Awonder Liang
An American grandmaster from Wisconsin who was twice world champion in his age group and qualified for the grandmaster title at 14.
He won the World Open in 2024, finished second at that year’s U.S. Championship behind Fabiano Caruana, and won the 2025 U.S. Masters in a playoff. In early 2026 he beat Hikaru Nakamura 6–4 in a training match before the Candidates.
He is also one of the world’s best bughouse players, winning the Bughouse World Championship with Jeffery Xiong in 2021 and 2022.
Career highlights
- Won the 2024 World Open
- 2025 U.S. Masters Champion
- Bughouse World Champion in 2021 and 2022
- Grandmaster at 14
- Peak rating 2719 (February 2026)
Awonder Liang in The Chess Herald
- Li, 16, Takes Women's Title as So Stumbles, Caruana Forces Playoff
- So Draws Niemann in Under an Hour, One Round From a Fourth Title
- So Takes Sole Lead on 5/7 as Liang Falls in 27 Moves
- 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
Show all 15 articles
- 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
- Artemiev Beats Nakamura in the Final Round of Titled Tuesday
- Caruana Heads a 12-Player U.S. Championship Field in Saint Louis
- Uzbekistan Pulls Two Matches Clear as Praggnanandhaa Delivers a Mating Net
- Germany Stuns Top-Seeded USA as Uzbekistan Routs Hungary
- Argentina's 28th Seed Shocks Ukraine at Samarkand
- Liang's Shock Loss and Montenegro's Draw Rattle Samarkand
FIDE profile · Wikipedia
Profile last reviewed September 29, 2026. Ratings update monthly from FIDE.