Vinay Bhat

Bhat first learned to play chess at the age of 6. His mother taught him and his older brother, Harish (now a professor at UC Merced) how to play. The two brothers started playing in the Kolty Chess Club in Campbell every Thursday night. Bhat spent his early years studying the games of Paul Morphy and José Raúl Capablanca as a part of the Blue Knights.{{Cite web |url=http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html |title=East Bay Chess Club - About Vinay |access-date=August 31, 2007 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929182904/http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html |url-status=dead }} "That was my steady diet," Bhat said.Personal interview, conducted August 31, 2007 Bhat studied chess with GM Gregory Kaidanov.{{Cite web|url=http://www.calchess.org/chessbio_index.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194507/http://www.calchess.org/chessbio_index.php|url-status=dead|title=CALCHESS.org - The Northern California Chess Association|archivedate=September 27, 2007}}

At 10 years and 176 days old, Bhat became the youngest national master, breaking the record previously held by Jordy Mont-Reynaud (10 years and 294 days),"Jordy Mont-Reynaud's record of becoming a master at the youngest age (ten years, 209 days) has been broken by Vinay Bhat (ten years, 176 days) of San Jose, California." Chess Life, July 1995, p. 8. Stuart Rachels (11 years and 10 months),{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120125059/http://www.jamesrachels.org/stuart/stuchess.htm Stuart Rachels]}}. jamesrachels.org. Retrieved on 2009-06-26. and before that by Bobby Fischer (age 13). Since then, his record has been broken three times, by Hikaru Nakamura, Nicholas Nip, and Samuel Sevian. In 1998, Bhat contributed to "Whiz Kids Teach Chess" ({{ISBN|1-58042-007-9}}) with Eric Schiller.

At the age of 15 years and 10 months, Bhat became an International Master, at the time the youngest ever in U.S. history; this record was later surpassed by Hikaru Nakamura, Samuel Sevian, Ray Robson, and is presently held by Awonder Liang.{{Cite web |url=http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html#bio |title=East Bay Chess Club - About Vinay |access-date=August 31, 2007 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929182904/http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html#bio |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-nakamura-brothers |title=The Nakamura Brothers |date=May 29, 2009 |publisher=Chess.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}{{cite web|last1=Silver|first1=Albert|title=Awonder Liang is youngest ever IM in US|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/awonder-liang-is-youngest-ever-im-in-us|publisher=ChessBase|accessdate=3 December 2015|date=2015-12-02}}

• 1992 California Primary School (K-3) State Champion (Tied with Jordy Mont-Reynaud){{Cite web|url=http://www.calchess.org/modules.php?name=Information&page=02_calchess_scholastics/champions_history.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427020718/http://www.calchess.org/modules.php?name=Information&page=02_calchess_scholastics%2Fchampions_history.htm|url-status=dead|title=Calchess.org|archivedate=April 27, 2006}}
• Tied for second at the Under-12 World Youth Championships in 1995 (won by Etienne Bacrot){{cite web|url=http://www.365chess.com/tournaments/Wch_U12_1995 |title=Wch U12 1995 - 365Chess.com Tournaments |publisher=365chess.com |date= |accessdate=2022-10-09}}
• Winner of the 1996 Laura Aspis Prize for the top-ranked American chess player under the age of 13{{cite web |url=http://mytown.mercurynews.com/archives/cupertinocourier/02.14.96/chess.whiz.html |title=Leal, Carolyn, "Chess whiz wins coveted Aspis award." Mercury News, 1996 |publisher=Mytown.mercurynews.com |date=1996-02-14 |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Tied for second at the Under-12 World Youth Rapid Chess Championships in 1996 (won by Kamil Mitoń)
• Bronze medal winner at the Under-12 World Youth Championships in 1996 (won by Kamil Mitoń)
• Tied for third at the Under-14 World Youth Championships in 1998 (won by Bu Xiangzhi){{cite web |url=http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/twic209.html#13 |title=The Week in Chess 209 |access-date=2014-10-02}}
• Tied for first at US Cadet (Under-16) Championships in 1998 (with Dmitri Schneider)
• Gold medal (clear first place) at the Under-14 Pan-American Championships in Brazil in 1998
• Four-time California High School (K-12) State Champion
• Three-time winner of the Neil Falconer Award for top-ranked CA junior chessplayer from 2000 to 2002{{cite web |url=http://www.chessclub.org/news.php?n=518 |title=Mechanics' Institute Newsletter 518 |publisher=Chessclub.org |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Tied for first in the High School Division of the CEA Nationals (with Harutyan Akopyan) in 2000{{cite web |url=http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/News.html |title=CalNorth Youth Chess News |publisher=Calnorthyouthchess.org |access-date=2012-03-20}}

After taking an extended break from chess, Bhat began to play regularly again in 2008. On April 22, 2008, it was announced that Vinay was awarded the 2008 Samford Fellowship. This fellowship was created to "identify and assist the best American chessmasters under the age of twenty-five by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials."{{cite web |url=http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8376/319/ |title=2008 Samford Fellowship Press Release |publisher=Main.uschess.org |date=2008-04-22 |access-date=2012-03-20}}

Bhat was awarded with the title of International Grandmaster in October 2008 when he crossed 2500 FIDE, with his three Grandmaster norms coming from Qingdao (China, 2002), Balaguer (Spain, 2006), and Balaguer (Spain, 2007).{{cite web |url=http://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=2011352&title=GM&pb=17 |title=FIDE Title Application - Vinay Bhat |publisher=Ratings.fide.com |date=2007-11-16 |access-date=2012-03-20}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/6625/358 |title=The United States Chess Federation - Vinay Bhat Gets 3rd Norm in Spain |last=Federation |first=US Chess |website=www.uschess.org |access-date=2016-04-28}}

• Clear first place at the 2005 Michael Frannett Memorial in California{{cite web |url=http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/twic535.html#25 |title=The Week in Chess 535 |access-date=2014-10-02}}
• Tied for first at the 2007 International Open of Balaguer in Spain (with Aleksander Delchev){{cite web |url=https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic664.html#12 |title=The Week in Chess 664 |publisher=Chess.co.uk |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Tied for first at the 2009 International Open of San Sebastian in Spain (with 4 others){{cite web |url=http://chess.co.uk/twic/twic754.html#10 |title=The Week in Chess 754 |publisher=Chess.co.uk |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Tied for first at the 2009 SPICE Cup in Texas (with Eugene Perelshteyn and Ben Finegold){{cite web |url=http://monroi.com/2009-spice-cup-chess-festival-results.html |title=2009 SPICE Cup Chess Festival Results and Games |publisher=Monroi.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Bhat also has the second longest undefeated streak in the league (14 matches across three seasons), with Alex Lenderman holding the current record{{cite web |url=http://www.uschessleague.com/VinayBhat.html |title=USCL - Vinay Bhat Player Page |publisher=Uschessleague.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uschessleague.com/AlexLenderman.html |title=USCL - Alex Lenderman Player Page |publisher=Uschessleague.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}
• Along with Julio Becerra Rivero, Bhat is the only player to have multiple wins in the US Chess League against the highest-ranked US player Hikaru Nakamura{{cite web |url=http://www.uschessleague.com/HikaruNakamura.html |title=USCL - Hikaru Nakamura Player Page |publisher=Uschessleague.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}

Bhat graduated from Lynbrook High School in San Jose, CA, in 2002. While at Lynbrook, he played on his school's chess team, leading it to victory in local state and high-school competitions.

Instead of focusing solely on chess, Bhat chose to continue his education and received a B.S. in Statistics and Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006.{{Cite web |url=http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html#bio |title=EBCC – About Us: Vinay Bhat |access-date=August 31, 2007 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929182904/http://www.eastbaychess.com/about/vinay.html#bio |url-status=dead }} In 2004, while an undergraduate, Bhat co-founded the East Bay Chess Club.

Until receiving the Samford Fellowship, Bhat was employed at Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.

After two-and-a-half years of professional chess play, Bhat began working full-time again in December 2010. He worked at Shipt, where he was the Head of Data Science.{{cite web |url=http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vinay-bhat/5/6b/9ab |title=LinkedIn Profile - Vinay Bhat |publisher=Linkedin.com |access-date=2012-03-20}}

• "Whiz Kids Teach Chess," {{ISBN|1-58042-007-9}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{FIDE|name=Vinay Bhat}}
• {{OlimpBase FIDE ratings|Bhat,%20Vinay%20S.|Vinay S. Bhat}}
• {{USCF|12551720|Vinay S. Bhat}}
• {{Chessgames player|19912|Vinay Bhat}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726024020/http://www.uschessleague.com/VinayBhat.html |title=Vinay Bhat at USChessLeague.com}}
• [http://vbhat.wordpress.com/ Vinay Bhat's blog]

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{{succession box

| title = Youngest ever United States chessmaster

| years = 1995-1998

| before = Jordy Mont-Reynaud

| after = Hikaru Nakamura

}}

{{s-end}}

{{American chess grandmasters}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhat, Vinay}}

Category:1984 births

Category:Living people

Category:American chess players

Category:Chess Grandmasters

Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni

Category:American sportspeople of Indian descent

Category:Sportspeople from Santa Clara, California