FM Alice Lee Earns International Master Title

ChessKid star FM Alice Lee will soon have a fancy new title: IM Alice Lee!

Alice had a spectacular performance at the 2023 Canadian Transnational Chess Championship in Toronto, earning her third and final IM norm and breaking the 2400 rating barrier for a second time.

She defeated several grandmasters, reaching a score of 4.5 out of 9 in a heavily competitive field.

In all of her games she registered only two defeats, both while playing as Black against two experienced grandmasters.

An image of FM Alice Lee shortly after receiving her third and final IM norm.

This remarkable showing makes Alice the third (and youngest ever) American-born woman to become an International Master, following in the footsteps of IMs Carissa Yip and Annie Wang.

Following the result, Alice said: "I was very excited to become an IM and WGM, although I wasn't expecting it. I would like to thank my family, coaches, and the chess community for their support. I will keep working and trying to improve."

IM elect Alice Lee and GM Hikaru Nakamura at the Canadian Transnational tournament.

GM Hikaru Nakamura made a surprise appearance at the Canadian Transnational.

Alice began the tournament with a first-round draw against GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista, which you can see below:

FM Mike Klein, better known on ChessKid as FunMasterMike, commented on Alice's latest achievement: "Alice is not only a talented player, but what I am most proud of is what a well-rounded person she is becoming. The IM is nice of course, but I don't expect her to stay there long!"

A big congratulations to Alice! It has been a pleasure of watching her develop her chess skills on ChessKid, and we look forward to watching FunMasterMike catch up with her on the next episode of Alice's Pawn Palace.