-back-to-school-for-11yearold-state-champ-1379123795}} Although he finished tied for second in the 2013 tournament behind Alexander Ivanov, only New York residents are eligible for the title of state champion.
Checa fulfilled all the FIDE Grandmaster title requirements in November 2018 at age 16.{{cite web |title=Title Application - Nicolas Checa |url=https://ratings.fide.com/crt/main225818.pdf |accessdate=2020-10-13 |work=FIDE}} His Grandmaster Title was formally approved by FIDE in March 2019 in Astana, Kazakhstan. He became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2016.{{Cite web |title=Checa, Nicolas |url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2069342 |website=FIDE}}
In 2017 he placed first (tiebreaks) in the VI SuperNationals High School (K-12) Blitz Championship held in Nashville, becoming the national scholastic blitz champion as a freshman.{{Cite web |date=2017-05-14 |title=2017 SNVI |url=http://www.uschess.org/results/2017/snvi/?page=STANDINGS&xsection=k12blitz |website=US Chess Federation}}
In 2017, he also became the Marshall Chess Club champion after beating Grandmaster Sergei Azarov in a blitz match playoff.{{Cite web |title=Marshall Chess Club Champions |url=https://www.marshallchessclub.org/club/champions |website=Marshall Chess Club}}
In 2017 he was part of the US National Team in the Match of the Millennials when the top 5 junior players in the US faced the top 5 juniors from the rest of the world.{{Cite web |title=Match of the Millennials |access-date=2023-11-21 |url= https://www.uschesschamps.com/information/match-millennials |website=U.S. Chess Champs| archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230928211353/https://www.uschesschamps.com/information/match-millennials}}
In the summer of 2018, Checa was a United States Senate Page, working as a Senate floor assistant and residing in Webster Hall, the official residence for US Senate Pages.
In November 2018, Checa earned his final GM norm by earning clear first place in the Charlotte Chess Center's Fall 2018 GM Norm Invitational held in Charlotte, North Carolina with an undefeated score of 6.5/9.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-25 |title=CCCSA GM/IM Norm Invitational - Holiday 2021 GM/IM Norm Invitational Chess Tournament |url=http://chessstream.com/Invitational/2018-Fall-GM-IM-Norm-Invitational/TournamentPairings.aspx |website=Charlotte Chess Center}}
In July 2019 he tied for first (tiebreaks equal second) in the US Junior Invitational Championship with the only undefeated score of 7/9.{{Cite web |title=Pairings & Results |url=https://www.uschesschamps.com/2019-us-junior-championship/pairings-results |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=U.S. Chess Champs}}
Checa also placed first in the 2019 National High School Championship (K-12) (first on tiebreaks), the highest national scholastic title in the US in classical chess time controls.{{Cite web |last=Hartmann |first=John |date=2019-03-18 |title=Checa, Peng, and Stevens win 2019 NHS Championship |url=https://new.uschess.org/news/winners-2019-nhs-championship |website=US Chess Federation}} As a high school junior, he placed first in the national championship held in Chicago by the US Chess Federation.
In 2019 he defeated Fabiano Caruana in the Professional Chess League Group Stage.{{Cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1961118 |title=Fabiano Caruana vs Nicolas Checa (2019) |id=[PRO League Group Stage (2019) (rapid), chess.com INT, rd 6, Feb-12. French Defense: Winawer. Advance Variation (C18) — 0–1] |website=ChessGames.com}}
In 2020, Checa won the national Denker Tournament of High School Champions named after Arnold Denker.{{multiref2|1={{cite web |title=US Chess MSA – Cross Table for 36TH ANNUAL Denker National Tournament of High School State Champs |id=(Event 202007269882) |url=https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202007269882-14129047 |website=United States Chess Federation |access-date=10 March 2025}}|2={{cite web |title=36th Annual GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions – The U.S. Chess Trust |website=United States Chess Federation |url=https://www.uschesstrust.org/36th-annual-gm-arnold-denker-national-tournament-of-high-school-state-champions/}}}}
{{Cite web |date=2023-02-13 |title=Chess News Wire January 2023 – Connecticut State Chess Championship |url=https://www.chessct.org/csca/cscagen.php?u=cscanews23&l=cscahist.lm&c=cscahist |website=Connecticut State Chess Association |archive-date= February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205213607/https://www.chessct.org/csca/cscamain.php }}{{cite web |title=2023 Connecticut Speed Championships |url=https://www.chessct.org/csca/cscagen.php?u=cscaspeed23.php&l=cscaevents.lm&c=cscaevents |website=Connecticut State Chess Association |date=2023}}
- {{cite web|title=2023 Connecticut Speed Chess Championships: Quick – Standings |date=2023 |website=Connecticut State Chess Association |url= https://www.chessct.org/csca/Uploads/2023SpeedQuick.pdf }}{{Cite web |date=2023-02-11 |title=2023 Connecticut Speed Chess Championships February 11 @ Eastern Connecticut State University – Overall results |url=https://www.chessct.org/csca/Uploads/Speed.stn.23.pdf |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Connecticut State Chess Association |url-status=live |archive-date=7 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241107030925/https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/Speed.stn.23.pdf}}
References
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External links
- {{FIDE|name=Nicolas Checa}}
- {{Chessgames player|155733|Nicolas Checa}}
- {{USCF|14129047|Nicolas De T Checa}}
{{American chess grandmasters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Checa, Nicolas}}