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Chess prodigies are children who can beat experienced adult players and even Masters at chess. Expectations can be high for chess prodigies. While some become World Champions, others show little or no progress in adulthood.
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Early chess prodigies
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 six. Morphy went on to be unofficial World Champion (before the official title existed), Capablanca became the third World Champion, and Reshevsky—while never attaining the title—was amongst the top few players in the world for many years.
List of youngest grandmasters
One measure of chess prodigies (since 1950, when the title was introduced) is the age at which they gain the Grandmaster title. Below are players who have held the record for youngest grandmaster. The record has been held by Sergey Karjakin (then Ukraine) since 2002. The age listed is the age at 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.
Note: all players are listed by their nationality at the time of gaining the title, not their current or later nationality.
This is a list of the players to become Grandmasters before their 15th birthday:
Here are the holders of the record for the youngest ever female to become a grandmaster (not to be confused with the lesser Woman Grandmaster title):