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Competitive chess has taught 13-year-old Alice Lee one thing: Even if you lose, you persist.

“Each game is a whole new game,” said Alice, who lives in North Oaks, Minn. “And that’s really great about chess, because you have a new opportunity for every single game that you play.”

That mentality has put the young Minnesotan on the board as one of the strongest female chess players in American history. At the age of eight, Alice was named one of the youngest chess experts in the U.S. 

By 10, she became a chess master and now, at 13, she holds the title of international master-elect — the second-best ranking in the chess world behind the grandmaster title.

Alice started out as ‘one of the worst’ in elementary school chess club 

Alice first started playing chess in 2016, when she tagged along with her older brother Linden to the chess club at their elementary school, Turtle Lake Elementary.

“I was actually one of the worst in the chess club when I first started,” she said. “And I think that was actually one of my big motivations to like, try not to be the very worst person.”

She would also watch Linden play rated games at Chess Castle of Minnesota in Edina. Rated games are typically matches in more competitive tournaments that can be given official ratings by either the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) or International Federation of Chess (FIDE).

“Alice went to spectate,” said Vanessa Lee, Alice Lee’s mother. “There, a little girl her age was playing and asked Alice why she didn’t also play. That’s how Alice started.”

At 7 years old, she caught the attention of grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich, a Russian-American chess player who earned his GM title in 1983. Gurevich took Alice under his wing and gave her private lessons regularly with partial financial support from an anonymous donor.

Over the next few years, Alice would play hundreds of games against fellow classmates and players across the state in local tournaments hosted by Chess Castle of Minnesota and Minnesota State Chess Association.

“As I played and lost more, my mentality got better because I was so used to losing,” she said. She quickly moved into competing all over the U.S. and internationally, and now attends a tournament each month.

Alice didn’t think International Master title ‘was possible’

Alice is currently the youngest American female player to earn an international master ranking and the No. 1 ranked female player under 21 in the U.S. In order to qualify for the international master title, a player must achieve three “norms,” which are earned through winning multiple games at special tournaments, and have a FIDE rating of 2400.

Her IM title will be formalized in October, once FIDE reconvenes to review records and title applications for chess players worldwide.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” said Alice. “For me, it was just really great because not too many people achieved it and for me to achieve it right now is really great. And I also think along the process of getting the title, it was really a good experience for me because I had some bad results and also so many good results. And also there was just a lot of really tough games, which I think helped me improve a lot.”

It’s clear Alice’s ability to embrace her losses has guided her success in chess. Over her time competing in the U.S. and abroad, Alice has had the opportunity to sit across from some of the best chess players in the world.

Last year, she played in Missouri at the American Cup, a prestigious tournament with the top female chess players in the U.S. She expected to get knocked out pretty quickly, but ended up landing in second place.

“One of the most memorable matches that I had there was against GM Irina Krush because she's actually the only American-born female GM,” said Alice. “And she's just like a really great player. And even though I lost against her, it was a really great experience to be playing against somebody so strong, and also one of the role models that I've looked up to since I was really young.”

Now that Alice has an international master title, her sights are set on the most coveted title in competitive chess — the grandmaster title. The title requires at least three norms and a 2500 FIDE rating.

It might be hard to believe but Alice is already too old to become the youngest grandmaster: In 2021, the world record was set by New Jersey-born Abhimanyu Mishra. He was 12 years and 4 months old at the time he was named youngest grandmaster in history. 

However, the youngest female grandmaster ever is Hou Yifan of China, who earned her title at 14 years and 6 months old in 2008. Alice turns 14 next month.

“I do want to become a grandmaster but I really don’t know how long it would take, whether it would take another two years or even longer,” said Alice. “Of course my goal is to improve and I think it does depend solely on luck but also, I don’t think that my skill level is quite there yet. So I have to work more on my chess and try to keep improving.”

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Nicole Ki

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After earning the second-best ranking in chess at the age of 13 last June, Alice Lee looks to snag grandmaster title next.

Ben Hovland | MPR News

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