Justin Tan

Justin Tan (born 19 March 1997)^[1][2] is an Australian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2018, becoming the 8th Australian to achieve the title.^[3] He was formerly British Blitz Champion and was British Under-21 Champion twice (2016 and 2018).^[4][5][6]

Justin Tan
Tan in 2015
Country	Australia
Born	19 March 1997 (1997-03-19) (age 28) Cardiff, Wales
Title	Grandmaster (2018)
FIDE rating	2512 (August 2025)
Peak rating	2533 (March 2022)

Chess career

Tan learned to play chess at the age of seven.^[7] 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).^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

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.^[14][15]

In 2015, Tan achieved his first Grandmaster norm at the Colin Crouch Memorial Congress at Harrow, London.^[16] At the 2015 Under-18 World Youth Chess Championships in Greece, Tan tied for fourth place, after defeating GM Kirill Alekseenko.^[17]

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.^[18][19] In the same year, Tan was joint winner with GM Luke McShane at the DeMontford Bell Kings Place Rapidplay.^[20]

In 2018, Tan won the Paracin Open in Serbia, securing his final GM norm and the Grandmaster title.^[21] He became British Blitz Champion in 2019 after winning the UK Open Blitz Championship.^[22]

In 2021, Tan won the O2C Doeberl Cup in Canberra, Australia, with a score of 7.5/9.^[23] In 2022, he won the inaugural Chessemy Open in Reinstorf, Germany, in a field of over 160 players.^[24]

Tan represented Australia on Board 4 at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai scoring 5/8.^[25]

Tan plays in the top division of the UK 4NCL for Wood Green and has previously played in the Dutch and the Icelandic leagues for BSG and Taflfélag Garðabæjar respectively.^[26][27][28]

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. He is a dual Australian and British citizen.^[29]

Until 2013, Tan was an elite national gymnast and a member of the Australian national artistic gymnastics squad.^[30] He was the Australian Under-16 national individual apparatus champion on pommel horse in 2012.^[31]

Tan graduated in law from the University of Edinburgh and is an Erasmus alumnus of Utrecht University.^[32][33][34]