Turkish chess prodigy stuns ‘greatest ever’ Magnus Carlsen with lightning-fast victory
13-year-old Turkish chess grandmaster Yagız Kaan Erdogmus has taken the chess world by storm achieving a stunning victory over Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as the greatest-ever chess player.
On July 8, in an online 'blitz' tournament where each player had only one minute, the young prodigy managed to checkmate the Norwegian legend in just 41.2 seconds.
Erdogmus's rise in the chess world has been nothing short of meteoric. At the age of 12 years, 9 months, and 29 days, he earned the grandmaster title, becoming the fourth youngest player in history to do so. This achievement has now made him the world’s youngest grandmaster, marking his place among the youngest grandmasters in chess history.
Carlsen, the reigning world champion and often referred to as the "Mozart of Chess," was once a chess prodigy himself. He became a grandmaster at 13 years, 4 months, and 27 days.
Currently, the title of the youngest grandmaster in chess history is held by Abhimanyu Mishra from the US, who achieved it at 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days in 2021, surpassing Ukraine’s Sergey Karjakin, who held the record for 19 years after becoming a grandmaster at 12 years and 7 months.
In addition to his recent triumph, Erdogmus is set to represent Türkiye at the Chess Olympiad in September as the youngest player in the national team.
