Brewington Hardaway Earns 2nd International Master Norm
Thirteen-year-old FM Brewington Hardaway earned his second of three norms required for the international master title on Sunday. He finished in tied first with another talented young FM, 18-year-old Gus Huston, each with 7/9 at the Marshall Chess Club NYC Winter IM Invitational. Both teenagers earned their second IM norms at this event and finished ahead of the highest-rated player, GM Mark Paragua, by a full point.
| Rk. | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts. |
| 1 | FM | Hardaway, Brewington | 2370 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2 | FM | Huston, Gus | 2285 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3 | GM | Paragua, Mark | 2455 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4 | FM | Lee, Alice | 2320 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5 | NM | Tanenbaum, Zachary | 2244 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6 | NM | Moor, Nathaniel | 2168 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7 | IM | Almeida, Alfonso | 2254 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3.5 | ||
| 8 | IM | Martin Del Campo, Roberto | 2225 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3.5 | ||
| 9 | FM | La Manna, Andrea | 2245 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2.5 | ||
| 10 | NM | Moskow, Eric | 2144 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1.5 |
The young phenom, who was rated 2370, gains 23.8 rating points from this event. In order to acquire the international master title, he must have a minimum of 2400 FIDE rating and achieve the third IM norm (specifically from a Swiss tournament and not a round-robin, due to a recent change in FIDE regulations).
The "BrewMaster" (his handle on ChessKid) went undefeated in the event. He scored three victories at the start of the tournament, defeating his future co-leader in round two. He won five games and drew four.
The teenager master from the Bronx, New York, earned his first IM norm just over a month ago from another round-robin event by the same organizers. IM Alex Ostrovskiy shared that 22 GM/IM norms have been earned in their events to date.
It was the latest in a series of quick successes in the young man's life. Hardaway earned the national master title at the age of 10. He has a list of impressive tournament results, including victories at the seventh- and eighth-grade national championships.
One year ago, his rating dropped below 2200. However, he had several massive rating spurts and is now on the cusp of the sky-high 2400 rating. He earned the FM title in 2023.
The young Hardaway, who is African-American, recently discussed his chess career with IM Kassa Korley in the latest video of the Chess.com series entitled "Celebrating Black Excellence," included below. You can learn more about his early chess beginnings in his article on ChessKid here.
Hardaway continues to publish articles on ChessKid. Here, he writes an article about his first international master norm. He also plays against viewers weekly on ChessKid, and the schedule can be found here.
In an email, he shared his thoughts about this recent achievement:
After a strong performance, it gives me a confidence boost and every time I have a strong performance, it shows me that I can really become one of the best. And seeing my work and preparation pay off, it motivates me to work more so that I can keep thriving.
And seeing my work and preparation pay off, it motivates me to work more so that I can keep thriving.
—Brewington Hardaway
Asked about his plans to achieve the third norm at a Swiss tournament, he responded:
I am looking at the Foxwoods Open tournament which is from April 5-9 but if I do not play that one, the next will be the Chicago Open from May 25-29. Of course I would love to become an IM ASAP, I am focused on becoming GM so I am not too concerned about playing swiss tournaments.
Congratulations, Brew!
NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.
Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.
Email: anthony.levin@chess.com
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