Chess prodigy

The term chess prodigy refers to 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 World Chess Champion.

Eleven-year-old Sammy Reshevsky, New York 1922

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. 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.

Arturo Pomar (1931-2016) was another to be labelled a prodigy by chess writers. 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.

Formal conditions

The youngest player to defeat a grandmaster under standard time controls is Awonder Liang, who in 2012 defeated Larry Kaufman at the Washington International at the age of 9 years and 111 days.

The previous record was set in 2009, when Hetul Shah defeated GM Nurlan Ibrayev at the age of nine years and six months at the Parsvnath Open.

Informal conditions

In 1999, David Howell defeated John Nunn in a blitz game at the age of eight.

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.

In March 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.

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 record is currently held by Abhimanyu Mishra. 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 nationality listed is the player's nationality at the time of gaining the title, not their current or later nationality.

List of youngest grandmasters since 1950

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	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
2021	Abhimanyu Mishra	United States	12 years, 4 months, 25 days

This is a list of the players who became Grandmasters before their 14th birthday.

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 D	India	12 years, 7 months, 17 days	2006
Javokhir Sindarov	Uzbekistan	12 years, 10 months, 5 days	2005
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu	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
Wei Yi	China	13 years, 8 months, 23 days	1999
Raunak Sadhwani	India	13 years, 9 months, 28 days	2005
Bu Xiangzhi	China	13 years, 10 months, 13 days	1985
Samuel Sevian	United States	13 years, 10 months, 27 days	2000
Richárd Rapport	Hungary	13 years, 11 months, 6 days	1996

Note: Karjakin has changed countries since attaining the grandmaster title.

List of youngest female grandmasters

Below are the holders of the record for the youngest female player to become a grandmaster (not to be confused with the lesser Woman Grandmaster title):

Youngest female grandmasters

Year	Player	Country	Age
1978	Nona Gaprindashvili	Template:URS	37 years
1984	Maia Chiburdanidze	Template:URS	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

External links

• Edward Winter, Chess Prodigies (2005, updated in 2006 and 2007)
• Chessbase news about young Grandmasters
• Youngest Chess Player in India Set World Record
• Smallest Chess Player Chess Tournament Set World Record