{{short description|Australian chess grandmaster (born 1997)|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2014}} {{Infobox chess player |name = Bobby Cheng |image = Bobby Cheng, Jan 2022.png |caption = Bobby Cheng in 2022 |country = {{NZL}} (until 2009)<br>{{AUS}} (since 2009) |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1997|3|20|df=y}} |birth_place = Hamilton, New Zealand |title = Grandmaster (2019) |peakrating = 2596 (December 2024) |FideID = 4300033 }} '''Bobby Cheng''' (born 20 March 1997) is a New Zealand-Australian chess grandmaster. Cheng was world champion in the under 12 category in 2009, the only Australian in history to win a world over-the-board title.<ref>Cecil Purdy won the World Correspondence Chess Championship in 1953.</ref> Cheng won Australian Open championship in 2013 and Australian chess Championship in 2016. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2019.
==Biography and career== Cheng was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.<ref>[https://ratings.fide.com/crt/main220409.pdf IM title application] (JPG). FIDE.</ref> His early trainers in New Zealand were Bruce Wheeler<ref>{{cite news|last=Kiong|first=Errol|title=Small fry share big chess talent|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10358452|accessdate=25 June 2012|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|date=5 December 2005}}</ref> and Ewen Green,<ref>{{cite news|title=New world chess champ got start in NZ|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10611207|accessdate=25 June 2012|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|date=24 November 2009}}</ref> followed by Darryl Johansen after Cheng arrived in Australia.
He finished tied for third place in the Under 10 division of the World Youth Chess Championships in 2007, the year he and his family moved to Melbourne, Australia.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cheng|first=Bobby|title=World U12 Chess Champion, Bobby Cheng reports …|url=http://chesskids.com.au/2009/12/world-u12-chess-champion-bobby-cheng-reports/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114225621/http://chesskids.com.au/2009/12/world-u12-chess-champion-bobby-cheng-reports/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2013|work=chesskids.com.au|accessdate=24 June 2012|author2=Cordover, David|date=8 December 2009}}</ref>
In November 2009, Cheng transferred national federations from New Zealand to Australia<ref>[http://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml?year=2009 Player transfers in 2009]. FIDE.</ref> and won the Under 12 title at the World Youth Championships in Kemer, Turkey.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/974675/aussie-12-crowned-world-chess-champion | title=Aussie, 12, crowned world chess champion. | work=9News | date=23 November 2009 | accessdate=22 June 2012 | author=Stuart, Hamish | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412094845/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/974675/aussie-12-crowned-world-chess-champion | archivedate=12 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hohenboken|first=Angus|title=Student takes nation's first world chess title|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/student-takes-nations-first-world-chess-title/story-e6frg6n6-1225802705019|accessdate=25 June 2012|newspaper=The Australian|date=24 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-youth-championship-in-antalya|title=World Youth Championship in Antalya|publisher=ChessBase|date=2009-11-24|accessdate=2017-09-25}}</ref>
Cheng won the Australian Junior Championship in January 2010, at age 12, becoming the youngest player ever to do so, and won the same title again in 2011. Also in 2011, Cheng became the youngest ever winner of the Victorian Championship title, finishing ahead of Darryl Johansen. In 2012 Cheng tied for the Australian Masters title with Anton Smirnov.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} He played for the Australian team in the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad in 2012 and 2013.
In January 2013, Cheng won the Australian Open Championship, the youngest player ever to do so.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bobby Cheng is the new Australian Champion|url=http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/bobby-cheng-is-the-new-australian-champion|work=chessvibes.com|accessdate=15 January 2013}}</ref> In January 2016, Cheng became the Australian champion in Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/internet-generation-dominates-australian-chess-championship/7083114|title=Internet generation dominates Australian chess titles|date=2016-01-12|work=ABC News|access-date=2017-09-25}}</ref> In 2018, he played on the Australian national team in the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia.<ref>[http://chess-results.com/tnr368908.aspx?lan=1&art=20&fed=AUS&flag=30 43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Open. Team composition for federation AUS - Open]. ''chess-results.com''.</ref>
In December 2019, Cheng won the Australian Young Masters tournament with a perfect 9/9 score, ahead of top seed Norwegian Grandmaster Frode Urkedal.
In July 2021, Cheng was invited to the FIDE World Cup in Sochi. He was the first Australian in history to win a game in the World Cup{{fact|date=January 2024}} after defeating Vahap Şanal in the rapid tiebreaks. In round 2, he received a walk over against Levon Aronian after Aronian had to forfeit his match due to displaying flu-like symptoms. Cheng was eliminated in the third round by the former Belarusian Vladislav Kovalev 1½−½.
In November 2025 Cheng participated in the Chess World Cup 2025, and was eliminated in round 2 by the Hungarian Peter Leko 1½−½.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Results – FIDE World Cup 2025, Goa India, World Chess Cup |url=https://worldcup2025.fide.com/results/ |access-date=2025-11-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{FIDE}} *[http://www.365chess.com/players/Bobby_Cheng Bobby Cheng] chess games at 365Chess.com *{{Chessgames player|id=111775}} *[http://www.olimpbase.org/playerswy/bvdt55jc.html Bobby Cheng] team chess record at Olimpbase.org {{AustraliaGMs}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Bobby}} Category:1997 births Category:Living people Category:Chess Grandmasters Category:21st-century Australian chess players Category:New Zealand chess players Category:World Youth Chess Champions Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:Australian people of Chinese descent Category:New Zealand people of Chinese descent Category:New Zealand emigrants to Australia Category:Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand