Chess prodigies are children who play chess so well that they are able to beat Masters and even Grandmasters, often at a very young age. Chess is one of the few sports where children can compete with adults on equal ground; it is thus one of the few skills in which true child prodigies exist. Expectations can be high for chess prodigies; while some become World Champions, others fail to make progress in adulthood.
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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 World Champion, and Reshevsky—while never attaining the title—was in the top few players in the world for many years.
List of youngest grandmasters
One measure of chess prodigies is the age at which they gain the International Grandmaster title. It should be noted that this title has only existed since 1950, and also that the title has become less difficult to obtain in recent years (see International Grandmaster Title inflation).
Nevertheless, there have been more strong prodigies in recent years. This is mostly because of technology, with computers making it possible to learn and train faster, and both lower travel costs and the Internet making it possible to train and play against foreign players and to play in strong tournaments abroad.[citation needed]
Record holders
Below are players who have held the record for youngest grandmaster. The age listed is the age on 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. All players are listed by their nationality at the time of gaining the title, not their current or later nationality.
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Year Player Country Age 1950 David Bronstein 
Soviet Union26 years 1952 Tigran Petrosian Soviet Union23 years 1955 Boris Spassky Soviet Union18 years 1958 Bobby Fischer 
United States15 years, 6 months, 1 day 1991 Judit Polgár 
Hungary15 years, 4 months, 28 days 1994 Péter Lékó Hungary14 years, 4 months, 22 days 1997 Etienne Bacrot 
France14 years, 2 months, 0 days 1997 Ruslan Ponomariov 
Ukraine14 years, 0 months, 17 days 1999 Bu Xiangzhi 
China13 years, 10 months, 13 days 2002 Sergey Karjakin Ukraine12 years, 7 months, 0 days
This is a list of the players to become Grandmasters before their fifteenth birthday:
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No. Player Country Age 1. Sergey Karjakin Ukraine12 years, 7 months, 0 days 2. Parimarjan Negi 
India13 years, 4 months, 22 days 3. Magnus Carlsen 
Norway13 years, 4 months, 27 days 4. Bu Xiangzhi China13 years, 10 months, 13 days 5. Teimour Radjabov 
Azerbaijan14 years, 0 months, 14 days 6. Ruslan Ponomariov Ukraine14 years, 0 months, 17 days 7. Wesley So 
Philippines14 years, 1 month, 28 days [1] 8. Etienne Bacrot France14 years, 2 months, 0 days 9. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France14 years, 4 months [2] 10. Péter Lékó Hungary14 years, 4 months, 22 days 11. Hou Yifan China14 years, 6 months, 16 days[2] 12. Anish Giri 
Russia14 years, 7 months, 2 days [3] 13. Yuriy Kuzubov Ukraine14 years, 7 months, 12 days [4] 14. Dariusz Swiercz 
Poland14 years, 7 months, 29 days 15. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 
Vietnam14 years, 10 months 16. Fabiano Caruana 
Italy14 years, 11 months, 10 days [5] 17. Ray Robson United States14 years, 11 months, 16 days [6]
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):
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Year Player Country Age 1978 Nona Gaprindashvili Soviet Union27 years 1984 Maia Chiburdanidze Soviet Union23 years 1991 Susan Polgar Hungary21 years 1991 Judit Polgár Hungary15 years, 4 months 2002 Koneru Humpy India15 years 1 month 2008 Hou Yifan China14 years, 6 months[3]
References
- ^ Chessbase: "Chess Prodigies and Mini-Grandmasters"
- ^ 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).
- ^ WWCC - Nalchik 2008 - and now there are just four!, FIDE web site, September 9 2008
External links
- Edward Winter, Chess Prodigies (2005, updated in 2006 and 2007)
- Chessbase news about young Grandmasters
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