Chess Prodigies

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. But why are some kids so good at chess and how did they manage to accelerate their chess playing skills? It is difficult to determine if it is cultural, biological, or environmental. And with strong chess engines and computers today, along with the Internet, it seems that chess prodigies are getting stronger and younger. Today’s chess prodigies are capable of competing in national and world championship events in just a few years as a junior, competing on equal footing with experienced grandmasters.

Here are some of the prodigies in chess.

Michael Adams (born Nov 17, 1971) learned chess at age 6. At age 10, he won the British National Primary School Championship. He also won the British Under-11 Championship. At age 12, he drew a simul game against Garry Kasparov. His first FIDE rating was 2360 when he was 14. At age 14, he was British Under-21 champion. In 1987, he took 2^nd place in the World Under-16 championship. At age 15, he was awarded the International Master title, the world youngest IM at the time. He earned his first GM norm at age 16. In 1989, he was awarded the GM title at age 17. He was British Chess Champion at age 17.

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. He was playing correspondence game at age 10. By age 12, he could play chess blindfolded. At age 13, he won a Correspondence Gambit tournament. At the age of 14, he won the Moscow Chess Club Spring Tournament for first category players. At age 16, he won the All Russian Amateur tournament (he was the youngest player in the event) and became a Russian national master. By age 17, he was playing as many as 22 boards simultaneously. By age 18 he was grandmaster strength and played board 1 for the Moscow Chess Club. At 19, he won the Nordic Masters Congress.

Vishwanathan Anand (born Dec 11, 1969) was taught chess by his mother at an early age. At the age of 14, he won the India National Junior Championship with a perfect 9 out of 9 score. At 15, he became the youngest Indian International Master. At age 16, he won the championship of India. At age 17, he won the World Junior Chess Championship. At age 18, he became India’s first GM.

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. At 13, he beat former world champion Vasily Smyslov. In march 1997, he became a GM at the age of 14 years, 2 months, the youngest to that date.

Vinay Bhat (born June 4, 1984) learned chess at the age of 6. He was an active tournament player in Silicon Valley at an early age. At age 8, he tied for 1^st with Jordy Mont-Reynaud in the California Primary (K-3) State Championship. He became America's youngest master in 1995 at the age of 10 years, 176 days. At age 11, he tied for 2^nd at the Under-12 World Youth Championship, won by Bacrot. At age 13, he tied for 1^st at the US Cadet (Under-16) championship. At the age of 15 years and 10 months, he became an International Master, at the time the youngest IM in the US. He won the California High School Championship 4 times. He earned his third GM norm at age 23.

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.

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 and won the championship of Australia. He would later go on to win the US championship 6 times.

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.

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 3^rd 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.

In 2002 Fabiano Caruana (born July 30, 1992) learned how to play chess at age 5. At 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, the youngest ever from the United States and Italy (he has dual citizenship).

Maia Chiburdanidze (born Jan 17, 1961) learned chess at age 8. At age 15, she was USSR girls’ champion. At age 16, she was USSR women’s champion and was awarded the Women’s Grandmaster title. She became world women’s champion at the age of 17. She became a GM at age 23.

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.

Jessica Gilbert (1987-2006) was a British chess prodigy. She learned chess at age 8. She represented England in every major chess championship from the age of 12. At age 12, she won the Women’s World Amateur Chess Championship, the youngest player ever to have done so. At age 12, she became a woman’s FIDE master, the youngest ever. At 13, she won the bronze medal in the European Girls’ Under-14 championship. In 2006, she fell from the 8^th floor of a hotel in the Czech Republic, where she was playing at the Czech Open.

Anish Giri (born June 28, 1994) won the Under-12 Russian championship. He is the youngest player ever to play in the German Bundesliga premier chess league. He became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days. He is the youngest GM ever from the USSR/Russia and the Netherlands. At 15, he won the Dutch championship, the youngest player to ever win. He speaks Russia, English, Dutch, Japanese, Nepalese, and German.

Sahaj Grover (born Sep 7, 1995) learned chess from his father at age 3. At age 5, he played in the British Under-8 championship, the youngest participant. He won the World Under-10 championship in 2005.

Jutta Hempel (born Sep 27, 1960) was a German chess prodigy. At age 3, she could watch a game of chess and replay it from memory. At the age of 4, she was playing competitively in Germany. On her 6^th birthday, she played 12 people at once in a simultaneous exhibition, winning 9, drawing 1, and losing 2 games. At age 7, she could play 6 games simultaneously blindfolded and was a strong blitz player. She played her last competitive tournament at age 18, when she won the Flensburg Lightning Tournament without loss of a game.

Robert Hess (born Dec 19, 1991) won the 2006 U.S. Junior Championship at the age of 14. At age 15, he was an International Master. He achieved his first GM norm at age 16. He became a GM at the age of 17. In 2009, at the age of 17, he tied for 2^nd place in the US Chess Championship, losing only to eventual winner Hikaru Nakamura.

David Howell (born Nov 14, 1990) started playing chess at age 5. He was British Under-8, Under-9, and Under-10 Champion. At age 8, he defeated Grandmaster John Nunn in a blitz game at the Mind Sports Chess Olympiad in London, becoming the youngest person to beat a Grandmaster at chess. He took part in the British championship at the age of 9, the youngest player in the world to compete in a national championship. At age 11, he tied for 1^st in the European Under-12 championship. He tied for 2^nd in the World Under-12 championship. At age 12, he became the youngest British player to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess. At the age of 16, he became the youngest ever British GM.

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. At the age of 14, she won the British Ladies’ championship. At 14, she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship. She became a GM at the age of 15 years, 1 month and 27 days, the youngest female to become a GM up to that time. From 2002 through 2008, she was the youngest women ever to become a grandmaster. At 22, she was the 2^nd highest rated woman in the world, behind Judit Polgar.

K.K. Karanja (born Nov 23, 1973) is considered the first African-American chess prodigy. He became a USCF expert at the age of 10, the youngest African-American to do so. At age 11, he won the National Elementary Championship with a perect 7-0 score. He was the first African-American to win a national scholastic title. In 1988, he drew a simul game against world champion Garry Kasparov. He became a chess master at age 15.

Sergey Karjakin (born Jan 12, 1990) learned to play chess at age 5. At age 11, he won the World Under-12 championship. He holds the record for both the youngest International Master (11 years and 11 months), and youngest GM (12 years and 7 months) in history.

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.

Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963) learned chess at age 6. At age 12, he won the USSR Under-18 championship, the youngest ever. He repeated the feat at age 13, winning 8.5 out of 9. At age 14, he became a master. At age 15, his first FIDE rating was 2500. In 1978, at the age of 15, he qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship, the youngest ever player to do so. He became a GM at the age of 17. At age 17, he won the World Junior Championship. At 18, and again at 19, he won the USSR championship. He became the youngest world chess champion at the time at the age of 22 years and 210 days on November 9, 1985.

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.

Irina Krush (born Dec 24, 1983) learned chess at age 5. At the age of 9, she beat her first chess master. She played in the US Women’s championship at the age of 11. At age 12, she became a master. At age 13, she tied for 1^st in the World Junior championship for girls. At age 14, she won the US Women’s championship, the youngest ever. At 16, she was awarded the International Master title. She has won the US women’s championship four times.

Peter Leko (born Sep 8, 1979) became an International Master at age 13. He became a GM at the age of 14, the youngest at the time. At age 15, he won the World Under-16 championship.

Awonder Liang (born 2003) won the world Under-8 championship. He became a master at the age of 8 years, 118 days. He is the highest rated 9-year-old in the USCF.

Luke McShane (born Jan 7, 1984) won the World Under-10 championship at the age of 8. He played in the British Championship at the age of 11. At 16, he became the youngest ever British GM at the time.

Henrique Mecking (born Jan 22, 1952) learned chess at the age of 6. He won his state championship at the age of 11. He won his first Brazilian championship at the age of 13. He won it again at the age of 15. At age 14, he tied for 1^st in the South American championship. At 15, he played in the Sousse Interzonal and won the Sousse speed championship. At 19, he was a GM.

Kamil Miton (born April 12, 1984) won the world Under-12 championship in 1996.

Marcus Miyasaka (born 2002), at age 9, went 7 out of 7 in the U.S. Chess Championship tournament for his age group.

Jordy Mont-Reynaud (born August 16, 1983) started playing chess at age 6. He was first coached by Bill Wall. He was the national Primary K-3 Champion and the national Primary K-8 champion. At age 9, he took the bronze in the World Under-10 championship. He was a master in 1994 at the age of 10 years, 209 days, the youngest in the USA at the time. At age 15, he was the US Cadet (Under-16) champion.

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.

Niaz Murshed (born May 13, 1966) tied for 1^st in the championship of Bangladesh at the age of 12. He won the next four national championships at 13, 14, 15, and 16 years of age. At 15, he tied for 1^st in the Asian Junior championship. He became a GM at age 20.

In 1998 Hikaru Nakamura (born Dec 9, 1987) became America's youngest master 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. He is the 2012 US chess champion and ranked 8^th in the world.

Panimarjan Negi (born Feb 9, 1993) became the second youngest GM ever when, in 2006, he became a GM at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 22 days. He is India’s youngest GM. At age 19, he won the Asian continental chess championship.

Nicholas Nip (born March 10, 1998) became a USCF master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 26 days, the first 9 year old master. At age 10, he played 10 simultaneous games on Live with Regis and Kelly, winning 9 and drawing 1.

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. Susan Polgar became a GM at age 21. Sofia became a strong International Master.

Arturo Pomar (born Sep 1, 1931) was a chess prodigy who won the championship of the Balearic Islands at age 11 and was a master at age 13. At age 13, he drew a game against world champion Alexander Alekhine, becoming the youngest player ever to draw against a reigning world champion.

Stuart Rachels (born Sep 26, 1969) became a master at the age of 11 years and 10 months. He became the youngest chess master in U.S. history and held that record from 1981 to 1994. At age 17, he won the US Junior Individual Championship. At age 20, he tied for 1^st in the US Chess Championship.

Birdie Reeve Kay (Jan 16, 1907 – May 31, 1996) was considered the world’s cleverest girl of her age. She was able to play 10 chess games simultaneously and was considered one of the best women chess players in America. She later became an American champion typist who could type over 200 words, or 800 letters, per minute. She was billed as the “World Fastest Typist.”

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.

Ray Robson (born in Guam on Oct 25, 1994) learned how to play chess at age 3. He played in his first tournament at age 6. At age 9, he defeated his first master in tournament play. At age 10, he was the national champion in the K-6 division of the Nationals. At age 11, he defeated his first GM. At age 12, he qualified for the US Chess Championship, making him the youngest player to participate in this event. At 13, he became the youngest International Master ever in the USA. At 13, he tied for 1^st place in the 2008 Florida championship. At 14, he won the US Junior championship. He became a GM at age 14, younger than Bobby Fischer. By age 17, he was ranked 8^th in the United States and rated 2596 by FIDE.

Ken Rogoff (born March 22, 1953) learned chess at age 6. He was a chess master and New York Open champion at the age of 14. At 18, he was 3^rd in the world Junior championship. He was awarded the International Master title at the age of 21. He became a GM at the age of 25.

Jeff Sarwer (born May 14, 1978) learned chess at the age of 4. At age 6, he was playing at the Manhattan Chess Club. At age 7, he was giving simultaneous exhibitions to as many as 40 players at a time. At age 7, he tied for 1^st in the US Primary School championship. At age 8, won the Under 10 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico. His sister, Julia, won the world champion for girls under 10. His family soon dropped out of sight and they moved to Europe. Sarwer now plays poker instead of chess.

Elaine Saunders Pritchard (Jan 7, 1926-Jan 7, 2012) was a child prodigy. She won the World Junior Women’s championship at the age of 10, and repeated it at age 11. At age 13, she won the British Women’s Championship.

Dmitry Schneider (born Nov 25, 1984) won the US Cadet (Under-16) championship at age 13. At 14, he won the Marshall Chess Club championship, the youngest ever. At age 15, he won the Greater New York Junior Championship with a perfect 5-0 score. At 15, he was the Under-16 Pan-American Youth Champion. At 16, he was New York State co-champion. Between 1996 and 2002, he represented the U.S. in six world championships. At 18, he was an International Master.

Samuel Sevian (born Dec 26, 2000) learned chess at the age of 5. At age 8, he defeated his first master in tournament play. In January 2010, he had a FIDE rating of 2119 and was the highest rated chess player in the world for his age. At age 8, he became the youngest expert in U.S. history. In 2010, he became the youngest master in USCF history at the age 9 years, 11 months and 23 days. His FIDE rating as an 11 year old is currently 2247. IN April 2012, his USCF rating was 2314.

Nigel Short (born June 1, 1965) leaned chess at 7. At age 10, he defeated Viktor Korchnoi in a simultaneous exhibition. At age 11, he qualified for the British Chess Championship and was its youngest participant ever. At 14, he tied for 1^st in the British championship and earned his first IM norm. At the time, he became the youngest IM in chess history. At age 19, he was awarded the GM title – becoming the youngest GM in the world at that time.

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 37^th 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.

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 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.

Kayden Troff (born in 1998) learned chess at age 3. At the age of 10, became Utah’s blitz chess champion and G60 (Game in 60 minutes) chess champion in 2009. He won the state elementary championship four times. He took 2^nd place in the Nationals. At age 11, he was the highest rated player in Utah and became a master. He earned his first IM norm at the age of 13.

Joshua Waitzkin (born Dec 4, 1976) learned chess at age 6. He led his school to 7 national chess championships between the 3^rd and 9^th grades. He won 8 individual titles. He beat his first master at age 10. At age 11, he drew a game with world champion Garry Kasparov in a simul. At 13, he became a master. At 16, he became an IM. He won the US Junior championship in 1993 and 1994. He is the only person to have won the National Primary, Elementary, Junior High School, High School, U.S. Cadet, and U.S. Junior Closed chess championships in his career.

Justus Williams (born in 1998) became a master at the age of 12, the youngest African American chess master in history. He is ranked 4^th in the world in his age group.

Bu Xiangzhi (born Dec 10, 1985) learned chess at age 6. At age 12, he won the Under-14 World Youth Championship. He became a GM at the age of 13 years, 10 months, and 13 days, at the time the youngest in history.

Jeffrey Xiong (born 2001) learned chess at age 4. He is the highest rated 11 year old in the USCF, rated 2394.

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. She became the women’s world champion at 16.