A chess prodigy is a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even titled chess masters. Some chess prodigies have progressed to become grandmasters or even World Chess Champions.
Early chess prodigies included Paul Morphy (1837–1884) and José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942), both of whom won matches against strong adult opponents at the age of 12, and Samuel Reshevsky (1911–1992), who was giving simultaneous exhibitions at the age of six. [1] Morphy went on to become the world's leading player before the formal title of World Champion existed. Capablanca became the third World Champion, and Reshevsky—while never attaining the title—was amongst the world's elite players for many decades. Jutta Hempel at the age of 6 played 12 simultaneous games and won 9.5-2.5. [2]
Arturo Pomar (1931–2016) was another to be labelled a prodigy by chess writers. [3] [4] He played his first international tournament (Madrid 1943) at the age of 11 and went on to become Spain's first grandmaster.
There is often widespread attention when a young player defeats a Grandmaster, whether in a standard tournament game or less formal conditions.
The youngest player to defeat a grandmaster under standard time controls is Ashwath Kaushik, who in February 2024 defeated Jacek Stopa at the age of 8 years, 6 months, and 11 days.
The previous record was set by Leonid Ivanovic, who in January 2024 defeated Milko Popchev at the Novogodisnji rating ŠSB in Belgrade, Serbia at the age of 8 years, 11 months, and 7 days. [5] [6]
Aarit Kapil, at just 9 years, 2 months, and 18 days old, has become the youngest Indian and the third youngest player worldwide to defeat a Grandmaster under classical time control. [7]
In 1976, a ten-year-old Nigel Short beat Viktor Korchnoi as a participant in a simultaneous exhibition, the only game Korchnoi lost in the event. [8]
In 1999, David Howell defeated John Nunn in a blitz game at the age of eight. [8]
In 2021, 10-year-old Frederick Waldhausen Gordon, from Scotland, won against GM Bogdan Lalic in an online rapid 10+5 game in the ECF Grand Prix Rapid Event 1 held on lichess.org. [9] [10] [11]
In 2023, 8-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev, from Russia, defeated GM Jakhongir Vakhidov and GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, [12] and after a couple of days defeated GM Kirill Shevchenko, GM Alan Pichot and GM Pranav V in the World Blitz Chess Championship 2023. [13]
Since 1950, when the Grandmaster (GM) title was introduced by FIDE, one measure of chess prodigies is the age at which they gain the GM title. Below are players who have held the record for the youngest grandmaster; the age listed is the age at which they qualified for the title. This is not equal to the age at which they officially became grandmasters, because GM titles can only be awarded at FIDE congresses. The country listed indicates the federation the player was affiliated with at the time of gaining the title, not their current or later affiliation. The first record holder was David Bronstein, who was the youngest of the 27 inaugural players to be awarded the title by FIDE in 1950 at age 26; the record is currently held by Abhimanyu Mishra, who qualified at age 12.
| Year | Player | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | David Bronstein |  Soviet Union | 26 years |
| 1952 | Tigran Petrosian | Soviet Union | 23 years |
| 1955 | Boris Spassky | Soviet Union | 18 years |
| 1958 | Bobby Fischer |  United States | 15 years, 6 months, 1 day |
| 1991 | Judit Polgár |  Hungary | 15 years, 4 months, 28 days [14] [15] |
| 1994 | Péter Lékó | Hungary | 14 years, 4 months, 22 days |
| 1997 | Étienne Bacrot |  France | 14 years, 2 months, 0 days |
| 1997 | Ruslan Ponomariov |  Ukraine | 14 years, 0 months, 17 days |
| 1999 | Bu Xiangzhi |  China | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days |
| 2002 | Sergey Karjakin | Ukraine | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days |
| 2021 | Abhimanyu Mishra | United States | 12 years, 4 months, 25 days [16] |
This is a list of the players who fulfilled the requirements to attain the title of Grandmaster before their 14th birthday.
| Player | Country | Age | Birth year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhimanyu Mishra | United States | 12 years, 4 months, 25 days | 2009 |
| Sergey Karjakin | Ukraine | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days | 1990 |
| Gukesh Dommaraju |  India | 12 years, 7 months, 17 days | 2006 |
| Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş |  Turkey | 12 years, 9 months, 29 days | 2011 |
| Javokhir Sindarov |  Uzbekistan | 12 years, 10 months, 5 days | 2005 |
| R Praggnanandhaa | India | 12 years, 10 months, 13 days | 2005 |
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Uzbekistan | 13 years, 1 month, 11 days | 2004 |
| Parimarjan Negi | India | 13 years, 4 months, 22 days | 1993 |
| Magnus Carlsen |  Norway | 13 years, 4 months, 27 days | 1990 |
| Ivan Zemlyanskii |  Russia | 13 years, 8 months, 21 days | 2010 |
| Wei Yi | China | 13 years, 8 months, 23 days [17] | 1999 |
| Andy Woodward | United States | 13 years, 8 months, 28 days | 2010 |
| Raunak Sadhwani | India | 13 years, 9 months, 28 days [18] | 2005 |
| Bu Xiangzhi | China | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days | 1985 |
| Samuel Sevian | United States | 13 years, 10 months, 27 days [19] | 2000 |
| Richárd Rapport | Hungary | 13 years, 11 months, 6 days [20] | 1996 |
Note: Karjakin has changed federations since attaining the grandmaster title.
Below are the holders of the record for the youngest female player to qualify for the grandmaster title (not to be confused with the lesser Woman Grandmaster title):
| Year | Player | Country | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Nona Gaprindashvili | Soviet Union | 37 years |
| 1984 | Maia Chiburdanidze | Soviet Union | 23 years |
| 1991 | Susan Polgar | Hungary | 21 years |
| 1991 | Judit Polgár | Hungary | 15 years, 4 months [14] [15] |
| 2002 | Koneru Humpy | India | 15 years, 1 month [21] [22] |
| 2008 | Hou Yifan | China | 14 years, 6 months [23] |
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former world champion Bobby Fischer. She was the youngest player ever to break into the FIDE top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in the January 1989 rating list, at the age of 12.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess grandmaster. Humpy is a runner-up of the Women's World Chess Championship and the reigning two-time Women's World Rapid Chess Champion. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster aged 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, a record only since surpassed by Hou Yifan. Humpy is a gold medalist at the Olympiad, Asian Games, and Asian Championship. She is also the first Indian female grandmaster.
Étienne Bacrot is a French chess grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy.
Sofia Polgar is a Hungarian and Israeli chess player, teacher, and artist. She holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). A former chess prodigy, she is the middle sister of two Grandmasters, Susan and Judit. She has played for Hungary in four Chess Olympiads, winning two team gold medals, one team silver, three individual golds, and one individual bronze.
Below is a list of events in chess in 1996, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms. Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE.
Samuel Sevian is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 27 days, making him the youngest ever American grandmaster at the time. He also broke all US age records in reaching the titles of National and International Master.
The Women's World Chess Championship 2011 was the 35th of its kind. It was organised by FIDE and was played in a match format between the defending champion and a challenger, determined via the FIDE Grand Prix series.
Awonder Liang is an American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy in his youth, he was the third-youngest American to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, at the age of 14. Liang was twice world champion in his age category.
Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess grandmaster and chess prodigy. In 2018, he passed the Elo rating of 2600 at 14 years old, which at the time made him the third youngest player in history to do so.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov is an Uzbek chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he qualified for the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 1 month, and 11 days. FIDE awarded him the title in April 2018. He is Uzbekistan's highest-rated grandmaster and currently one of the best chess players in the world.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, also known professionally as Pragg, is an Indian chess grandmaster. As of 22 Jan 2025, Praggnanandhaa is ranked 13th in the world by the International Chess Federation. Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he holds the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.
Nicolas de T. Checa is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He is from Dobbs Ferry, New York. A chess prodigy, he began playing competitive chess at age 7. He is the recipient of the 2020 and 2021 Samford Fellowships, an award granted to the top American chess players under 25 years old. He is the 2021 and 2022 Connecticut State Champion and an undergraduate student at Yale University.
Raunak Sadhwani is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became a grandmaster at the age of 13. He is the 10th youngest player in history and the 4th youngest Indian to be awarded the title as of December 2023.
Women represent a small minority of chess players at all ages and levels. Female chess players today generally compete in a mix of open tournaments and women's tournaments, the latter of which are most prominent at or near the top level of women's chess and at youth levels. Modern top-level women's tournaments help provide a means for some participants to be full-time professional chess players. The majority of these tournaments are organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and revolve around the World Championship cycle, which culminates in a match to decide the Women's World Chess Champion. Beyond those events, among the most prominent women's tournaments are women's and girls' national and continental championships.
Alice Teresa Lee is an American chess player with the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is the youngest American female, and the third youngest female worldwide, to achieve the IM title. Her tournament victories include winning the 2024 Women's American Cup, being a two-time U.S. Girls' Junior Champion, a three-time World Youth Champion, and earning two medals at the Chess Olympiads.
Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş is a Turkish chess prodigy and grandmaster. He was awarded the International Master title prior to turning 12, becoming the youngest individual from Turkey to achieve this title. In 2024, he became the fourth-youngest grandmaster in history. He also became the youngest player ever to achieve a 2600 FIDE rating in classical chess at just the age of 13 years and 4 months. Erdoğmuş is currently the youngest grandmaster in the world.
Andy Austin Woodward is an American chess grandmaster and prodigy.
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