Interview with Stanley Badacsonyi

At only 14 years and 11 months old Badacsonyi is a FIDE Master. After a solid performance at the III Kingston Invitational, Badacsonyi surpassed 2300 elo and earned his FM title.

Here is an interview with Stanley Badacsonyi about Kingston, his future tournaments, the people that support his career, and more.

Hello Stanley and congratulations on getting the FM title! Age 14 years and 11 months, quite impressive! Can you tell us more about the Kingston 2024 where you crossed the 2300 mark?

Thank you very much! Kingston was a massive breakthrough tournament for me. I think playing with confidence is very important, I started well so I think that helped me a lot. I was also able to play against many higher rated opponents and so there was less pressure on me.

(Bonus: The game where the new FM passed 2300 ELO, annotated by Stanley himself here)

Your progress has been stellar in the past two years. Besides your continuous effort, who are the people that support you?

My coach GM Jonathan Hawkins is very supportive and has helped me so much. My family is also very supportive of me. A special mention for my brother Frankie Badacsonyi, who is three years older than me and I am very grateful for his help. I don’t have a sponsor, let’s hope this changes soon.

If we see correctly, you have played more than 45 000 games on Lichess! Do you feel that quantity of play also amounts to quality?

I played over 30,000 games during the lockdown on Lichess. I think the practice really helped me as I was able to learn a lot about the game. Going into lockdown I was probably around 1500 rated on the platform. A lot of people that I have played have commented about the amount of games I have played, it takes a long time to load them all when preparing against me! I also enjoyed the social element of it, as I wasn’t able to see any friends from school.

What are the next tournaments we can see you in action in 2024?

I will be playing in the World Youth Chess Championships 2024 in Florianopolis, Brazil, as the invited U16 Open player for England. My brother Frankie will also be there, he is the U18 Open invited player. I will also be playing in the Isle of Wight Masters 2025, and I want to play in more IM norm events.

For that you will probably need invitations. What is the best way for organizers to get in touch with you?

I think a good way for organisers to get in touch with me is via Lichess or Instagram or even email myself or my parents (ed. note: Allison Badacsonyi Twitter here)

There is a very strong generation of youngsters growing in England. Who should the world watch for?

England have so many youngsters on the rise. The one to watch for sure is Shreyas Royal. But any of the young talents can suddenly gain 100 ratings points and get a title.