Luca Protopopescu

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Luca Protopopescu
LucaProtopopescu (cropped).jpg
Luca Protopopescu in 2025
Personal information
Born (2016-03-27) March 27, 2016 (age 9)
Chess career
Country France
Title Candidate Master (2025)
Peak rating 2217 (May 2025)

Luca Protopopescu (born 27 March 2016) is a French chess prodigy. Vice-U8 Europe champion in 2023, [1] [2] ranked number one in the world for under-8s, under-9s and then under-10s, [3] in April 2025, he became the youngest player in chess history to surpass the 2200 Elo point threshold at the age of 9 years and 5 days (notably after beating his former coach, international master Guillaume Philippe, at the Hyères tournament in February 2025, and winning the B tournament at the Cannes International Open), [4] beating the previous record set by England's Ethan Pang in 2024 at the age of 9 years and 103 days. [3]

Contents

Early life

He has been a member of the club Marseille-Échecs of the French Chess Federation since the age of 4, shortly after learning the rules of the game in March 2020 during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. [5]

He was French champion in the under-8 age group in 2024, [6] [7] and he is the current under-10 French champion age group since May 2025. [8] [9]

Since September 2024, he has been coached at his club by Turkish grandmaster Mert Erdoğdu. [3]

At the beginning of March 2025, he created a surprise by winning the B tournament (reserved for players under 2200 Elo) at the Cannes International Open. [4] Since the end of March 2025, he has been sponsored by Turkish entrepreneur Evren Üçok, [3] co-founder of Trendyol.

According to a local profile, Protopopescu said, “Je préfère jouer que gagner” (“I prefer playing to winning”). [10]

Records

On 10 April 2025, Protopopescu became the youngest player to surpass the 2200 FIDE classical rating threshold, at 9 years and 5 days, eclipsing the previous mark set by England's Ethan Pang in 2024. [3] [11] On the April 2025 FIDE rating list he was recorded at 2216 and ranked first among players under 10 worldwide. [12]

Titles

FIDE lists Protopopescu with the title of Candidate Master (CM), awarded in 2025. [12]

Notable tournament results

YearEventSectionPlaceScoreNotes
2025FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2025 (Antalya,Turkiye)U91st7.5/9 [13]
2025European Youth Chess Championship (Budva, Montenegro)U101st7.5/9Performance 2236 [14]
2025Open International d'échecs de CannesOpen B1st7.5/9Performance 2276; seeded 54th of 181 [15]
20251er Tournoi Open de Fevrier 2025 de HyeresOpen1st5.5/6Wins vs IM Guillaume Philippe; performance ~2336 [16]

He won the French under-10 national title at Vichy in May 2025. [17]

References

  1. ↑ "La France récolte quatre médailles aux Championnats d'Europe Jeunes". Europe Échecs . 2023..
  2. ↑ "Quatre médailles pour les tricolores aux Championnats d'Europe d'Échecs des Jeunes !". Fédération française des échecs . 2023..
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Svensen, Tarjei J. (2025). "Luca Protopopescu Becomes Youngest Ever to Break 2200 Rating Barrier At 9 !". chess.com ..
  4. 1 2 "Panneerselvam Iniyan remporte l'Open International d'échecs de Cannes". Europe Échecs . 4 March 2025..
  5. ↑ Bessard, Theo (2025). "Luca, 8 ans, Marseillais et numéro 1 mondial d'échecs : "Je préfère jouer que gagner"". La Provence ..
  6. ↑ "Les podiums du championnat". 21 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Fédération Française des Échecs".
  8. ↑ "Les podiums du Championnat de France Jeunes 2025". 4 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Fédération Française des Échecs".
  10. ↑ Bessard, Theo (2025). "Luca, 8 ans, Marseillais et numéro 1 mondial d'échecs : "Je préfère jouer que gagner"". La Provence. La Provence. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Luca Protopopescu, 9 ans, devient le plus jeune joueur à franchir la barre des 2200 Elo aux échecs !". Europe Echecs. Europe Echecs. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Protopopescu, Luca". FIDE Ratings. FIDE. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2025 - Rapid Open 09".
  14. ↑ "European Youth Chess Championship 2025 - U10".
  15. ↑ "Open International d'échecs de Cannes B".
  16. ↑ "1er Tournoi Open de Fevrier 2025 de Hyeres".
  17. ↑ "Les podiums du Championnat de France Jeunes 2025". Fédération Française des Échecs. Fédération Française des Échecs. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
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