Brewington Hardaway Nears Historic Grandmaster Title at 15

IM Brewington Hardaway edged one giant step closer to becoming a grandmaster as he earned his final norm in Barcelona last week. The 15-year-old now only has one hurdle left to cross before he would make history as the second African American with the highest title.

Hardaway scored an excellent performance at the Sants Open, which took place in Barcelona from August 23 to September 1, winning five games and drawing five to finish with an undefeated 7.5/10 points. GM Zeng Chongsheng won the 361-player event in Barcelona after scoring 8 points.

Full standings at Chess-results.com.

For the talented New Yorker, the performance means that he has earned his third and final GM norm. He also added 19 rating points, climbing rapidly toward 2500.

"This means a lot since I have been training very hard for the last few months," Hardaway said in an interview with Chess.com. "I would say I feel that I played some of the best chess I've ever played here. I feel I played much better here than I did compared to my two previous GM norms since I only had one or two bad positions."

I would say I feel that I played some of the best chess I've ever played here. 

—IM Brewington Hardaway. 

The teenage prodigy said his best game was against 2596-rated Lithuanian GM Paulius Pultinevicius, which boosted his confidence going into the final rounds. "I gained a lot of confidence since I felt I was playing well and that I could beat these very strong players."

It was a game in which the 15-year-old duly punished White's somewhat risky opening play.

Earlier in the tournament, Hardaway had outplayed Indian 24-year-old Anustoop Biswas, who went on to score his final IM norm in the tournament. Hardaway delivered some nice hammer blows.

I just got my final GM Norm at the 2024 Sants Open! My FIDE Rating is now 2489 which means I need 11 more points to become GM! This is the first time I’ve played outside the U.S in a few years and it was a great experience. Thank you @SantsChess for hosting an incredible event! pic.twitter.com/HREy9WbdH0

— Brewington Hardaway (@IMBrewChess) September 1, 2024

While all norm requirements are fulfilled, the youngster still has one last requirement to meet: He needs to break the 2500 rating barrier, where he is still 10 points short. With Hardaway's progress in recent months, that's likely just a formality.

"In July 2023 I was 2390 with three IM Norms, but I took a serious rating dip when trying to rush to hit 2400. Since I don't want the same thing to happen when trying to hit 2500, I will try not to think about this during my games and just focus on playing the best chess I can. I feel that if I think about it too much, it will make me play worse," the teenager noted, adding that he plans to play two or three more tournaments this year.

He credits his recent progress to working hard on his calculations by reading books, doing puzzles, and solving difficult studies.

Twenty-five years after Jamaican-born GM Maurice Ashley became the first African American to earn the grandmaster title, Hardaway is now poised to follow in his footsteps and become the second with the title—and the first to be born in the U.S. The Bronx teenager spoke about his desire to inspire others in an interview with Chess.com's IM Kassa Korley last year.

"I don't think about it during the games, but I certainly do think about how few African Americans there are at the top level. So, I try to do my best to motivate more people like us to give it a try and hopefully succeed."

The prodigy from New York has been hailed as one of the biggest talents in U.S. chess in recent years. In December, he crossed the 2400 rating mark fulfilling the last requirement for the IM title, also earning his first GM norm on the way. At the NYC Chess Norms Event, less than two months later, he followed up with his second GM norm.

Today, Hardaway is ranked among the world's top ten players under the age of 16, behind IM Shreyas Royal, who fulfilled all requirements for the GM title last month. Asked about his future goals, he said:

"I would like to hit 2500 sooner rather than later and in the future just keep going up to potentially 2600-2700."