GREENWICH, Conn. — At age 10, Maximillian Lu is the youngest-ever chess master in the U.S. Even so, he sees room for improvement.
The distinction of being a national master belongs to less than 2 percent of U.S. Chess Federation members and is earned by racking up at least 2,200 points in competitions. It’s a rarity among children, but Lu shrugs it off, saying he needs to work on his endgame.
“It’s all right. I have to improve other stuff,” he said.
Max, who plays 45 minutes to an hour a day and an hour or two on weekends or before major tournaments, started playing chess in an after-school program when he was 6 and has competed in tournaments in Toronto, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, and he represented the United States in Greece this month.
Climbing the ranks has been difficult, he said. In matches with increasingly tough competition, ambitious rivals are always “coming up behind you,” he said.
Max became the youngest-ever chess master in September, at 9 years, 11 months and 2 days, according to the U.S. Chess Federation.
