Chess prodigy


A chess prodigy is a child prodigy 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 and José Raúl Capablanca, both of whom won matches against strong adult opponents at the age of 12, and Samuel Reshevsky, who was giving simultaneous exhibitions at the age of six. Morphy went on to be unofficial World Champion, 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

Since 1950, when the Grandmaster 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 has been held by Sergey Karjakin 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.
YearPlayerCountryAge
1950David Bronstein26 years
1952Tigran Petrosian23 years
1955Boris Spassky18 years
1958Bobby Fischer15 years, 6 months, 1 day
1991Judit Polgár15 years, 4 months, 28 days
1994Péter Lékó14 years, 4 months, 22 days
1997Étienne Bacrot14 years, 2 months, 0 days
1997Ruslan Ponomariov14 years, 0 months, 17 days
1999Bu Xiangzhi13 years, 10 months, 13 days
2002Sergey Karjakin12 years, 7 months, 0 days

This is a list of the players who became Grandmasters before their 15th birthday.
PlayerCountryAgeBirth year
Sergey Karjakin12 years, 7 months, 0 days1990
Gukesh D12 years, 7 months, 17 days2006
Javokhir Sindarov12 years, 10 months, 5 days2005
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu12 years, 10 months, 13 days2005
Nodirbek Abdusattorov13 years, 1 month, 11 days2004
Parimarjan Negi13 years, 4 months, 22 days1993
Magnus Carlsen13 years, 4 months, 27 days1990
Wei Yi13 years, 8 months, 23 days1999
Raunak Sadhwani13 years, 9 months, 28 days2005
Bu Xiangzhi13 years, 10 months, 13 days1985
Samuel Sevian13 years, 10 months, 27 days2000
Richárd Rapport13 years, 11 months, 6 days1996
Teimour Radjabov14 years, 0 months, 14 days1987
Ruslan Ponomariov14 years, 0 months, 17 days1983
Nihal Sarin14 years, 1 month, 1 day2004
Awonder Liang14 years, 1 month, 20 days2003
Wesley So14 years, 1 month, 28 days1993
Étienne Bacrot14 years, 2 months, 0 days1983
Illya Nyzhnyk14 years, 3 months, 2 days1996
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave14 years, 4 months, 6 days1990
Péter Lékó14 years, 4 months, 22 days1979
Jorge Cori14 years, 5 months, 15 days1995
Hou Yifan14 years, 6 months, 16 days1994
Jeffery Xiong14 years, 6 months, 25 days2000
Anish Giri14 years, 7 months, 2 days1994
Yuriy Kuzubov14 years, 7 months, 12 days1990
Bogdan-Daniel Deac14 years, 7 months, 27 days2001
Dariusz Świercz14 years, 7 months, 29 days1994
Alireza Firouzja14 years, 8 months, 2 days2003
Aryan Chopra14 years, 9 months, 3 days2001
Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn14 years, 9 months, 22 days1990
Kirill Shevchenko14 years, 9 months, 23 days2002
Vincent Keymer14 years, 11 months, 4 days2004
Arjun Erigaisi14 years, 11 months, 13 days2003
Daniil Dubov14 years, 11 months, 14 days1996
Ray Robson14 years, 11 months, 16 days1994
Fabiano Caruana14 years, 11 months, 20 days1992
Yu Yangyi14 years, 11 months, 23 days1994

Here are the holders of the record for the youngest ever female to become a grandmaster :
YearPlayerCountryAge
1978Nona Gaprindashvili37 years
1984Maia Chiburdanidze23 years
1991Susan Polgar21 years
1991Judit Polgár15 years, 4 months
2002Humpy Koneru15 years 1 month
2008Hou Yifan14 years, 6 months