Daniel Fernandez (American chess player)

This article is about the American chess grandmaster. For the English chess grandmaster, see Daniel Fernandez (English chess player).

Daniel Fernandez (born May 9, 1985) is a Peruvian-American chess grandmaster.

Daniel Fernandez
Country	United States
Born	(1985-05-09) May 9, 1985 (age 39) Lima, Peru
Title	Grandmaster (2022)[1]
FIDE rating	2424 (December 2024)
Peak rating	2498 (August 2017)

Early life

Fernandez was born in Peru in 1985.^[2] His family moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1986.^[3]

Chess career

Fernandez began learning chess at age 6, and began competing in chess tournaments in the following year. He was coached by Larry Kaufman, and surpassed his older brother David, who was also competing in scholastic events.^[4] Kaufman stated that Fernandez was one of his students who earned the International Master title.

At age 11, Fernandez was the youngest National Master in the United States. He began coaching students in Houston after becoming the youngest winner of the Florida State Championship at age 16.^[3] In 2009, he became the Texas State Champion. In January 2022, his Grandmaster title was finalized.

Fernandez was a member of the University of Texas at Brownsville's chess team, where he studied economics and finance.^[5] In 2008, he suggested for program director Russell Harwood to give Axel Bachmann (then an International Master) a scholarship and a move to the United States.^[6]

References

1. "FIDE Title Application (GM)" (PDF).
2. "2006 U.S. Chess Championship". March 12, 2006.
3. "Daniel Fernandez (Grand Master)".
4. Kaufman, Larry (May 27, 2021). Chess Board Options: A Memoir of Players, Games and Engines. New In Chess. ISBN 9789056919368.
5. "UTD's Dreams of a 'Three-peat' In Top Annual College Chess Competition are Dashed by Archrival UMBC". December 30, 2005.
6. Sherman, Christopher (February 15, 2008). "Brownsville a 'pool of chess babies'".