Benjamin Bok

Benjamin Bok (born January 25, 1995) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2014, at the age of 18.

Bok learned chess at the age of 6 from his father and joined the local chess club in his hometown a year later. He went on to become Dutch Youth Champion in various categories: U10, U12, and U14.

Bok became an International Master (IM) at the age of 15 in 2010, and became a Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 18 in 2014. The same year, he also crossed the 2600-barrier for the first time.

Bok has won numerous international tournaments, most notably the 2015 London Chess Classic FIDE Open with a score of 8/9. He has also participated in three World Cups (2017, 2019, and 2021).

His peak classical rating is 2645, placing him just a few spots shy of the World Top 100 at the time. In blitz chess, he peaked at 2674, which placed him in the World Top 50 for a couple of years.

Over the course of his career, Benjamin has played and defeated some of the best players in the world, including:

– Magnus Carlsen (twice in Titled Tuesday)
– Hikaru Nakamura (in classical chess at the 2016 Isle of Man)
– Anish Giri (in a rapid match)
– Alexander Grischuk (in two rapid matches)

Besides being a professional player, Benjamin is also a coach to players of all levels. Furthermore, he also streams on Twitch and Kick and has done commentary for some of the biggest chess channels, such as Chess.com, GMHikaru, BotezLive, and Esports World Cup.