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 prodigiesEdit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Chessgames>The chess games of Jutta Hempel. ChessGames.com. Accessed November 29, 2024.</ref>
Arturo Pomar (1931–2016) was another to be labelled a prodigy by chess writers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He played his first international tournament (Madrid 1943) at the age of 11 and went on to become Spain's first grandmaster.
Youngest to defeat a grandmasterEdit
There is often widespread attention when a young player defeats a Grandmaster, whether in a standard tournament game or less formal conditions.
Formal conditionsEdit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Informal conditionsEdit
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.<ref name="chess.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1999, David Howell defeated John Nunn in a blitz game at the age of eight.<ref name="chess.com"/>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and after a couple of days defeated GM Kirill Shevchenko, GM Alan Pichot and GM Pranav V in the World Blitz Chess Championship 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
List of youngest grandmastersEdit
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 | Template:URS | 26 years | ||
| 1952 | Tigran Petrosian | Template:URS | 23 years | ||
| 1955 | Boris Spassky | Template:URS | 18 years | ||
| 1958 | Bobby Fischer | Template:USA | 15 years, 6 months, 1 day | ||
| 1991 | Judit Polgár | {{#invoke:flag | }} | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="jpolgar_2">Template:Cite Chessgames.com game</ref> |
| 1994 | Péter Lékó | {{#invoke:flag | }} | 14 years, 4 months, 22 days | |
| 1997 | Étienne Bacrot | {{#invoke:flag | France}} | 14 years, 2 months, 0 days | |
| 1997 | Ruslan Ponomariov | {{#invoke:flag | Ukraine}} | 14 years, 0 months, 17 days | |
| 1999 | Bu Xiangzhi | Template:CHN | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days | ||
| 2002 | Sergey Karjakin | {{#invoke:flag | Ukraine}} | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days | |
| 2021 | Abhimanyu Mishra | Template:USA | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
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 | Template:USA | 12 years, 4 months, 25 days | 2009 | |
| Sergey Karjakin | {{#invoke:flag | Ukraine}} | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days | 1990 |
| Gukesh Dommaraju | {{#invoke:flag | India}} | 12 years, 7 months, 17 days | 2006 |
| Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş | {{#invoke:flag | Turkey}} | 12 years, 9 months, 29 days | 2011 |
| Javokhir Sindarov | Template:UZB | 12 years, 10 months, 5 days | 2005 | |
| R Praggnanandhaa | {{#invoke:flag | India}} | 12 years, 10 months, 13 days | 2005 |
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Template:UZB | 13 years, 1 month, 11 days | 2004 | |
| Parimarjan Negi | {{#invoke:flag | India}} | 13 years, 4 months, 22 days | 1993 |
| Magnus Carlsen | {{#invoke:flag | Norway}} | 13 years, 4 months, 27 days | 1990 |
| Ivan Zemlyanskii | {{#invoke:flag | }} | 13 years, 8 months, 21 days | 2010 |
| Wei Yi | Template:CHN | 13 years, 8 months, 23 days<ref>Wei Yi has become the youngest GM in the world Template:Webarchive</ref> | 1999 | |
| Andy Woodward | Template:USA | 13 years, 8 months, 28 days | 2010 | |
| Raunak Sadhwani | {{#invoke:flag | India}} | 13 years, 9 months, 28 days<ref name="Raunak">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cite news</ref> | 2005 |
| Bu Xiangzhi | Template:CHN | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days | 1985 | |
| Samuel Sevian | Template:USA | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> || 2000 | |
| Richárd Rapport | {{#invoke:flag | }} | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> || 1996 |
Note: Karjakin has changed federations since attaining the grandmaster title.
List of youngest female grandmastersEdit
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 | Template:URS | 37 years | ||
| 1984 | Maia Chiburdanidze | Template:URS | 23 years | ||
| 1991 | Susan Polgar | {{#invoke:flag | }} | 21 years | |
| 1991 | Judit Polgár | {{#invoke:flag | }} | 15 years, 4 months<ref name="jpolgar_1" /><ref name="jpolgar_2" /> | |
| 2002 | Koneru Humpy | {{#invoke:flag | India}} | 15 years, 1 month<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2008 | Hou Yifan | Template:CHN | 14 years, 6 months<ref>WWCC - Nalchik 2008 - and now there are just four! Template:Webarchive, FIDE web site, 9 September 2008
</ref> |