Justin Tan

Justin Tan

Justin Tan is an Australian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2018, becoming the 8th Australian to achieve the title.^[1] He was formerly British Blitz Champion and was British Under-21 Champion twice (2016 and 2018).^[2][3][4]

Chess career[]

Tan learned to play chess at the age of seven.^[5] As a junior, he represented Australia at four World Youth Chess Championships (Vietnam 2008, Under-12), (Turkey 2009, U-16), (Brazil 2011, Under-14), (Greece 2015, Under-18) and twice at the World Youth Chess Olympiad in Turkey (2012) and China (2013).^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

Tan moved to England in 2013 to study under a chess scholarship at Woodbridge School, Suffolk. He became an International Master in 2015 after gaining his final International Master norm at the Bunratty Classic, Ireland.^[12][13]

In 2015, Tan achieved his first Grandmaster norm at the Colin Crouch Memorial Congress at Harrow, London.^[14] At the 2015 Under-18 World Youth Chess Championships in Greece, Tan tied for fourth place, after defeating GM Kirill Alekseenko.^[15]

In 2016, Tan tied for third place with GM Gawain Jones and also became British Under-21 Champion at the 103rd British Chess Championship at Bournemouth, gaining his second GM norm in the process.^[16][17] In the same year, Tan was joint winner with GM Luke McShane at the DeMontford Bell Kings Place Rapidplay.^[18]

In 2018, Tan won the Paracin Open in Serbia, securing his final GM norm and the Grandmaster title.^[19] He became British Blitz Champion in 2019 after winning the UK Open Blitz Championship.^[20]

In 2021, Tan won the O2C Doeberl Cup in Canberra, Australia, with a score of 7.5/9.^[21]

Tan plays for league teams in the top divisions of the UK 4NCL, the Dutch and the Icelandic leagues for Wood Green, BSG and Taflfélag Garðabæjar respectively.^[22][23][24]

Since 2018, Tan has been a monthly author for Chess Publishing.^[25]

Books[]

• Tan, Justin (2021). 1.e4! The Chess Bible – Volume 1 – A Complete Repertoire for White . Thinkers Publishing. ISBN 9789464201123

Biography[]

Tan was born and grew up in Cardiff, South Wales, United Kingdom, until the age of seven, when his family moved to Melbourne, Australia. He is a dual Australian and British citizen.^[26]

Until 2013, Tan was an elite national gymnast and a member of the Australian national artistic gymnastics squad.^[27] He was the Australian Under-16 national individual apparatus champion on pommel horse in 2012.^[28]

Tan graduated in law with honours from the University of Edinburgh in 2020 with a one-year Erasmus programme exchange at Utrecht University.^[29][30][31]

References[]