Frode Urkedal

Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (born 14 May 1993) is a Norwegian chess player. He holds the title of Grandmaster, and is the 2012 and 2014 Norwegian Chess Champion. He represents the SK 1911 chess club in Oslo.

Urkedal began playing chess as an after-school activity at his school at Kjelsås in northern Oslo. Urkedal scored a string of successes in the age-restricted classes of the Norwegian championship, winning each of them in successive years from 2003 to 2006. In 2003 he won the Miniputt class with 8.5 points out of 9, in 2004 he scored 6.5 points in the Lilleputt class together with five other players but won the group due to his superior tiebreak score, in 2005 he won the Cadet class outright with 7.5 points, and in 2006 he won the Junior championship after tying for first with 6.5 points with three other players before winning the play-off for the junior title.

In the 2009 World Youth Chess Championship, Urkedal finished in fifth place in the under-16 section scoring 8 points out of 11. This was Norway's second best result in the youth championship, only Magnus Carlsen's second place in the under-12 section in 2002 surpassed this.

Urkedal played for Norway in the Chess Olympiads in 2010 and 2012.

Urkedal achieved his FIDE Master title in 2008. In January 2011 Urkedal's performance in the Rilton Cup tournament in Stockholm secured him the final norm needed for the International Master title.

In the 2012 Norwegian Chess Championship held in July in Sandefjord, Urkedal scored 7 points out of 9. He drew the pre-tournament favorites Jon Ludvig Hammer and Simen Agdestein, and lost only to Espen Lie. Urkedal won the rest of his games, including a win over the defending champion Berge Østenstad in round 8. This result tied him for first with Espen Lie, and a play-off was arranged in Fredrikstad in October to determine the champion. Urkedal won the first game, and was able to hold a draw from a shaky position in the second, thus securing him the title. Urkedal became the seventh teenager to accomplish this feat.

Urkedal was awarded the Grandmaster title in April 2016, having scored his final grandmaster norm at the Manacor tournament in Mallorca.