Is Barron Trump A Chess Grandmaster? Debunking The Rumor

For someone with a family firmly in the public eye, it's surprising that Barron Trump has stayed so private through the years. Of course, just because we didn't see Barron in public much while he was growing up doesn't mean that people haven't been curious about him. Folks wonder about things like Barron's dating life, his relationship with his dad Donald Trump, and how things are going now that he is attending New York University. 

Back in 2018, one rumor about Barron took the internet by storm. Many folks on social media claimed that Barron was a chess grandmaster. As it turns out, though, this was just gossip about an ever-mysterious public figure. It's further proof that just because someone says something on the internet, that definitely doesn't mean it's true.

In order to be a chess grandmaster, a distinction given out by the International Chess Federation, you have to be one of the best players in the world. Barron may very well be a proficient chess player; that much is unclear. However, according to Snopes, despite many folks asserting that Barron holds the highest possible title in the game of chess, he in fact, does not. This rumor reportedly came from an article published by The Daily Chronicle, as the investigators discovered. It stated, "Barron has been awarded the prestigious title of chess grandmaster this week from the International Board of Chessmasters" (via Snopes). Of course, the article was entirely satire.

Alongside the rumor that Barron Trump was a chess grandmaster came the rumor that he had an IQ of 146, which according to IQ Tests, would make him "highly gifted." It's safe to say that had Barron actually earned the chess grandmaster title at the age of 11, he would have had to be smarter than the average kid. This would have made him the youngest person to ever nab the title. This claim about his IQ, however, was also just a rumor. 

We can't really be sure about how smart Barron is, but his father Donald Trump often asserts that he is, in fact, smart. He appeared on "Kayal and Company" in May 2024 and called Barron "a smart one," adding that "... he's really been a great student," per The Hill. He reiterated this notion at a campaign rally when he talked about Barron and said, "This kid's a genius — I'm telling you ... wise guy ... smart one," per X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Of course, we can't put much stock in what Donald has to say about Barron, since he mostly makes only vague comments about his youngest child. His all-time favorite is noting that his son is tall, which is pretty obvious considering Barron is 6 feet, 7 inches tall. As Donald embarks on his second presidency, however, we may see more of Barron. That might let the public in on whether Barron is really a genius and whether or not he's actually any good at chess.