Joel Benjamin
| Joel Benjamin | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Born |
March 11, 1964 Brooklyn, New York |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating | 2544 (March 2017) |
Joel Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess Grandmaster. In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. As of October 2012[update], his Elo rating was 2530, making him the No. 37 player in the U.S. and the 620th-highest rated player in the world.
Benjamin is a native of Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the Marine Park neighborhood, where he attended PS 207. He was in the class for "intellectually gifted children." He is now a New Jersey resident, married to Deborah, and they have 2 children, Aidan, born October 10, 2008, and Amy, born December 8, 2010.
He graduated from Yale University with a major in history in 1985. He became the youngest-ever U.S. chess master at age 13, a record previously held by Bobby Fischer. This record was broken by Stuart Rachels and is now held by Awonder Liang. As a junior, he won the National Elementary championship (1976), the National Junior High championship (1978), and the National High School championship (1980–81).
Other successes included the U.S. Junior Championship in 1980. In the same year he earned the International Master title. He won the U.S. Junior Championship again in 1982, and the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1985. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1986. Benjamin was the U.S. Chess Champion in 1987 (sharing the title with Nick De Firmian), in 1997, and in 2000. He won the Saint John Open I in 1988, and the 2000 Canadian Open Chess Championship. In 1999, he placed first at the QVB Chess Festival in Sydney. He was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in Miami on May 2, 2008. He is the youngest inductee.
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