ImportMaster at 00:44, 18 March 2022

2022-03-18T00:44:00Z

New page

{{Short description|Child who can beat an adult at chess}}
[[Image:ReshevskyChild.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Eleven-year-old [[Samuel Reshevsky|Sammy Reshevsky]], New York 1922]]
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 [[Child prodigy|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 Championship|World Chess Champion]].

==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 exhibition]]s at the age of six.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2858|title=Chess prodigies and mini-grandmasters|date=10 January 2006|access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book | author=Saidy, Anthony | author-link=Anthony Saidy | author2=Lessing, Norman | author2-link=Norman Lessing | title=The World of Chess | publisher=William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. | year=1974 | isbn=0-394-48777-X | page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Whyld, Kenneth | title=Guinness Chess, The Records | publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd | year=1986 | isbn= 0851124550 | page=259}}</ref> He played his first international tournament (Madrid 1943) at the age of 11 and went on to become Spain's first [[Grandmaster (chess)|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 control]]s is [[Awonder Liang]], who in 2012 defeated [[Larry Kaufman]] at the Washington International at the age of 9 years and 111 days.<ref>{{cite web|date=10 August 2017|title=Awonder Liang Now World's Youngest Grandmaster|url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/awonder-liang-becomes-youngest-grandmaster-in-the-world|access-date=15 August 2020|work=chess.com}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|last=McClain|first=Dylan Loeb|date=17 January 2009|title=9-Year-Old Defies the Ratings and Defeats a Grandmaster|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/crosswords/chess/18chess.html|access-date=15 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="chess.com" />

===Informal conditions===

In 1999, [[David Howell (chess player)|David Howell]] defeated [[John Nunn]] in a [[blitz chess|blitz]] game at the age of eight.<ref name="chess.com"/>

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">{{cite web|date=31 August 2011|title=9-year-old Hetul Shah (India) youngest ever to beat a GM|url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/9-year-old-hetul-shah-india-youngest-ever-to-beat-a-gm|access-date=15 August 2020|work=Chess.com}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Angie |author-link1= |last2= |first2= |author-link2= |last3= |first3= |author-link3= |last4= |first4= |author-link4= |last5= |first5= |author-link5= |display-authors= |author-mask= |name-list-style= |date= |year= |orig-year= |title=news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-57187522 |publisher=www.[[bbc.co.uk]] |publication-date=22 May 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210522215250/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-57187522 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |via=[[archive.today]] |url-access= |quote= |ref=191-0283 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lichess.org/hih64XAF|title = Rapid Chess • FREDERICKtheMATE vs GM BogdanLalic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lichess.org/swiss/ILOHq9MS|title = ECF Grand Prix Rapid Event 1 by ECF Online Rapid Grand Prix Series 2021: Standard 10+5 #ILOHq9MS}}</ref>

==List of youngest grandmasters==

Since 1950, when the [[Grandmaster (chess)|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 [[Norm (chess)#Grandmaster norm|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.

{| class="wikitable"
|+List of youngest grandmasters since 1950
!Year !!Player !!Country !!Age
|-
|-
| 1950 || [[David Bronstein]] || {{URS}} || 26 years
|-
| 1952 || [[Tigran Petrosian]] || {{URS}} || 23 years
|-
| 1955 || [[Boris Spassky]] || {{URS}} || 18 years
|-
| 1958 || [[Bobby Fischer]] || {{USA}} || 15 years, 6 months, 1 day
|-
| 1991 || [[Judit Polgár]] || {{HUN}} || 15 years, 4 months, 28 days
|-
| 1994 || [[Péter Lékó]] || {{HUN}} || 14 years, 4 months, 22 days
|-
| 1997 || [[Étienne Bacrot]] || {{FRA}} || 14 years, 2 months, 0 days
|-
| 1997 || [[Ruslan Ponomariov]] || {{UKR}} || 14 years, 0 months, 17 days
|-
| 1999 || [[Bu Xiangzhi]] || {{CHN}} || 13 years, 10 months, 13 days
|-
| 2002 || [[Sergey Karjakin]] || {{UKR}} || 12 years, 7 months, 0 days
|-
| 2021 || [[Abhimanyu Mishra]] || {{USA}} || 12 years, 4 months, 25 days
|}

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

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Grandmasters younger than 14 years old
!Player !!Country !!Age !!Birth year
|-
| [[Abhimanyu Mishra]] || {{USA}} || 12 years, 4 months, 25 days || 2009
|-
| [[Sergey Karjakin]] || {{UKR}} || 12 years, 7 months, 0 days || 1990
|-
| [[Gukesh D]] || {{IND}} || 12 years, 7 months, 17 days || 2006
|-
| [[Javokhir Sindarov]] || {{UZB}} || 12 years, 10 months, 5 days || 2005
|-
| [[Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu]] || {{IND}} || 12 years, 10 months, 13 days || 2005
|-
| [[Nodirbek Abdusattorov]] || {{UZB}} || 13 years, 1 month, 11 days || 2004
|-
| [[Parimarjan Negi]] || {{IND}} || 13 years, 4 months, 22 days || 1993
|-
| [[Magnus Carlsen]] || {{NOR}} || 13 years, 4 months, 27 days || 1990
|-
| [[Wei Yi]] || {{CHN}} || 13 years, 8 months, 23 days<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8880 Wei Yi has become the youngest GM in the world] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228183844/http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8880 |date=February 28, 2013 }}</ref> || 1999
|-
| [[Raunak Sadhwani]] || {{IND}} || 13 years, 9 months, 28 days<ref name="Raunak">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/raunak-sadhwani-becomes-indias-65th-grandmaster/article29751356.ece |title=Raunak Sadhwani becomes India's 65th Grandmaster|newspaper=The Hindu|date=20 October 2019|last1=Rao|first1=Rakesh}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/raunak-sadhwani-becomes-indias-65th-grandmaster/article29751356.ece |title=Raunak Sadhwani becomes India's 65th Grandmaster|newspaper=The Hindu|date=20 October 2019|last1=Rao|first1=Rakesh}}</ref> || 2005
|-
| [[Bu Xiangzhi]] || {{CHN}} || 13 years, 10 months, 13 days || 1985
|-
| [[Samuel Sevian]] || {{USA}} || 13 years, 10 months, 27 days<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fox2now.com/2014/11/23/youngest-ever-american-chess-grandmaster-crowned-in-st-louis/|title=Youngest-ever American Chess Grandmaster crowned in St. Louis|date=23 November 2014|access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref> || 2000
|-
| [[Richárd Rapport]] || {{HUN}} || 13 years, 11 months, 6 days<ref>{{cite web|url=http://players.chessdom.com/richard-rapport-gotth-art-kupa|title=Richard Rapport Becomes Hungary's Youngest Grandmaster - Chessdom|website=players.chessdom.com|access-date=8 August 2017|archive-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728003532/http://players.chessdom.com/richard-rapport-gotth-art-kupa|url-status=dead}}</ref> || 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):

{| class="wikitable"
|+Youngest female grandmasters
!Year !!Player !!Country !!Age
|-
|-
| 1978 || [[Nona Gaprindashvili]] || {{URS}} || 37 years
|-
| 1984 || [[Maia Chiburdanidze]] || {{URS}} || 23 years
|-
| 1991 || [[Susan Polgar]] || {{HUN}} || 21 years
|-
| 1991 || [[Judit Polgár]] || {{HUN}} || 15 years, 4 months
|-
| 2002 || [[Humpy Koneru]] || {{IND}} || 15 years 1 month
|-
| 2008 || [[Hou Yifan]] || {{CHN}} || 14 years, 6 months<ref>[http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3263-wccc-nalchik-2008-and-now-there-were-just-four WWCC - Nalchik 2008 - and now there are just four!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913000643/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3263-wccc-nalchik-2008-and-now-there-were-just-four |date=2008-09-13 }}, [[FIDE]] web site, September 9, 2008</ref>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{portal|Chess}}
* [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20161219180343/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/prodigies.html Chess Prodigies] (2005, updated in 2006 and 2007)
* [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2858 Chessbase news about young Grandmasters]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141021235726/http://www.demotix.com/news/2009917/3-years-old-girl-became-youngest-chess-player-set-world-record Youngest Chess Player in India Set World Record]
* [http://www.worldrecordsindia.com/2013/05/youngest-player-in-chess-tournament/ Smallest Chess Player Chess Tournament Set World Record]

{{Chess}}

[[Category:Chess players|*]]
[[Category:Chess terminology|prodigy]]
[[Category:Giftedness]]
[[Category:Childhood]]
[[Category:Intelligence]]

Chess prodigy - Revision history

ImportMaster at 00:44, 18 March 2022