Chess prodigy

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.

Samuel Reshevsky playing chess with Douglas Fairbanks, as Charlie Chaplin watches them during filming of the American silent film The Three Musketeers, 1921

Early chess prodigies

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.

Youngest to defeat a grandmaster

There is often widespread attention when a young player defeats a Grandmaster, whether in a standard tournament game or less formal conditions.

13-year-old Magnus Carlsen playing against 35-year-old Ivan Sokolov in 2004

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]

Informal conditions

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]

List of youngest grandmasters

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.

List of youngest grandmasters since 1950

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.

Male Grandmasters younger than 14 years old

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.

List of youngest female grandmasters

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):

Youngest female grandmasters

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]