There are many chess players who have achieved a 2600 FIDE rating in their teenage years, but a Turkish prodigy did it at the start of his teenage years. At just 13, Grandmaster (GM) Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has become the youngest player in history to achieve a FIDE rating of 2600, breaking the previous record by nearly a year and setting a new standard in the chess world.
At 13 years, 3 months, and 28 days, Erdogmus now holds this record. No one has ever crossed the 2600 mark before turning 14. The previous record-holder, U.S. GM John Burke, achieved this milestone two months after his 14th birthday.
Stellar performance at the Chess Olympiad
Recently, competing in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Erdogmus played on board three for 12th-placed Turkiye. His remarkable performance, scoring 8 out of 11 points, resulted in a rating performance of 2636. This pushed his rating to 2601 on FIDE’s October list, making him the youngest player to officially hold a classical rating above 2600.
Pragg and Gukesh were older when they crossed 2600
Compared to today’s top players, including GMs Wei Yi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Magnus Carlsen, Erdogmus reached the 2600 rating at a much younger age. Other notable players like Alireza Firouzja, Gukesh Dommaraju, and Fabiano Caruana crossed 2600 when they were two years older than Erdogmus is now.
Pragg achieved this milestone at 14 years, 3 months, and 24 days, while Nihal Sarin did it at 14 years and 10 months. Gukesh reached it at 15 years, 2 months, and 27 days.
Rise of a chess prodigy
Erdogmus’s rapid rise has been remarkable. After breaking the 2400 barrier at just 11 years old in 2022, he quickly surged to 2500 by January 2023. In just nine more months, he reached another incredible milestone—becoming a 2600-rated player.
Eyes set on the next milestone
The Turkish grandmaster still has around 2.5 years to challenge the record for the youngest-ever 2700-rated player. The current record-holder is Wei Yi, who achieved a 2700 rating at the age of 15 years and 9 months. Firouzja, Gukesh, and Carlsen all crossed the 2700 threshold after turning 16, giving Erdogmus a clear target for his next big achievement.
