Master Profile

Born in New York May 24, 1978, this New Jersey-bred titan has accumulated one the most stellar scholastic records of any player in U.S. chess history. Many players have won high school championships and junior titles, but "Woody," as he is called, used a combination of hard work and inspiration of others to achieve his goals year after year. Believing that Woody was spending too much time with Nintendo, his mother Dr. Yvonne Thornton, put an ad in the paper for a chess tutor. FM Aviv Friedman answered the ad and Woody had begun his journey to chess brilliance.

Woody claims the "chess bug" bit him at age 13, and two years later he earned the title of National Master. To cap off his scholastic career, he was elected to the All-American team which recognizes chess players with tremendous academic and chess accomplishments, and in 1996, was the recipient of the highly-coveted National Scholar-Chessplayer Award. Space doesn't permit a listing of his chess résumé, but he has won four national scholastic titles,  11 state titles, including two New Jersey State Championships.

After winning the 1997 Junior Open (first Black since R.O. Mitchell in 1990), he placed 7th in the U.S. Junior Closed which is comprised of the strongest U.S. players under-21 (typically rated 2200-2500). His sister Kimberly was also a scholastic chess champion, winning the reserve section of the National High School Championship in 1993. Woody's also added the drubbing of Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi to an already impressive career.

Coming from a close-knit family, Woody has had a lot positive images from which to determine his career path. Both of his parents being medical doctors, Woody decided to take a similar route, and after graduating from Harvard with a degree in Biology, he is now enrolled in Columbia's medical school.  The way Woody cuts up his chess opponents, it's no surprise he's decided to become a surgeon. Nice going Woody!