The 12-year-old Turkish chess genius IM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has become the youngest grandmaster in history, making history a record four times as young as he did. On Monday, he won his third grandmaster norm in Germany; his title is awaiting FIDE certification. Additionally, Erdogmus is about to shatter a 35-year-old rating record.
The GRENKE Chess Open was won by GM Hans Niemann with some ease, but a 12-year-old kid stole the show and proved why he is currently one of the top talents in the chess world.
Erodogmus, who received seven points from the nine rounds, placed twenty-first in the competition. Against world number nine, GM Arjun Erigaisi, he won six games, drew twice, and only lost once.
Erdogmus now has an average rating of 2553, an increase of 13 rating points. He is getting close to the record 2555 rating, set by General Manager Judit Polgar when he was 12 years old in 1989—the highest rating ever for a player under 13. The Menorca Open, which got underway on the Spanish island on Tuesday, might see the Turkish youngster break his record the following week.
More significantly, he achieved his third and last grandmaster norm, making him the 16th grandmaster from Turkey. “Yagiz has a hobby that he likes,” his father stated in a statement. He isn’t paying attention to the rest; he is just having fun.”
Erdogmus, who is 12 years, 9 months, and 29 days old, will become the youngest grandmaster ever, the fourth youngest in history, and just the sixth to hold the title before turning 13. In Germany’s fifth round, he unexpectedly faced the youngest, GM Abhimanyu Mishra. It took 25 moves to draw the game.
The world’s youngest grandmaster was formerly 14-year-old Ukrainian GM Ihor Samunenkov, but in February, 13-year-old American phenom IM Andy Woodward met all the qualifications to take the title.
In the history of chess, only three players have won the championship at a younger age.
The 10 youngest grandmasters in history:
recent research that indicated grandmasters are becoming title holders earlier than before. Former world championship challenger and author of “The Pandemic Effect,” GM Peter Leko, characterized the pattern as follows:
Between 1975 and 1979, the average age of players who won the most famous chess title was 30, while between 2020 and 2024, it fell to 22.8. In 1977, the average age of a new GM was 32.8 years old. In 2021, more than forty years later, the average age has decreased to a record low of 20.9.
Erdogmus will be a factor in the average going even lower. In the last four months, he achieved three grandmaster levels. The first one broke through the 2500 rating barrier for the first time at the Chessable Sunway Sitges Chess Festival in December. Less than two months later, he followed up by winning the Jeddah Youth Chess Festival and earning his second norm along the way.
Erdogmus needed just a draw to win the German championship against FM Marian Can Nothnagel (2381) in the final round, but he took advantage of a blunder on move 21 to win the match anyway.
Erdogmus has long been known as a gifted player, and in 2021, when he began playing for fun following the COVID-19 pandemic, he experienced a stunning rise much like many other geniuses. His rating shot up to 2456 in less than a year from 1955. He became the youngest international master in Turkey’s history shortly after earning his IM title.
He won the ChessKid Youth Chess Championship in 2022. FM Head of ChessKid Content & Scholastic Growth, Mike “FunMaster” Klein, said:
When Yagiz prevailed in 2022, he became the most powerful player in the event’s history. Not even Magnus Carlsen had such a low losing rate during the SCC. Additionally, I thought he and his family were humble. I thought it was great that they let Yagiz earn the record on his schedule rather than trying to break the record.
An “unbelievable worker” with a very high emotional intelligence, Erdogdu calls his gifted student. “That most likely helps him to understand other players during his games,” he stated.
“In my opinion, he is the greatest player I have ever seen, and he is unsurpassed in that sense. Additionally, he has an excellent sense of dynamic positions. If you make even one mistake, he will punish you.”
He also discussed the training program in detail:
Almost all of our free time is spent at work. He normally leaves for school on weekdays, and when he gets back, we work until 11 or 12 p.m. We both work harder and are usually free on the weekends, so things get stressful. Although we have been practicing middlegame a lot together, these days we are mostly focused on openings. We do not overlook the endgames, of course, but in the majority of them, he is aware of what is necessary. I have to admit that it is somewhat challenging to plan lessons for him because he can complete even the trickiest activities quickly.”