Young Sammy Reshevsky

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. This article is about the Western board game. ... The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... Wunderkind redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

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. Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, was an American chess player. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) was a Cuban world-class chess player in the early to mid-twentieth century. ... Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków, (then German Empire, today Poland) - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster. ... A simultaneous exhibition (often abbreviated to simul) is an event where chess masters play multiple chess games at a time with selected players (usually below master strength). ...

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). The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ...

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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Year	Player	Country	Age
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	Etienne 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 to become Grandmasters before their fifteenth birthday: Tigran Petrosian (Armenian: ) (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a former World Chess Champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij) (Russian: ) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian-French chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who became famous as a teenager for his chess-playing ability, and in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Péter Lékó Péter Lékó (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Etienne Bacrot (born January 22, 1983) is a French chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukrainian: ; Russian: ) (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE world champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Bu Xiangzhi is a Chinese chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... Sergey Karjakin (Ukrainian: Сергій Карякін; Russian: Сергей Карякин) (born January 12, 1990 in Kramatorsk) of Ukraine became the youngest chess grandmaster in history at the age of 12 years and 7 months. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ...

Player	Country	Age
Sergey Karjakin	Ukraine	12 years, 7 months, 0 days
Parimarjan Negi	India	13 years, 4 months, 22 days
Magnus Carlsen	Norway	13 years, 4 months, 27 days
Bu Xiangzhi	China	13 years, 10 months, 13 days
Teimour Radjabov	Azerbaijan	14 years, 0 months, 14 days
Ruslan Ponomariov	Ukraine	14 years, 0 months, 17 days
Wesley So	Philippines	14 years, 1 month, 28 days [1]
Etienne Bacrot	France	14 years, 2 months, 0 days
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	France	14 years, 4 months [2]
Péter Lékó	Hungary	14 years, 4 months, 22 days
Yuriy Kuzubov	Ukraine	14 years, 7 months, 12 days [3]
Mark Paragua	Philippines	14 years, 8 months,[4]
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	Vietnam	14 years, 10 months
Fabiano Caruana	Italy	14 years, 11 months, 10 days [5]

The youngest ever female to become a grandmaster (not to be confused with the lesser Woman Grandmaster title) is Koneru Humpy, who achieved the title at 15 years, 1 month, 27 days.^[2] Sergey Karjakin (Ukrainian: Сергій Карякін; Russian: Сергей Карякин) (born January 12, 1990 in Kramatorsk) of Ukraine became the youngest chess grandmaster in history at the age of 12 years and 7 months. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Parimarjan Negi (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Magnus Øen Carlsen (born November 30, 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster who came to international attention after winning the C group of the Corus Chess Tournament in January 2004 at the age of thirteen, and winning the B group of the same tournament two years later at 15. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Bu Xiangzhi is a Chinese chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... Teimour Radjabov, also spelled Teymur Rajabov, (Azerbaijani: Teymur Rəcəbov; born March 12, 1987 in Baku, Azerbaijan) is a leading chess player from Azerbaijan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ... Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukrainian: ; Russian: ) (born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE world champion. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Wesley So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino GM-titled chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Philippines. ... Etienne Bacrot (born January 22, 1983) is a French chess grandmaster. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (b. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Péter Lékó Péter Lékó (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Yuriy Kuzubov (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ukraine. ... Mark Callano Paragua (born March 29, 1984) is a Filipino chess Grandmaster. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Philippines. ... Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son is a leading Vietnamese chess player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Vietnam. ... Fabiano Caruana (born July 30, 1992 in Miami, Florida) is a 14 year old chess prodigy with dual citizenships - United States and Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Woman Grandmaster (WGM) is the highest-ranking chess title restricted to women aside from Womens World Champion. ... Humpy Koneru (born 31 March 1987 in Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh) is a chess grandmaster from India. ...

References

External links

• Chessbase news about young Grandmasters