GMChristopher Woojin Yoo

Christopher Yoo grew up in Fremont, California. He won a Charlotte international-master norm tournament outright in 2018. In early 2019 he became the youngest American international master, a record subsequently broken by Abhimanyu Mishra. He won the online U.S. Cadet Championship in 2020. During 2021 he earned grandmaster norms in Charlotte and at the U.S. Masters. He reached the remaining rating requirement at the Marshall Chess Club Championship that December, and FIDE records his GM title in 2022. He won the 2022 U.S. Junior Championship by a full point. Later that year he defeated Wesley So at the U.S. Championship and won the U.S. Masters after a blitz playoff. His career was interrupted by disciplinary sanctions following an assault on a broadcast worker at the 2024 U.S. Championship. US Chess imposed a one-year suspension, which FIDE extended worldwide through November 2025. In a separate 2025 case, FIDE found him guilty of harassment and related misconduct and imposed an eighteen-month ban, with twelve months suspended.