Andy Woodward
An American grandmaster from Texas who completed the title requirements in January 2024, aged 13 years and 8 months. Only Abhimanyu Mishra became a U.S. grandmaster younger.
He won the 2025 U.S. Junior Championship and tied for fifth at the 2025 Grand Swiss with a 2784 performance, beating Levon Aronian, Yu Yangyi and Parham Maghsoodloo. In January 2026 he won the Tata Steel Challengers with 10/13. At the 2026 U.S. Championship he beat Fabiano Caruana.
He is one of the fastest players in the world: he set record bullet ratings on Lichess (3601) and Chess.com (3582), and won the 2026 Chess.com Hyperbullet Championship.
Career highlights
- Won the Tata Steel Challengers in 2026 with 10/13
- U.S. Junior Champion in 2025
- Second-youngest grandmaster in U.S. history
- Record bullet ratings on Lichess (3601) and Chess.com (3582)
Andy Woodward in The Chess Herald
- Tata Steel 2027: Abdusattorov and Sindarov Lead a Young Field
- Weekly Recap: So Wins a Fourth U.S. Title and Bayegan Pendik Take the Club Cup
- So Draws Niemann in Under an Hour, One Round From a Fourth Title
- So Beats Woodward in a Pawn Ending, Leads Caruana by a Point
- So Takes Sole Lead on 5/7 as Liang Falls in 27 Moves
Show all 12 articles
- Weekly Recap: The U.S. Championship Tightens in Saint Louis While Youth Records and Upsets Pile Up
- Caruana and Liang Join a Four-Way Lead After Round 6
- Woodward Beats Caruana as Eight of 12 Games Are Decisive
- Caruana Joins So in the Lead as Liang Falls to Xiong
- Woodward and Shankland Win as So and Liang Stay Level at 2.5
- So and Liang Lead Open at 2/2, Bottom Seeds Top the Women
- Caruana Heads a 12-Player U.S. Championship Field in Saint Louis
FIDE profile · Wikipedia
Profile last reviewed November 3, 2026. Ratings update monthly from FIDE.