GM Mark Heimann

My name is Mark Heimann, and I am an American chess grandmaster (and AI researcher and strength athlete). At the end of 2024, I achieved the grandmaster title at age 31 alongside a full-time career outside of chess, attaining a peak FIDE rating of 2520 and a USCF rating of 2603. I can be reached for individual chess lessons, training games, and group lectures (technical or nontechnical).

Instagram: @theirongm
Email: maheimann64@gmail.com
Website: markheimann.github.io

Scholastic Career: Became a USCF National Master at age 13, won several scholastic national titles. Ended high school with a rating of ~2300 FIDE/2400 USCF.
Adult Improver: went from 2300 to 2400 FIDE in college and graduate school, and from 2400 to 2500+ after graduating and starting a non-chess day job. Became an international master in 2022 and a grandmaster in 2024.

A few notable tournament finishes:
- 2024 US Masters: joint 6th place (2nd GM norm secured with 1 round to spare)
- 2024 Saint Louis Masters: 1st prize in under 2500 rating category (3rd GM norm secured with 3 rounds to spare)
- 2025 American Open: joint 2nd place

I have taught beginner chess players in high school and college. In college and graduate school, I also worked as a teaching assistant for university-level computer science courses. I like teaching and I like chess, so as of 2024, I have returned to chess teaching and work on a limited basis with advanced students. One student became a USCF national master in the time we worked together.

I have a PhD in computer science from the University of Michigan and after graduating in 2020, have been working full-time as an AI researcher. My efforts toward the international master and grandmaster titles were all during my vacation time from my day job.

I also train and compete at a high level in the sport of powerlifting, where I have qualified as an athlete for the USA Powerlifting national championships annually since 2022 and am also a certified USA Powerlifting national-level referee.

My best skills as a chess player are my strategic intuition, psychology, and decision making. From opening selection before a game, to deciding what moves to make and how much time to spend on them, to finishing strongly in a good game or recovering from a poor one, chess players make many critical decisions with dimensions both on and off the chessboard. Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Cristian Chirilă have credited my ability to do this well with my sensational rise to the grandmaster level.

I can also comment specifically on the interplay between chess, AI and tech careers, and strength training, or on a high level how to handle the challenges (and opportunities!) of having other serious pursuits outside of chess while playing the game at a high level.

I have taught students at all levels, from beginner to national master. My current focus is working with advanced students who already have tournament experience and a solid grasp of chess fundamentals (though I can advise students how to continue a study of openings, calculation, endgames, etc.) and are looking to improve their higher-level decision making.

As we go through games. I consider carefully what value I add as a coach in this age of compute analysis. My goals are not simply to say what moves are “good” or “bad”, but to observe and customize my training suggestions to a player’s strengths and weaknesses, and to offer practical considerations behind chess decisions that go beyond engine evaluation alone.

I also am happy to dish out lifting advice upon request 🙂