Joel Benjamin, a native New Yorker, was born in Brooklyn, and is 33 years old. Today, Joel resides in Manhattan. In 1977, at the age of 13, Joel became the first person to break Bobby Fischer's record, becoming the youngest U.S. Master to that time. In 1980, he became an International Master. In 1985, Joel graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history, and he became an International Grandmaster in 1986.

In 1987, Joel became the first awardee of the Samford Fellowship as the most promising player under the age of 25 in the United States. Joel is a 3-time U.S. Junior Champion and became U.S. Champion in 1987. Joel has participated in a record 15 consecutive U.S. Invitational Championships. He is a 5-time U.S. Olympic Chess Team member and 2-time medalist and won 2 gold medals in the 1993 World Team Championship. Joel is also the 3-time defending champion of the Harvard Cup, in which Grandmasters play against chess computers.

In his only regulation meeting against world champion Garry Kasparov at Horgen in 1994, Joel and Garry played to a draw. Joel appeared in the movie, "Searching for Bobby Fischer", and was named to the list of 50 smartest New Yorkers by New York Magazine in 1995. He worked briefly with the IBM Deep Blue team in their preparation for the match with Garry Kasparov in Philadelphia in February 1996, and has worked with the team coaching Deep Blue in preparation for the rematch since last fall.