Chess prodigies

Chess Prodigies and Young Masters Chess prodigies are children who play chess so well that they are able to beat experienced adult players. They are usually master strength at an early age. Most prodigies and chess masters become masters by learning the game of chess at an early age. Seldom does a player become a master after learning the game later in life. There are a few exceptions. However, most strong masters began at a very early age. Hou Yifan (born Feb 27, 1994) learned chess at the age of three. She started taking chess lessons at the age of five. At age 9, she became a Woman FIDE master. At age 11, she qualified for the World Women’s Chess Championship. At age 13, she became China’s youngest ever women’s national champion. She became a GM at the age of 14 years, 6 months, the youngest ever. Former world champion Jose Capablanca (1888-1942) began to play chess at the age of four. He wrote that he learned chess by watching his father play when he had just passed his fourth birthday. He even beat his father in his first game at age four. At 13, he beat the Cuban chess champion in a match. At 18, he was recognized as the strongest chess player at the Manhattan Chess Club. He left Columbia University after one semester to devote himself to chess full time. Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) learned how to play chess at age four. In a few years, he was acclaimed as a chess prodigy. At age six he was giving simultaneous exhibitions throughout Europe. The family moved to the United States where Reshesvsky continued to give simuls around the United States. At age 10, he played in the New York Masters tournament, the youngest player to have competed in a strong, master tournament. He gave up competitive chess for 7 years to finish his education. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in accounting. Etienne Bacrot (born Jan 22, 1983) started playing chess at the age of four. At age 10, he won the Junior-Under 18 championship of France. Bacrot was also the youngest FIDE master at age 10. He became a GM at the age of 14 years, 2 months. Former world champion Anatoly Karpov (born May 23, 1951) was taught the moves of chess when he was four years old. By age 15 he was a master and later won the World Junior Championship. He became the world’s youngest grandmaster in 1970 at the age of 19. The Polgar (Susan, Sofia, and Judit) sisters began playing chess at age four. Judit Polgar was playing blindfold chess at the age of five. She was playing in chess tournament at the age of 6. At age 9, she was rated 2080. She beat her first International Master at age 10. She beat her first Grandmaster at age 11. She became a GM at age 15. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. She was once ranked #8 in the world and has been #1 ranked woman in the world for the past 20 years. Former world champion Boris Spassky (born Jan 30, 1937) learned the game in the Urals at the age of five during World War II. After the war he joined the Pioneer Palace in Leningrad and spent five hours a day every day on chess. In college he took up journalism to give him the most time for chess. By age 18 he had won the World Junior Championship, took 3rd place in the USSR Championship, and qualified as a Candidate for the World championship. Former world woman champion Nona Gaprindashvili (born May 3, 1941) learned at age five after watching her five chess-playing brothers. She won the world’s women chess championship when she was 21. She was the first female Grandmaster. Alexanda Kosteniuk (born April 23, 1984) learned to play chess at five after being taught be her father. She became a women’s grandmaster (WGM) at age 14. She was an International Master at 16. She was the Challenger in the World Women’s Championship when she was 17. At 20, she was awarded the GM title. At 21, she was the Russian Women’s Champion. At 22, she was the Chess960 Women’s World Champion. At 24, she was women’s world champion. Koneru Humpy (born March 31, 1987) started playing chess at the age of five. She has won four World Championships, including the World Girls Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, and the World Girls Junior championships. She became a GM at the age of 15 years, 1 month, the youngest female to become a GM up to that time. Former world champion Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) began playing at the age of six, taught by his older sister and reading the rules that came with the game. He played in his first chess tournament at the age of 12. He became a master at age 13, US champion at 14, world’s youngest candidate for the world championship at 15, and world’s youngest grandmaster at 16. Former world champion Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010) learned the game at six by studying chess books in his father’s library. He started playing competitive chess at age 14. At 17, he won the USSR Junior Championship. Bent Larsen (1935-2010) learned the moves at age six. He started playing chess seriously at the age of 17. He gave up his civil engineering studies in school to become a full-time chess professional. He became an International Master at the age of 19. He became a GM at age 21. Wesley So (born Oct 9, 1993) learned chess from his father at the age of six. He was playing competitive chess at the age of 9. He won the under-9 Philippine championship. At the age of 12, he was the youngest player in the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Also at the age of 12, he won the Philippine championship, the youngest ever. At age 13, he won the gold medal on board one at the 2007 World Under 16 Team Championship, with nine wins and one draw. He became a GM at the age of 14 years, 1 month, and 28 days. Paul Morphy (1837-1884) seemed to have learned chess around age seven while watching others play. He was able to read and write at the age of four. By age 8 or 9, he was one of the best chess players in New Orleans and had already played hundreds of chess games. He was playing blindfold chess at the age of 12. When he was 12, he was able to beat Hungarian master Johann Jacob Lowenthal in a match. By the time he was 13, he was the best player in New Orleans and one of the best players in America. He entered college at 13 and graduated with a Bachelor Arts degree at the age of 17. He then entered law school at the University of Louisiana and earned his law degree at age 20. At age 20, he won the first American Chess Congress and was considered the strongest chess player in America. By age 21, he was considered the best chess player in the world. Former world champion Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) learned chess at age seven by his mother, an heiress of an industrial fortune. He became addicted to the game and played the game in his head and by the light of a candle when in bed. By age 18 he was grandmaster strength. Magnus Carlsen (born Nov 30, 1990) learned chess at age seven and played in his first chess tournament at age eight. At age 13, he earned his first Grandmaster norm and achieved a performance rating of 2702. He became the 3rd youngest grandmaster in the world at the age of 13 years, 4 months, 27 days. Carlsen, at age 13, was the youngest player ever to participate in the World Chess Championship. At age 15, his rating was 2625, the youngest person to break the 2600 barrier at that time (record later beaten by Wesley So). At the age of 16, his rating was 2710, which made Carlsen the youngest person to break the 2700 barrier. At age 19, his rating was 2813, the second highest rating ever (behind Kasparov). By age 20, he was ranked #1 in the world. His current rating is 2835 and ranked #1 in the world. Former world champion Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984) learned the moves at age eight. When his parents died when he was 16, he found consolation in chess and soon began to win tournaments. He was playing grandmaster strength by age 20. Former world champion Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) became interested in chess at age eight after watching the game played by patients in the waiting room of his father, a doctor specializing in internal disorders. At age 10 he joined the Riga Palace of Young Pioneers. He won the Latvian championship at age 17. Former world champion Max Euwe (1901-1981) learned at age nine and was taught by his parents. He remained an amateur chessplayer, with his real profession being a professor of mathematics and mechanics. He won his first Dutch championship at age 20. He won the Dutch championship a record 12 times. Former world champion Emanuel Lasker (1868-1841) began to play at the age of 11. His older brother taught him the moves of chess. Emanael became a German master at the age of 21. Former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995) learned the game at age 12 from a school friend. At 14, he beat Capablanca in a simultaneous exhibiton. At 15, he became a candidate-master (equivalent to master in the U.S.). At 16, he qualified for the USSR championship, the youngest player to qualify at that time. Former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) learned how to play chess at age 12 from school friends. He did not start playing seriously until his early 20s and he became quite good at blindfold chess. At age 22, he was a chess hustler in the cafes of Vienna. By age 25, he was champion of Vienna. Six-time U.S. champion Walter Browne (born Jan 10, 1949) learned the game at 13 after joining the Manhattan Chess Club. At 17, he was US Junior champion. By age 20, he had the Grandmaster title. Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841-1924), the leading English player of the late 19th century, didn’t learn the chess moves until he was 18. He learned the game from a two-pence chess book. Two years later he was giving blindfold simultaneous exhibitions. At age 26, he was British champion. Howard Staunton (1810-1874), the world’s leading player in the 1840s, took up chess at age 19 and didn’t become a serious player until age 26. Mir Sultan Khan didn’t learn the international game of chess (he knew Indian chess) until age 21. Two years later he was the All-India champion. A year later he won the British championship. He was illiterate, unable to read or write, and never studied any book on the game. Jordy Mont-Reynaud and Vinay Bhat starting playing chess, joined a chess club (the Palo Alto Chess Club run and coached by Bill Wall), and played in rated tournaments at age 7. By the time they were 10, they both became America’s youngest masters. Vinay Bhat became America’s youngest master in 1995 at the age of 10 years, 176 days. Jordy was a master in 1994 at the age of 10 years, 209 days. Other young masters include Stewart Rachels at 11 years, 10 months; Ilya Gurevich at 12 years, 3 months; John Jarecki at 12 years, 6 months; Jon Litvinchuk at 12 years, 7 months. In 1998 Hikaru Nakamura (born Dec 9, 1987) became America’s youngest master at that time at 10 years, 79 days. In 2001 he became America’s youngest International Master at age 13. In 2003, he became America’s youngest-ever grandmaster (15 years, 2 months). In 2004, he won the US Championship, the youngest since Fischer. In 2008, Nicholas Nip (born March 10, 1998) from the Bay Area became the youngest USCF Master at the age of nine years, 11 months and 26 days. In 2010, Damuel Sevian (born Dec 26, 2000), became the youngest USCF master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 23 days. In January 2010, at the age of 9, he had a FIDE rating od 2119, the highest rated chess player in the world for his age. Sevian currently holds the record of America’s youngest master. The first list of grandmasters appeared in 1950, published by FIDE. There were 27 chess players nominated as the first grandmasters. The youngest GM on the list was David Bronstein, age 26. In 1955 Boris Spassky became the youngest GM in the world at age 18. In 1958, Bobby Fischer became the youngest GM in the world at age 15 years, 6 months, 1 day. In 1991, Judit Polgar became a GM at 15 years, 4 months, and 28 days. In 1994, Peter Leko became a GM at the age of 14 years, 4 months, 22 days. In 1997, Etienne Bacrot and Ruslan Ponomariov became GMS at 14. Bacrot was the youngest FIDE master at age 10. Bacrot was 14 years, 2 months when he earned the GM title. Ponomariov was 14 years, 17 days when he earned the GM title. Teimour Radjabov became a GM at 14 years, 14 days. In 1999, Bu Xiangzhi became a GM at 13 years, 10 months and 13 days. In 2006, Parimarjan Negi (born February 9, 1993) became a GM at 13 years, 4 months, and 22 days. In 2002, Sergey Karjakin (born Jan 12, 1990) became a GM at 12 years and 7 months. Also in 2002, Koneru Humpy became a GM at the age of 15 years, 1 month, and 27 days, making her the youngest female ever to become a Grandmaster up to that time. In 2008, Hou Yifan became a GM at the age of 14 years, 6 months, the youngest ever for a female. In 1999 David Howell, age 8, defeated Grandmaster John Nunn at the Mind Sports Chess Olympiad in London, becoming the youngest person to beat a Grandmaster at chess. In 2002 Fabiano Caruana, age 10, defeated GM Wojtkiewicz at the Marshall Chess Club in New York, becoming the youngest player to defeat a GM in the United States. He became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share! inShare 2 Comments