Andy Woodward (chess player)

Andy Austin Woodward is an American chess player and prodigy.

Chess career
Woodward earned his first IM norm in the 2021 North American Junior Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned four more IM norms in Novi Sad, Serbia.

In October 2022, Woodward earned his first GM norm at the 1000GM Hollywood Masters with a score of 6.5/9, defeating GM Illia Nyzhnyk and GM Gergely Kántor. Right before this, he made into the knock out stage of the FIDE Fischer Random World Championship qualifiers as the youngest player.

In January 2023, Woodward was named to the age 11 section of the All-America Chess Team. He has been part of the All-America Chess Team since 2020.

In April 2023, Woodward earned his second GM norm at the Vezerkepzo GM April tournament with a score of 7.0/9, defeating GM Kaido Külaots and GM Valeriy Neverov.

In September 2023, Woodward defeated Hans Niemann during their encounter in the World Junior Chess Championship.

In December 2023, Woodward won the 17th Annual SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Cup ahead of Aram Hakobyan, Yasser Quesada, and Safal Bora. Woodward's performance exceeded the 2600 requirement needed for a grandmaster norm, however did not qualify due to a lack of foreign opponents.

In January 2024, Woodward made it to the finals of the Puzzle World Championship, but lost to defending champion Ray Robson.

On January 30, 2024, Woodward earned his final GM norm at the Jeddah International Chess Festival with a score of 6.0/9 after losing his first two rounds against Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş and Volodar Murzin. With this, he became one of the youngest in history to qualify for the title by fulfilling the requirements for the title at the age of 13 years, 8 months, and 28 days. He is also the second youngest grandmaster in U.S. history, only behind Abhimanyu Mishra.