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 Daniel was born on November 9th, 1995 in San Mateo, California and learned how to play chess when he was six-and-half years old. He started to take serious chess lessons shortly thereafter, and has studied with a number of famous Grandmasters.
Daniel has been rated #1 in his age category for five years in the United States, and has been a member of the All-America Chess Team continuously since 2005.
Daniel is a three time California Scholastic Chess Champion, being the youngest winner of High School Varsity Section while in the 5th grade (2003, 2004, 2005).
Daniel has been National Scholastic Chess Champion for two years in a row (2004, 2005)
Daniel also participated in the Pan American Youth Chess Festival in August 2006 in Cuenca, Ecuador, where he received the Bronze Medal in the Boys U12 section.
Daniel represented the United States in four world youth chess championships in France, Georgia, Turkey, and Vietnam.
In 2007, Daniel became the World Youth Chess Champion (Boys Under 12) and received the Gold Medal, only the second in the U.S. history.
In May 2009, Daniel played in the “Young Stars of the World” Tournament in Kirishi, Russia. Only the 12 best youngsters of the world were invited to participate in this tournament.
In January 2011, Daniel was awarded the IM Title. In July 2011, Daniel earned his first GM norm (in the tournament in Spain).
Daniel’s current US Chess Federation Rating is: 2546
Daniel’s current FIDE Rating is: 2472
One of Daniel’s latest accomplishments: he wrote an advanced chess textbook which has been published by New In Chess, the most prestigious chess publisher in the world, making Daniel the youngest author in the history of chess. Also, this coming April, Daniel will participate in the US Closed Chess Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.
Apart from serious competition, Daniel is an active ambassador for scholastic chess in the United States: he gives simuls to kids and adults in local schools and senior centers, and has been featured in numerous TV and newspaper interviews and articles (both local and national). He has given many talks to local schools’ chess clubs.
Daniel has many interests: he studies history and music, art and mathematics. However, most of his “spare” time is devoted to the study of chess. He is an avid researcher of historical chess facts. In the words of one of his coaches: “His pure love for the game of chess is enormous.”
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Biography
