Erdogmus Smashes Prestigious Rating Record, Receives Hero's Welcome Back Home

At just 13 years of age, GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has become the youngest-ever player to record a rating of 2600, demolishing the previous record by close to a year. Upon returning to school in Turkiye, he received a hero's welcome.

The Turkish prodigy is again in the spotlight just four months after breaking GM Judit Polgar's legendary record from 1989 to become the highest-rated player in history before turning 13. He is currently the world's youngest grandmaster in the world and the fourth youngest ever to achieve the title.

Playing on board three for 12th placed Turkiye in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Erdogmus scored 8/11 points, which was a rating performance of 2636. That bumps his rating a few points to 2601 on FIDE's October list.

That makes Erdogmus, at the age of 13 years, 3 months, and 28 days, the youngest player to have a published FIDE classical rating above 2600. It's an impressive feat by the youngster, as no player has ever reached the mark before their 14th birthday. The previous record was set by U.S. GM John Burke, who achieved it two months after his 14th birthday.

Youngest To Achieve 2600 On An Official List

Among today's top players, GMs Wei Yi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen reached the mark at a considerably higher age. Alireza Firouzja, Gukesh Dommaraju, and Fabiano Caruana hit 2600 on an official list when they were two years older than Erdogmus is now.

Erdogmus's meteoric rise has been extraordinary ever since he broke the 2400 barrier as an 11-year-old in 2022. It only took him a year to go from there to 2500 in January this year. Now, nine months later, he has reached another threshold to become a 2600 player.

The Turkish grandmaster now has around 2.5 years if he wants to break Wei Yi's record as the youngest-ever 2700 player, which Wei achieved when he was aged 15 years and nine months. Firouzja, Gukesh, and Carlsen had all turned 16 when they broke the barrier.

The prodigy has already secured backing from Turkish investor Evren Ucok, co-founder of one of the world's top e-commerce companies, and he has been coached by a number of grandmasters. Among them is world-class GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who previously told Chess.com:

"I am very pleased to work with Yagiz. I see him as a player who can reach 2800 and become a future world champion."

GM Evgeny Romanov, who coached Erdogmus in 2023, told Chess.com: "He is the most talented player I've ever seen, and I'm happy that he is going to use my basics in the game of chess."

In Budapest, Erdogmus started with four wins against lower-rated players, until he suffered two blows in a row. He struck back in the second half of the event, ending on a good note with 4/5. Among his wins, was this one against Poland's GM Kacper Piorun.

The game was analyzed by GM Hikaru Nakamura in his recap.

Erdogmus has gained considerable attention for his performances and records in Turkiye, in particular at home in Bursa, a city in the northwest of the country.

Upon returning to school, he was greeted by hundreds of schoolmates, as documented by Chess.com Turkiye.

Milli sporcumuz GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, Satranç Olimpiyatı'nın dönüşünde okulunda kahramanlar gibi karşılandı! pic.twitter.com/MuUJ9XF6ra

— Chess.com Türkçe (@chesscom_tr) September 26, 2024