Brewington Hardaway Earns Final GM Norm in Barcelona

IM Brewington Hardaway earned his third and final GM norm on Saturday, August 31 along the way to his 7½/10 score and tied-sixth finish in the Sants - City of Barcelona International Chess Open 2024.

I just got my final GM Norm at the 2024 Sants Open! My FIDE Rating is now 2489 which means I need 11 more points to become GM! This is the first time I’ve played outside the U.S in a few years and it was a great experience. Thank you @SantsChess for hosting an incredible event! pic.twitter.com/HREy9WbdH0
— Brewington Hardaway (@IMBrewChess) September 1, 2024

The result also bumped Hardaway's FIDE rating up to 2489, just 11 points shy of the 2500 threshold he will need to qualify for the GM title.

Photo courtesy of the Organizers

The 15-year-old New Yorker has already racked up too many accolades to name in his career so far, including the outright first in the 2022 Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School Champions and a share of first (second on tiebreaks) in the 2023 Barber. As a ninth-grader, Hardaway already finished second on tiebreaks in the 2024 National High School (K-12) Championship, leading Columbia Grammar & Prep to a third-place team result as well.

If it feels like it was just yesterday that Hardaway became an IM, that wouldn't be far off from the truth. He didn't earn his first IM norm until January of last year (as he details over on ChessKid), with the second to follow shortly thereafter in his hometown. The final norm came only four months later, as Dr. Daaim Shabazz reported on the Chess Drum. Then, the first GM norm came along with the 2400 rating only four months after that (again: this is all in 2023) in Charlotte. The second GM norm came earlier this year, again in New York.

Below are three of his wins from Sants. Over ten games, Hardaway went undefeated with five wins and five draws. Of those draws, three were against grandmasters and the other two were against IMs. By far the most complex game of the batch was his seventh-round win (with the black pieces) against Lithuanian GM Paulius Pultinevicius:

The full range of Hardaway's strengths were on display in this event. Enjoy the contrast between the two games below, which range from a vicious attack straight out of the opening to a slow, methodological grind of a small advantage in the endgame.

Congratulations to Hardaway and best of luck to the youngster on his next steps towards the GM title.