Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

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  • Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

    Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

    January 24, 2016

    I have a book by Evgeniy Gik entitled Šachmatnye vunderkindy (2006). It has games of the great chess prodigies.

    Those listed are:

    1. Capablanca, Jose Raul - Cuba
    2. Reshevsky, Samuel - USA
    3. Spassky, Boris - Russia
    4. Fischer, Robert - USA
    5. Meking, Enrique - Brazil
    6. Kasparov, Garry - Russia
    7. Short, Nigel - England
    8. Kamsky, Gata - USA
    9. Polgar, Judit - Hungary
    10. Leko, Peter - Hungary
    11. Bacrot, Etienne - France
    12. Ponomariov, Ruslan - Ukraine
    13. Bu Xiangzhi - China
    14. Karjakin, Sergey – Ukraine

    Usually, a chess prodigy is considered a child who can beat experienced adult players and even Masters at chess. There are many of these in history, who never went on to achieve anything in the game.

    Another measure of chess prodigies is the age when they achieved the grandmaster title (not when they were officially awarded it) and by general agreement, that age is 15 years or younger.

    This gives us an up-to-date list:

    1. Karjakin, Sergey – Ukraine
    2. Negi, Parimarjan – India
    3. Carlsen, Magnus – Norway
    4. Wei Yi – China
    5. Bu Xiangzhi – China
    6. Sevian, Samuel – USA
    7. Rapport, Richard – Hungary
    8. Radjabov, Teimour – Azerbaijan
    9. Ponomariov, Ruslan - Ukraine
    10. So, Wesley – Philippines
    11. Bacrot, Etienne – France
    12. Nyzhnyk, Illya – Ukraine
    13. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – France
    14. Leko, Peter – Hungary
    15. Cori, Jorge – Peru
    16. Hou Yifan – China
    17. Xiong, Jeffery – USA
    18. Giri, Anish – Russia
    19. Kuzubov, Yuriy – Ukraine
    20. Swiercz, Dariusz – Poland
    21. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son – Vietnam
    22. Dubov, Daniil – Russia
    23. Robson, Ray – USA
    24. Caruana, Fabiano – Italy
    25. Yu Yangyi - China

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy

    This list should be up-to-date but I welcome any corrections or additions.

  • #2
    Re: Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

    Abe Yanofsky and Arturo Pomar were considered prodigies, I believe. Looking at your second list makes me wonder if the definition of chess prodigy needs some adjustment in the internet age.

    P.S. For example, with no access to modern databases/engines and probably very little access to good chess books/coaching, it seems to me that prodigies like Capablanca, Reshevsky, and Yanofsky vastly outperformed your list of modern day 'prodigies'. Pomar? He had Alekhine for a coach.
    Last edited by Peter McKillop; Sunday, 24th January, 2016, 06:56 PM.
    "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
    "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
    "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

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    • #3
      Re: Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

      Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

      January 24, 2016

      You are quite right, Peter. Having the mental ability to play high-level chess is just one of the requisites. There must be opportunities to play against strong opposition, training and, these days, funding.

      My attempt at a list of present-day prodigies was to see how many there were. It seems like every day we are hearing of a strong twelve-year old tearing up the field.

      Edward Winter has an article on children in the past, who were recognized as prodigies, but most went nowhere.

      http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/prodigies.html

      One of them was Leonard Vaux, of Brockville, Ontario, who was 16 in 1889.

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      • #4
        Re: Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

        Karjakin, Sergey - Russia (not Ukraine)

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        • #5
          Re: Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

          Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

          January 24, 2016

          I used the country designations in Wikipedia. I take it that that is where the prodigy was first recognized and nurtured. For example Anish Giri was born in St. Petersburg and his first youth club was there but now he is considered a Dutch grandmaster.

          But I see inconsistencies in the Wiki article and there may be others as well.

          For example, Fabiano Caruana was born in Miami and until the age of twelve, he lived and played in the United States and yet his nationality is given as Italian.

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          • #6
            Re: Chess Prodigies and Early Grandmasters

            Caruana had dual citizenship from birth, others have moved and changed.

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