Fabiano Caruana (left) and John Urschel (right) at the Genius Gala 5.0 in 2016

Congratulations to Fabiano Caruana and John Urschel! The chess whiz and mathematician/NFL player – both friends of Liberty Science Center – have just been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2017.

But of course, Forbes isn’t the first one to bring them together. Last year, Caruana and Urschel faced off in a blitz game at LSC’s Genius Gala 5.0. Who could have guessed that one year later, they would both be chosen for this amazing honor?

About Fabiano and John

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana, 24, is the current US chess champion and LSC’s Visiting Grandmaster and Chess Rules! Ambassador.

At age 10, Caruana became the youngest American to defeat a Grandmaster in an official tournament. At age 14, he became the youngest Grandmaster in the history of the United States, beating the record set by Bobby Fischer.

In September 2016, Caruana led the U.S. chess team to its first Gold medal in 40 years over 189 other countries in the World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan.

John Urschel

John Urschel, 25, is a mathematician and guard and center for the Baltimore Ravens. He was a presenter at LSC’s Genius Gala 4.0 in 2015.

Not your typical NFL player, Urschel was dubbed “The Smartest Athlete in the NFL Draft” by The Huffington Post. He is a former all-conference offensive lineman at Penn State, where he received the Campbell Award, given to college football’s top-scholar athlete.

Urschel has two master’s degrees – one in mathematics, and one in math education – which he obtained all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, teaching an undergraduate calculus course, and publishing a 32-page paper he authored in a prestigious scientific journal. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics at MIT.

chess,  Fabiano Caruana