Ray Robson
| Ray Robson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Full name | Ray Robson |
| Country | United States |
| Born |
October 25, 1994 Guam |
| Title | Grandmaster (2010) |
| FIDE rating | 2663 (April 2017) |
| Peak rating | 2680 (July 2015) |
Ray Robson (born October 25, 1994) is an American chess Grandmaster.
Robson's norms were gained at the Arctic Chess Challenge in Norway, at the 23rd North American FIDE Invitational in Chicago, and at the Pan-American Junior Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Robson was born in Guam to Gary Robson, a professor at the college of education (applied linguistics) at St. Petersburg College, and Yee-chen, a kindergarten teacher at Country Day School. They later moved to Largo, Florida and then Clearwater, Florida where they currently reside. As an only child, he learned chess from his father at age three. He attended public school for kindergarten, then a public school for the gifted in first grade, then from grades 2-5 he was at a private Montessori school. He started homeschooling in grade 6.
Robson has said he wants to become a professional chess player, and his parents hoped for him to gain a chess scholarship to college. In April 2005, at the "Super Nationals" (the world's largest scholastic chess tournament) in Nashville, Tennessee, he won every match he played and emerged as the national champion in the elementary age (K-6) division. By winning this title, he earned a four-year scholarship covering full tuition and fees, along with a housing stipend, to the University of Texas at Dallas. The scholarship has a cash value of about $48,000 to non-Texas residents. The only stipulation is that the winner must meet the university's entrance requirements at matriculation. In early 2012, Robson decided to attend Webster University instead of UT Dallas.
In August 2012, Robson started his full-time study at Webster University in St. Louis under the SPICE Program, founded by former Women's World Champion Susan Polgar.
Robson has won seven national scholastic titles (including regulation events and blitz events). In addition, he has represented the United States in international scholastic events since 2004. Robson finished in the top ten at each of the World Youth Chess Championships from 2004 to 2007, and he tied for first place in the 2005 and 2006 (U12 Boys, Silver on tiebreak) Pan American Youth Chess Championships.
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