Stuart Rachels

Stuart Rachels has had two chess lives. The first time round he was a prodigy who made history In 1981, when at the age of 11 years and 10 months, he became the youngest chess master in  U.S. history, a record that stood until 1994   He would go on to win the 1988 U.S. Junior Championship and the following year tie for first in the U.S. Chess Championship with Roman Dzindzichashvili and Yasser Seirawan. This qualified him to play in the 1990 Interzonal.  Stuart continued to play the next few years before retiring in 1993 to pursue a career as a professor in the philosophy department at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. 

Fast forward to 2024 and Stuart’s second chess life begins.  Highlights to date include being a member of the gold medal winning U.S. entries in the 2025 and 2026 World Senior Team Championships. Stuart finished first on tiebreak in the 2025 John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions which earned him a spot in this event.