Chess prodigy
Chess prodigies are children who can beat experienced adult players and even Masters at chess. Expectations can be high for chess prodigies. While some become World Champions, others show little or no progress in adulthood.
Early chess prodigies
Early chess prodigies were 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 be unofficial World Champion (before the official title existed), Capablanca became the third World Champion, and Reshevsky—while never attaining the title—was amongst the top few players in the world for many decades.
List of youngest grandmasters
One measure of chess prodigies (since 1950, when the title was introduced) is the age at which they gain the Grandmaster title. Below are players who have held the record for youngest grandmaster. The record has been held by Sergey Karjakin (then Ukraine) since 2002. 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.
Note: all players are listed by their nationality at the time of gaining the title, not their current or later nationality.
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 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
This is a list of the players who became Grandmasters before their 15th birthday.
No. Player Country Age Birth year 1. Sergey Karjakin Ukraine 12 years, 7 months, 0 days 1990 2. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu India 12 years, 10 months, 13 days 2005 3. Nodirbek Abdusattorov Uzbekistan 13 years, 1 month, 11 days 2004 4. Parimarjan Negi India 13 years, 4 months, 22 days 1993 5. Magnus Carlsen Norway 13 years, 4 months, 27 days 1990 6. Wei Yi China 13 years, 8 months, 23 days[2] 1999 7. Bu Xiangzhi China 13 years, 10 months, 13 days 1985 8. Samuel Sevian United States 13 years, 10 months, 27 days[3] 2000 9. Richárd Rapport Hungary 13 years, 11 months, 6 days[4] 1996 10. Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 14 years, 0 months, 14 days 1987 11. Ruslan Ponomariov Ukraine 14 years, 0 months, 17 days 1983 12. Nihal Sarin India 14 years, 1 month, 1 day 2004 13. Awonder Liang United States 14 years, 1 month, 20 days[5][6] 2003 14. Wesley So Philippines 14 years, 1 month, 28 days[7] 1993 15. Étienne Bacrot France 14 years, 2 months, 0 days 1983 16. Illya Nyzhnyk Ukraine 14 years, 3 months, 2 days[8] 1996 17. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France 14 years, 4 months, 6 days[9] 1990 18. Péter Lékó Hungary 14 years, 4 months, 22 days 1979 19. Jorge Cori Peru 14 years, 5 months, 15 days[10] 1995 20. Hou Yifan China 14 years, 6 months, 16 days[11] 1994 21. Jeffery Xiong United States 14 years, 6 months, 25 days[12] 2000 22. Anish Giri Russia 14 years, 7 months, 2 days[13] 1994 23. Yuriy Kuzubov Ukraine 14 years, 7 months, 12 days[14] 1990 24. Bogdan-Daniel Deac Romania 14 years, 7 months, 27 days[15] 2001 25. Dariusz Świercz Poland 14 years, 7 months, 29 days 1994 26. Alireza Firouzja Iran 14 years, 8 months, 2 days 2003 27. Aryan Chopra India 14 years, 9 months, 3 days[16] 2001 28. Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn Vietnam 14 years, 9 months, 22 days[17] 1990 29. Kirill Shevchenko Ukraine 14 years, 9 months, 23 days 2002 30. Arjun Erigaisi India 14 years, 11 months, 13 days 2003 31. Daniil Dubov Russia 14 years, 11 months, 14 days[18] 1996 32. Ray Robson United States 14 years, 11 months, 16 days[19] 1994 33. Fabiano Caruana Italy 14 years, 11 months, 20 days[20] 1992 34. Yu Yangyi China 14 years, 11 months, 23 days[21] 1994
Here are the holders of the record for the youngest ever female to become a grandmaster (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 2002 Humpy Koneru India 15 years 1 month 2008 Hou Yifan China 14 years, 6 months[22]
References
- ↑ "Chess prodigies and mini-grandmasters". 10 January 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ Wei Yi has become the youngest GM in the world Archived February 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Youngest-ever American Chess Grandmaster crowned in St. Louis". 23 November 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "Richard Rapport Becomes Hungary's Youngest Grandmaster - Chessdom". players.chessdom.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "Abdusattorov (13) Second Youngest GM In History". 31 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ↑ Polgar, Susan (30 May 2017). "Awonder Liang has earned his final GM norm at 14 years and 1 month! Congratulations to Awonder and the Liang family! @USChess @websterupic.twitter.com/hecjYDMbQz". Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ 14-year-old Filipino is newest grandmaster Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "GM title for Illya Nyzhnyk in Groningen". 1 January 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "British and French championships". 20 August 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ Cori achieved his final GM norm in October 2009, but he crossed the 2500 rating mark during a tournament in January 2010
- ↑ Hou Yifan – the youngest female grandmaster in history (Chessbase, December 8, 2008) gives 14-6-2, but this cannot be correct because that date (August 29) was the first day of the Women's World Chess Championship 2008. Chessbase appears to have used the first day of the championship, instead of the day she qualified for the final and earned her 3rd norm (September 12).
- ↑ Ramirez, Alejandro (1 June 2015). "Jeffery Xiong rocks Chicago". ChessBase. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ Anish Giri, 14, makes his final GM norm ChessBase January 31, 2009
- ↑ "Yuriy Kuzubov joins the mini-GM club". 7 September 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "The chess games of Bogdan-Daniel Deac". www.chessgames.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ Staff, Scroll. "Delhi's Aryan, 14, Secures Grandmaster Title". Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ Staff, Scroll. "The world's second-youngest grandmaster". Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ↑ Satrapa, James (2011-08-07). "Daniil Dubov, grandmaster at fourteen". ChessBase.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ↑ Ray Robson is the new youngest GM Archived October 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Who was the future GM? Fabiano Caruana, Italy's top grandmaster!". 18 October 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "Chess prodigies and mini-grandmasters". 10 January 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ WWCC - Nalchik 2008 - and now there are just four!, FIDE web site, September 9, 2008