{{Short description|Canadian chess grandmaster (born 1992)}} {{Infobox chess biography | name = Aman Hambleton | image = File:Grandmaster Aman Hambleton (Feb 2023).jpg | caption = Hambleton in 2023 | country = Canada | birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|30 December 1992}} | birth_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | title = Grandmaster (2018) | peakrating = 2509 (September 2013) | FideID = 2606577 }}
'''Aman Hambleton''' (born 30 December 1992) is a Canadian chess grandmaster, Twitch/Kick streamer, and Youtube content creator. He is a member of the 'Chessbrahs' (a Canadian chess entertainment company), along with other grandmasters such as Eric Hansen (founder), Robin van Kampen, and Yasser Seirawan.<ref name=chess.com/><ref>[https://www.chessbrah.tv/about About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814095909/https://www.chessbrah.tv/about |date=2020-08-14 }} Chessbrahs</ref>
==Chess career== Hambleton was born in 1992 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and learned to play chess at age five. He moved to Toronto at age six, and played in his first tournament in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/ottawachess2013/home/canadian-open-2013/canadian-open---top-players |title=Top Players - 2013 Canadian Open |access-date=2018-08-31 |archive-date=2022-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904082348/https://sites.google.com/site/ottawachess2013/home/canadian-open-2013/canadian-open---top-players |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He earned his international master (IM) title in 2013,<ref>[https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=2606577&title=IM&pb=35 1st quarter Presidential Board Meeting 2013, 18-20 January, Yerevan, ARM] FIDE</ref> and was awarded his grandmaster (GM) title by FIDE in April 2018,<ref>[https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=2606577&title=GM&pb=51 1st quarter Presidential Board Meeting 2018, April 6-9, Minsk, Belarus] FIDE</ref> becoming Canada's tenth GM.<ref name=chess.com>[https://www.chess.com/news/view/sunway-sitges-aravindh-wins-hambleton-to-shave-beard Sunway Sitges: Aravindh Wins, Hambleton To Shave Beard] Chess.com</ref> He earned his first GM norm at the UNAM Chess Festival in 2012, while still a FIDE master, but did not achieve the second norm until the Reykjavik Open in April 2017. He had vowed in March 2017 not to shave his beard until he attained the GM title,<ref>[http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/chess-quest-grandmaster-title-st-louis-invitational#stream/0 On Chess: The quest to grandmaster title at the St. Louis Invitational] St. Louis Public Radio</ref> resulting in a lengthy beard by the time he earned his third GM norm in December 2017.<ref name=chess.com/> He also won the Canadian Open Chess Championship in July 2017, sharing first with Razvan Preotu on a score of 6½/9.<ref>[http://chess.ca/newsfeed/node/978 2017 Canadian Open: Results] Chess Federation of Canada</ref>
Hambleton represented Canada at the 41st Chess Olympiad. On the reserve board, he scored 3½/7 (+2–2=3).<ref>[https://www.olimpbase.org/2014/2014can.html 41st Chess Olympiad: Tromsø 2014, Canada] OlimpBase</ref> He played on the reserve board again at the 43rd Chess Olympiad. He lost to the 1937-rated Rijendra Rajbhandari in the first round,<ref>[https://www.chess.com/news/view/7-minutes-of-tension-in-chess-olympiads-1st-round Chess Olympiad: 7 Minutes Of Tension In 1st Round] Chess.com</ref> but won his last four games to finish on 4½/7 (+4–2=1).<ref>[https://www.olimpbase.org/2018/2018can.html 43rd Chess Olympiad: Batumi 2018, Canada] OlimpBase</ref> {{as of|2022|1|post=,}} Hambleton is the No. 8 ranked Canadian player, with a rating of 2454.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ratings.fide.com/rankings.phtml?country=CAN |title=Federations Ranking – Canada |author=Staff writer(s) |publisher=FIDE |date=May 2021}}</ref>
== Education == Hambleton attended high school in Scarborough, Ontario at Woburn Collegiate Institute where he played on the soccer and chess teams, along with being a member of the spoken word club.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Aman Hambleton LinkedIN |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-hambleton-23a50a4a/ |website=LinkedIN}}</ref> He graduated in Spring of 2010 with a CFC rating of 2315 after competing in the 2010 Hart House Toronto Open.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CFC - Tournament |url=https://www.chess.ca/en/ratings/t/?id=201004006&p=129797 |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=www.chess.ca}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Biography – Aman Hambleton |url=https://amanhambleton.com/about-me/biography/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>thumb|Members of Western's 2012 University Chess Championship team (Hambleton second from right)Hambleton was accepted into both Queen's University's Commerce program and the University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business.<ref name=":2" /> Electing to go to Western, he became president of the UWO Chess Club during his second year.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-04-22 |title=Western News - Science grad makes his move toward grandmaster title |url=https://news.westernu.ca/2022/04/western-grad-makes-move-toward-grandmaster-title/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Western News |language=en-CA}}</ref> During this year, Hambleton organized and competed in the 2012 Canadian University Chess Championship which took place at Western University. He placed second in the tournament, helping Western to the championship along with teammates Shiyam Thavandiran (1st-place), Raja Panjwani (6th-place), and Justin McDonald (13th-place).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=CFC - Tournament |url=https://www.chess.ca/en/ratings/t/?id=201201017&p=129797 |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=www.chess.ca}}</ref> ==Chess boxing==
Hambleton had a chess boxing contest with IM Lawrence Trent on 11 December 2022. Chess.com described it as "the highest-rated chessboxing match in history".<ref name=":0" /> Hambleton won via technical knockout in the first round of the boxing portion of the match.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url =https://www.chess.com/news/view/mogul-chessboxing-championship-hambleton-trent|title =Hambleton Scores TKO Over Trent, Belenkaya Checkmates Botez In Record-Breaking Chessboxing Event|website =Chess.com|first =Jack|last =Rodgers|date =12 December 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{FIDE}} * {{CFC|129797}} * {{OlimpBase player}} * {{Chessgames player}}
{{Authority control}} {{Canadian grandmasters}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambleton, Aman}} Category:1992 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Canadian chess players Category:Chess Grandmasters Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Chess players from Toronto Category:University of Western Ontario alumni Category:Canadian Twitch (service) streamers