Marc Esserman (born July 28, 1983) is an American chess player who currently holds the FIDE title of International Master (IM). Scholastic career Esserman began playing chess at the age of 7. Scholastic competition resulted in two national team titles in 1994 and 1995. In April 1997, at the first-ever Super Nationals in Knoxville, Tennessee, he went undefeated (7–0) to become the K-8 co-champion, edging out several players rated over 400 points higher. In March 1999, Esserman tied for 1st in the Florida State Championship, again with a perfect score. Press coverage of Esserman's chess career continued while an undergraduate at Harvard College. There, he was active promoting chess on campus, serving as captain of the Harvard Chess Club for four years, and helping to organize a chess exchange trip to Beijing, China. There, he played (and defeated) the women's world champion, Xu Yuhua, as part of an inter-university match. During high school and college, Esserman trained under IM Calvin Blocker, GM Anatoly Lein, and later GM William Lombardy. In a trip to Russia, he also studied briefly with Igor Zaitsev. Professional career After graduation, he returned to Boston in 2008 to promote local chess and chess education by serving on the Board of Directors of the Boylston Chess Club and representing the city of Boston in the United States Chess League. As a member of the Boston Blitz, he has demonstrated a high winning percentage with a lifetime league score of 75%, ranking him No. 6 league-wide. In the 2009–2010 season and the 2010–2011 season, six out of his eight games placed either 1st or 2nd in the league's game of the week contest—with Esserman winning four of those awarded games. Some of these games have been published for Esserman's "brilliant performance" and sacrificial, tactical qualities. Esserman placed 3rd in the League's 2010 Game of the Year contest. A number of his games have been recorded in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the New York Post, The Washington Times, The Scotsman, La Libre Belgique, Новости шахмат ("Chess News"), and other newspapers. Esserman has achieved notable results in major European and U.S. open and invitational tournaments, in which he has defeated numerous grandmasters. Pre-title major tournament experience was auspicious with a tie for 1st in the 2003 Atlantic Open alongside four experienced GMs, in which he also split the U2400 1st prize. After a return to serious tournament