Luca Protopopescu (born 27 March 2016) is a Frenchchess 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]
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]
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