Andy Woodward

Grandmaster Andy Woodward, who turned 16 this past May, had a spectacular 2025. While Woodward’s early development saw continual progress rather than a sudden leap forward, last year was something different. The Dallas area native, who had achieved the National Master title in 2020, the FIDE Master title in 2021, the International Master title in 2022, and Grandmaster title in the summer of 2024, started 2025 rated 2544 FIDE. He ended the year at 2608, a huge leap forward.

Since then, Woodward has mostly had one success after another. He won the B group at Tata Steel earlier this year to qualify for next year’s A group and was also victorious in the 2026 U.S. Junior Chess Championship, his second consecutive victory in this event. However, his last performance, in a Turkish team competition, was a poor result by Woodward’s standards. Still, the occasional setback is to be expected in one so young.

Woodward was the 2025 Chess.com Puzzle Battle World Champion.