Chess prodigy

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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.

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 8. 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. In modern times, Bobby Fischer (1943-) won the U.S. Open Chess Tournament at age 14, and qualified as an international Grandmaster at 15 1/2, the youngest player up until that time to do so.

[edit] 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.

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.

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.