Joel Benjamin

Joel Lawrence Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess player and author who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation.

Life and career Benjamin is a native of Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the Marine Park neighborhood, where he attended PS 207. He was in the class for "intellectually gifted children". He is now a New Jersey resident, married to Deborah, and they have two children, Aidan and Amy.

He graduated from Yale University with a major in history in 1985. He became the youngest-ever U.S. chess master at age 13, a record previously held by Bobby Fischer. This record was broken by Stuart Rachels and is now held by Samuel Sevian. As a junior, he won the National Elementary championship (1976), the National Junior High championship (1978), and the National High School championship (1980–81).

Other successes included the U.S. Junior Championship in 1980. In the same year he earned the International Master title. He won the U.S. Junior Championship again in 1982, and the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1985. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in Miami on May 2, 2008. He is the youngest inductee.

Benjamin is known for playing offbeat openings such as the Black Knights' Tango, and for converting very small advantages into a win.

Notable games

Benjamin beat grandmaster Eduard Gufeld in the U.S. Open, Hawaii 1998:

In January 2025, Benjamin played an 8-game match on Lichess receiving knight odds against the neural net chess engine Leela Chess Zero with a specially trained network for playing at this handicap. Benjamin won the match, scoring two wins, one loss, and five draws. Grandmaster Matthew Sadler contributed live commentary on Youtube as the match progressed.