Quick Facts
Biography
Tihon Chernyaev (Ukrainian: Тихон Черняев; born 1 March 2010) is a Ukrainian chess prodigy.
Chess career
In February 2017, at age 6, Chernyaev was featured on TV Channel Ukraine as he took part in a simultaneous exhibition game that ended 4-0 in his favor.
In September 2017, at age 7, he achieved a 50% score in the Ukrainian under-18 championship.
On May 28, 2018, at the age of 8 years 88 days, he became the youngest to defeat an international master in a standard tournament game. This occurred in round 9 at the Ukraine Clubs Teams Championship in Chornomorsk, Odessa Oblast, when Chernyaev defeated IM Alexey Maly (rated FIDE 2355 at that time). The previous record, which was held by Awonder Liang, was broken by 30 days.
In June 2018, at age 8 years and 4 months, Chernyaev participated in the 2018 FIDE World Cadet rapid and blitz chess championship held in Minsk. While he was qualified to compete in the under-8 section, he chose to compete in the under-10 section for both the rapid and blitz events. Chernyaev started as the top seed by 235 rating points in the rapid under-10 section and by 223 rating points in the blitz under-10 section. He won both events as well two FIDE-recognized "World Champion" titles.
From September 2016 to November 2018 Tihon was assisted by grandmaster Alexander Goloshchapov.
From December 2018 to December 2019 Tihon trained with coach IM Pavel Sevostianov.
In March 2019, at age 9 years, he received his first official FIDE title - Arena Grand Master.
In May 2019 Tihon became the winner of the 11-th Ukrainian Award "Miracle Child 2019".
In August 2019 in Minsk (Belarus), at the age 9 years and 5 months, Tihon Chernyaev became a Vice World Champion in Rapid at the World Cadet Championships under-12 section.
Notable games
In February 2018, at age 7 years and 11 months, Chernyaev won a 3-minute game against FIDE master Eduard Miller (FIDE rating 2334) in 23 moves.
In June 2018, at age 8 years and 3 months, he defeated Grandmaster Francisco Vallejo Pons (FIDE rating 2713) in a 10-minute game.
In February 2019, at age 8 years and 11 months, he won an informal 12-game internet blitz match with Grandmaster Mikhail Golubev by a score of 6.5-5.5 (5+4-3=).
