[6] Son of Isabelle Rodrigue, Shawn learned to play chess at age 6 at an after school program and quickly fell in love with the game.

In November 2023, he earned his final GM norm at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023, where he defeated a number of higher-rated grandmasters including Benjamin Gledura, Max Warmerdam, and Vasyl Ivanchuk.

[13] He has stated that his use of uncommon openings throws opponents off, and might be useful in getting well prepared players out of book early on.

His 3037 tournament performance where he won 9/9 created a social media buzz, drawing attention from popular streamers like Gotham Chess.

[15] He is currently enrolled in Collège de Maisonneuve[16] In April 2023, he was offered a four-year scholarship to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, renowned for its recruitment of talented chess players, which he intends on accepting.