13-Year-Old Alice Lee Earns IM Title

FM Alice Lee earned the international master title at age 13 and reset the record as the youngest American-born female to do so.

Lee gained her third IM norm at the 2023 Canadian Transnational Chess Championship, facing eight grandmasters and one international master along the way. In the process, she achieved a performance rating of 2531 and broke the 2400 barrier for the second time. 

Starting the event with a comfortable draw with Black vs. GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista, Lee went on to defeat GMs Arturs Neiksans and Bator Sambuev in rounds two and six. 

Lee obtained her first IM norm at the 2022 Southwest Class Championships and captured her second one by finishing a full point ahead of the field at the 1000GM St. Louis IM Norm Tournament in January. In the very first round, she defeated the top seed, IM Tamas Petenyi, by coming back from a worse position and refusing a repetition draw in their hard-fought duel. Can you find how she finished off the game?

Currently, the new international master is the second-highest-rated woman in the U.S.―only behind eight-time U.S. Women's Champion GM Irina Krush. In fact, Lee recently scored her first victory against Krush at the 2023 American Cup, tying their match in the final and forcing a playoff. Can you find Lee's winning move in their tactical slugfest?

Worldwide, Lee is one of three female players to earn the IM title at age 13, joining GMs Judit Polgar and Kateryna Lagno. Additionally, Lee is a three-time world youth gold medalist, having won her section in 2019, 2020, and 2021. 

During the 2023 Pro Chess League, Lee turned out to be the St. Louis Arch Bishops' secret weapon, scoring huge upset victories against GMs Matthias Bluebaum and Bogdan-Daniel Deac.

FM Alice Lee scores an incredible upset vs. the Bears' Board 1 GM Matthias Bluebaum!#ProChess pic.twitter.com/U6J0RyHVEQ

— ProChessLeague (@ProChessLeague) March 3, 2023

At the 2023 American Cup, Lee shared about the newfound confidence she's gained from her competitive experiences this year: "The past few tournaments, including the Pro Chess League, I've had a lot of opportunities to play against really strong players... I feel as though I can realistically have chances against anybody."