New Titles Approved: 13-Year-Old Erdogmus Takes Title As World’s Youngest GM

It was just a matter of time, but now it’s finally official: GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has had his title confirmed, officially making him the world’s youngest grandmaster. Several other rising stars also saw their titles approved.

It’s been almost five months since the Turkish prodigy achieved his final norm in Germany to become the world’s youngest grandmaster at 12 years, nine months, and 29 days. Only three players in chess history have achieved the title at a younger age: GMs Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, and Gukesh Dommaraju.

On Tuesday, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed that the title was approved by the FIDE Council at a meeting on July 21/29, making him the youngest player to have the title currently. 

Having turned 13 in June, the prodigy from Bursa in northwest Turkey now inherits the mantle from 15-year-old Ukrainian GM Ihor Samunenkov, who had his title confirmed in January. Erdogmus has seen a remarkable rise in the last year, establishing himself as one of the world’s greatest prodigies, and breaking GM Judit Polgar‘s historic rating record from 1989.

He is currently playing in the 30th Abu Dhabi Chess Festival, where he briefly surpassed the 2600 barrier, but a draw in round four and a loss in round five made him drop below again. Despite the setback, a good finish will lead to another historic record as the youngest chess player ever to have a published 2600 rating.

In addition to Erdogmus, nine other players had their grandmaster titles approved. Notable are Ivan Zemlyanskii from Russia, who now takes over as the world’s second youngest GM a week before his 14th birthday, and U.S. 14-year-old Andy Woodward, who clinched his title in February.

Another one is 2008-born Xiao Tong from China, who has raised eyebrows as one of the few untitled players to reach 3000 in blitz on Chess.com. His new GM title now finally allows him to play in Titled Tuesday.

There are currently seven grandmasters in the world under the age of 16.

The World’s Seven Youngest GMs

All GM Titles Approved

Chess.com previously covered IM Lu Miaoyi‘s meteoric rise where she gained 200 points and three norms within a few months. The Chinese 14-year-old saw her title added officially this month, making her the fourth youngest female IM in history, only behind Polgar, GM Hou Yifan and GM Kateryna Lagno.

The FIDE Council will next meet during the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, so several notable players won’t have to wait as long to see their titles approved. One of them is IM Sina Movahed, the Iranian 14-year-old who has shown impressive blitz skills on Chess.com. The 10-year-old ‘Messi of Chess’ Faustino Oro will also have his FM title replaced, making him the youngest to achieve the international master title.

All IM Titles Approved

15-year-old IM Shreyas Royal will also see his GM title approved just a month after securing his final norm at the British Championship, making him the youngest British grandmaster in history.