At just 14 years old, GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has officially broken into the world’s top-100 players, a milestone that once again confirms his status as one of the chess world’s most exciting prospects.
The Turkish prodigy reached a new career-high rating of 2642 in FIDE’s August ratings, released on Thursday, placing him at world number-88. The achievement makes him the second-youngest player in history to join the top 100, behind only GM Judit Polgar, who reached world number-55 as a 12-year-old in 1989 with a 2555 rating.
“I’m so happy! This is something I’ve been waiting for for a long time. We worked really hard, and I believe I truly deserve to be in the top 100,” Erdogmus said in a comment to Chess.com.
We worked really hard, and I believe I truly deserve to be in the top 100.
—Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
Erdogmus’s climb came as he earned 16 rating points in the Clash of Generations in Marseille, France, during July 24-30. The 14-year-old faced GM Peter Svidler in a combined classical/blitz match.
While the Russian legend dominated in blitz to win 10-2, Erdogmus impressed by winning 4-2 in the classical portion, scoring wins in games 1, 4, and 6.
The standout moment came in the fourth game, where the prodigy showed off his brilliant tactical skills by winning in 22 moves with a stunning rook sacrifice against Svidler’s pet Grunfeld.
The score was 3-2 before the sixth and last classical game, where Svidler had a chance to equalize with the black pieces. However, the 14-year-old again played an impressive game where he gradually improved his position, won a pawn on move 30, and never left the legendary grandmaster off the hook.
The match in Marseille was sponsored by Evren Ucok, co-founder of one of the world’s top e-commerce companies. The Turkish investor has backed Erdogmus in the last few years, which allows him to receive coaching by none other than GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, ranked 11th in the world. The Azerbaijani grandmaster was accompanying Erdogmus during the match in France.
The young Turk’s meteoric rise has been incredible ever since he broke the 2400 barrier as an 11-year-old in 2022. He achieved his grandmaster title as a 12-year-old at the end of 2023 and is currently the youngest grandmaster in the world, the fourth-youngest to achieve the title. As a 13-year-old, he became the youngest-ever to record a rating of 2600.
Two months after turning 14, Erdogmus has added another remarkable feat to his growing list of age-related records. He is now also the highest-rated player in history before turning 15, breaking GM Wei Yi‘s record of 2634 set in 2014. He already holds records for being the highest-rated player before the 13th (2569) and 14th birthdays (2626).
Among those closely tracking his rise is Chess by the Numbers founder Tai Pruce-Zimmerman, whose Prodigy Watch monitors the progress of young chess superstars. In his latest update, he highlighted just how far ahead Erdogmus is, even by prodigy standards.
We think it needs to be clarified that he is so spectacular for his age that a Prodigy Rank number-one might be underselling his strength. He isn’t just the highest-rated player ever at his current age, he’s 61 rating points ahead of the second best—a fellow named Magnus Carlsen!
Erdogmus is set to compete at both the FIDE Grand Swiss (September 2-16) in Uzbekistan and the FIDE World Cup (October 30-November 27) in India.
