Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux
Rodrigue-Lemieux in 2023
CountryCanada
Born (2004-03-22) March 22, 2004
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TitleGrandmaster (2023)
FIDE rating2502 (January 2024)
Peak rating2502 (December 2023)

Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux (born 2004) is a Canadian international chess master who won the 2022 World Under 18 Chess Championship.[1] He has completed all requirements for a Grandmaster title, and will officially be awarded the Grandmaster title at the next FIDE congress.

Chess career

Son of Isabelle Rodrigue, Shawn learned to play chess at age 6 at an after school program and quickly fell in love with the game.[2] In his first event, at 6, he won five straight games,[3] and at 12, he had a FIDE rating of over 2000.[4] He became an International Master at 18.[4]

He finished an international tournament with 9 straight victories, no losses and a performance rating of 3037. By becoming the World Youth Chess Champion in the under 18 section, he earned his first grandmaster norm, became only the second Canadian to win a World Youth Chess Championship and the first Canadian over 14 to win the Youth Chess Championship. He is currently on track to become the youngest grandmaster in Quebec's history.[2] In November 2023, he earned his final GM norm at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023, where he defeated a number of higher-rated grandmasters: Benjamin Gledura, Max Warmerdam, and Vasyl Ivanchuk.

Playing style

Nakamura–Rodrigue-Lemieux. 2022
abcdefgh
8
c8 black rook
g8 black king
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
f6 black pawn
a5 white rook
c4 black bishop
f4 white pawn
g3 white pawn
h2 white pawn
c1 white bishop
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Final position after 25.Rxa5. One of the few games where Nakamura was held to a draw in the event.[5][6]

In 2022, Rodrigue-Lemieux played 2 exhibition games against Hikaru Nakamura and was one of the few people to hold him to a draw in one of his games.[7][8] An unorthodox player, Rodrigue-Lemieux is known to use uncommon openings with regularity, most notably Anderssen's Opening.[9] He has stated that his use of uncommon openings throws opponents off, and might be useful in getting well prepared players out of book early on. His favourite player is Magnus Carlsen whom he hopes to beat in the future.

His 3037 tournament performance where he won 9/9 created a social media buzz, drawing attention from popular streamers like Gotham Chess.[10]

Personal life

Rodrigue-Lemieux is a French-Canadian residing in Montreal. He first discovered his interest in chess in Grade 1 where he saw his classmates playing and signed up for chess classes.[11]

He is currently enrolled in Collège de Maisonneuve[12] In April 2023, he was offered a four-year scholarship to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, renowned for its recruitment of talented chess players, which he intends on accepting.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Brady, Rachel (2022-09-24). "Making his move: Montreal teen on accelerated path to chess Grandmaster title". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  2. 1 2 Nakonechny, Simon (September 19, 2022). "Montreal teen becomes Quebec's 1st world junior chess champion". CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  3. ↑ Rosner, Cecil (2022-05-13). "Surprise winners of Canadian chess championship say their victories were unexpected". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  4. 1 2 "Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FxIVXZ7mBs
  6. ↑ https://www.chess.ca/en/news/2022/12/19/im-shawn-rodrigue-lemieux/
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FxIVXZ7mBs
  8. ↑ https://www.chess.ca/en/news/2022/12/19/im-shawn-rodrigue-lemieux/
  9. ↑ https://www.chess.ca/en/news/2022/12/19/im-shawn-rodrigue-lemieux/
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc82FLmNuts
  11. ↑ https://www.chess.ca/en/news/2022/12/19/im-shawn-rodrigue-lemieux/
  12. ↑ https://www.chess.ca/en/news/2022/12/19/im-shawn-rodrigue-lemieux/
  13. ↑ "Texas university offers four-year scholarship to one of Canada's top chess players". The Globe and Mail. 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-10-03.


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