With the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest drawing closer, we are continuing our Olympiad Spotlight features. This time we are celebrating another prominent chess nation - the United States.

Home to some of the best players in the world and some of the most promising young players, the US is a chess powerhouse with a splendid history and a bright future.

From the first major chess boom in 1972, when a spirited American brought down the deep-rooted Soviet dominance in the world championship, to the more recent chess boom brought by the ubiquitous show The Queen’s Gambit, the United States has remained at the epicenter of global-scale popularization of chess.

On Chessable, the United States is the country that has produced the most authors. In fact, four out of five of the players in the 2024 U.S. olympiad team are Chessable authors.

Let’s take a look at some of the earliest heroes and biggest milestones in the history of Chess in the United States!

Paul Morphy

The first American chess hero thrived in the 19th century. Born in 1837, Paul Morphy had an incandescent though relatively short chess career. Having learned to play by watching others, Morphy quickly rose and established dominance in the New Orleans chess scene. During his teen years, he took a hiatus from playing chess and instead focused on his college studies, obtaining a master’s degree at only 18 and completing his law studies at age 20.

In 1857, since he did not have the minimum age required to practice law, Morphy ended up playing a chess tournament in New York: the First American Chess Congress. He won and became the United States Chess Champion.

Later on, he traveled to Europe where he beat the strongest players of the old world including Adolf Anderssen. Unofficially, Morphy became known as the world’s chess champion even though the title had not been formally created. 

While the Opera Game is his most well-renowned game, Morphy's play was full of attacking beauty in virtually all his games, such as this miniature in the King’s Gambit. His opponent was the French master Eugène Rousseau, who was the best player in New Orleans at the time. Morphy was only 12 years old.

The legacy of Paul Morphy is incontestable. His play was ahead of his time and, as described by Garry Kasparov, it outlined some of the principles that William Steinitz would systematize a quarter of a century later. Morphy inspired many around the world, including his fellow American Robert James Fischer, whom we’ll talk about later.

Wilhelm Steinitz

Born in the Austrian Empire, Wilhelm Steinitz became the first official world champion in 1886 when he defeated his long-term rival Johannes Zukertort in a match. Steinitz maintained the world title until 1894. What is perhaps most impressive about this pioneer is that he amassed 32 years of undefeated match play.

Though Austrian-born, Steinitz moved to New York in his fifties where he remained until his last day. Fun fact: because Steinitz became a U.S. citizen in 1888, from 1888 to 1900, the World Champion was American!

One of Steinitz’ most brilliant games is his victory over Curt von Bardeleben:

Initially, Steinitz’ romantic, aggressive play earned him the nickname of “Austrian Morphy”. His subsequent switch to a more positional play laid the groundwork for a more modern understanding of chess. Steinitz is thus considered the father of positional chess.

Frank Marshall

In the earliest Chess Olympiads, the U.S. won gold four consecutive times: 1931, 1933, 1935 and 1937. The staple in each of these teams was Frank Marshall, who was the US Champion from 1909 to 1936.

Marshall was a contender for the World Championship in 1907 when he played and lost to reigning champion Emanuel Lasker. A gambit in the Ruy Lopez and a legendary chess club in NYC named after him are proof of his lasting influence in the chess community.

Samuel Reshevsky

You have probably seen this image of a little kid taking on several adults during a chess simul. Samuel Reshevsky was a child prodigy who migrated from Poland to the United States in the early 1920s. Later on, he became an 8-time U.S. champion and competed in Olympiads representing the national team a total of 8 times.

Additionally, Reshevsky was a candidate for the World Championship for almost 3 decades and became one of the world’s first grandmasters in 1950. 

Robert “Bobby” Fischer

One cannot talk about American chess (or chess in general) without mentioning Bobby Fischer.

Like Reshevsky, he was a prodigious child and an 8-time U.S. champion. More importantly, Fischer made history in 1972 when he defeated reigning champion Boris Spassky for the world title. This prowess was more significant because Soviet players had dominated the World Championships for decades. Not surprisingly, this gave rise to the first chess boom of our era with millions of people around the world taking an interest in chess and its young hero.

Fischer possessed a strong personality and an obsessive approach to studying chess. He read as many books and magazines as he could get a hold of - including Russian-language ones! His playing style was imaginative and favored the attack. Similarly, off the board, he was not one to shy away from controversy.

Prior to becoming World Champion, Fischer led the U.S. team from board one a total of four times. Twice, in 1960 and1966, the team won a silver medal. And in 1966, Fischer narrowly missed winning the individual gold medal, which ended up with the World Champion Tigran Petrossian.

Although he did not defend his title, Fischer’s contributions to chess were numerous and his influence was massive. He is often regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Brilliant games by these and other legendary players from the United States can be found in the course US Championship Legends.

With a staggering amount of grandmasters, homegrown and transplanted, the list of illustrious players that have represented the United States with flying colors in the past century is long.

Let’s fast-forward and take a look at the 2024 Olympiad Teams.

The U.S. Olympiad Teams

Since the inaugural Olympiad in 1927, the U.S. team has won 20 medals in the Open section and 2 in the Women’s section.

Medal Board:

In recent years, the U.S. team won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympiad in Baku. This remarkable success came 40 years after their last gold medal, at the 1976 Olympiad in Haifa.

U.S. Olympiad Team - Open Section:

Captain: IM John Donaldson

1) GM Fabiano Caruana

2) GM Wesley So

3) GM Leinier Domínguez Pérez

4) GM Levon Aronian

5) GM Ray Robson

U.S. Olympiad Team - Women’s Section:

Captain: GM Melikset Khachiyan

1. GM Irina Krush
2. IM Carissa Yip
3. IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova
4. IM Alice Lee
5. IM Anna Zatonskih

In 2024, the U.S. team is the top-seeded in the Open section with an average rating of 2758 and all players boasting a rating of 2700+.  Notably, FOUR of the five team members are Chessable authors! The only other Olympiad team that is as Chessabler as it gets is the Netherlands, which is 100% composed of Chessable authors.

Board 1: GM Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana is the 3rd highest-rated player in history. Among his many accolades, his first place win at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup stands out. He went undefeated and with a performance rating of over 3080(!!) amidst one of the strongest fields in modern times. To put it into perspective, the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen got second place, 3 points behind Caruana.

In 2018, the Italian-American grandmaster challenged Magnus for the world title. While all classical games were drawn, the Norwegian was victorious in the rapid tiebreaks. Caruana remains a fan favorite.

His course Caruana's Ruy Lopez: Dark Archangel is an exhaustive repertoire for Black against the Ruy Lopez opening.

Board 2: GM Wesley So

With a peak rating of 2822, Wesley So is one of the top players in the circuit. In 2019, Wesley became the first World Champion of Fischer Random chess by defeating none other than Magnus Carlsen.
His course Lifetime Repertoires: Wesley So’s 1.e4 Part 1 and Part 2 is a complete repertoire for the White pieces.

Board 3: GM Leinier Domínguez Pérez

Leinier Domínguez was the World Blitz Champion in 2018. In that same year, the Cuban-American grandmaster was a second for Caruana in the World Championship match against Carlsen. Also in 2018, Domínguez transferred federations and started to represent the United States.

In his debut course, The Classy Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Domínguez presents all the ins and outs of his trusty weapon against 1.d4.

Board 4: GM Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian is the 4th highest-rated player in history with a peak rating of 2830. This former World Rapid and Blitz Champion is one of the most popular players in the circuit. After years of representing his native Armenia, Aronian changed federations in 2021.

His course Levon Aronian’s Beauty of Chess exemplifies his creative, out-of-the-box style of play. In it, he analyzes his most brilliant victories during his journey from FIDE Master to Grandmaster.

Board 5 - GM Ray Robson

At the age of 14 years, 11 months and 16 days, Ray Robson was once the youngest grandmaster in the U.S. The most junior in the team, Robson is yet to become a Chessable author like his teammates!

A Bright Future

In the U.S. both the scholastic and the collegiate chess scenes are quite prominent. It is worth noting that the country houses some of the brightest young stars in the world, including but not limited to GM Abhimanyu Mishra, GM Andy Woodward, GM Cristopher Yoo, IM/WGM Alice Lee, FM Ruiyang Yan, among others.

The youngest GM in the world is not only a Chessable author but also a power user. Mishra imposed a new record by earning the coveted title at 12 years, 4 months and 25 days.

His course Youngest Grandmaster: Abhimanyu Mishra details the lessons and most important games of his trajectory to the GM title.

Other fan-favorite Chessable authors from the U.S. are GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley, GM Ben Finegold, IM John Bartholomew, IM Levy Rozman a.k.a. Gotham Chess, FM James Canty, FM Nate Solon, WIM Luciana Morales, NM Laura Smith, NM Bryan Tillis and Kamryn Hellman.

If you're feeling inspired by all this American chess talent, it's a great time - because with Chessable's massive Olympiad sale, you can get up to 300 courses on sale at 40% off - including 100+ by American authors! Be sure to check it out while the sale lasts.