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 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.
Arturo Pomar (1931–2016) was another to be labelled a prodigy by chess writers. [2] [3] 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. [4] [5]
In 1999, David Howell defeated John Nunn in a blitz game at the age of eight. [6]
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. [6]
In March 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. [7] [8] [9]
In August 2020, 9-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a Nigerian refugee living in the US, defeated GM Hikaru Nakamura in a blitz game on chess.com. [10]
In December 2023, 8-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev, from Russia, defeated GM Jakhongir Vakhidov and GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, [11] and after a couple of days defeated GM Kirill Shevchenko, GM Alan Pichot and GM Pranav V in the World Blitz Chess Championship 2023 [12]
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 record is currently held by Abhimanyu Mishra. 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.
| 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 [13] [14] |
| 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 [15] |
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 |
| Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus |  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 |
| Wei Yi | China | 13 years, 8 months, 23 days [16] | 1999 |
| Andy Woodward | United States | 13 years, 8 months, 28 days | 2010 |
| Raunak Sadhwani | India | 13 years, 9 months, 28 days [17] | 2005 |
| Bu Xiangzhi | China | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days | 1985 |
| Samuel Sevian | United States | 13 years, 10 months, 27 days [18] | 2000 |
| Richárd Rapport | Hungary | 13 years, 11 months, 6 days [19] | 1996 |
Note: Karjakin and Rapport have 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 [13] [14] |
| 2002 | Humpy Koneru | India | 15 years, 1 month [20] [21] |
| 2008 | Hou Yifan | China | 14 years, 6 months [22] |
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 player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Humpy became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.
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.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, he is the seventh-highest rated player in history.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
Ray Robson is an American chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Robson fulfilled the requirements for the title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 16 days, making him the youngest ever United States Grandmaster at the time.
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.
Richárd Rapport is a Hungarian chess grandmaster currently playing for Romania. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungarian Chess Champion in 2017 and was the fifth-rated player in the world in May 2022.
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.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became an international master at the age of 10, the youngest at the time to ever do so, and a grandmaster at the age of 12, the second-youngest at the time to do so. Praggnanandhaa, alongside his elder sister R Vaishali, became the first brother and sister to hold the Grandmaster title.
Dommaraju Gukesh, is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest person in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, the third-youngest player to reach a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750, and the third-youngest to play in a Candidates Tournament.
Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the grandmaster title on June 30, 2021, at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days, beating Sergey Karjakin's record of 12 years and 7 months, which had stood since 2002.
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 Lee is an American chess player with the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is the youngest American female, and third youngest in the world, to achieve the IM title. Her list of tournament victories includes being the 2024 Women's American Cup Champion, the 2023 US Girls' Junior Champion, and a three-time World Youth Champion.
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