Chess is one of the oldest games in the world, and yet it continues to grow in popularity among the youngest players.
Nowadays, the youngest chess grandmasters earn a FIDE rating of 2500 and complete their third grandmaster norm by the time they are twelve or thirteen.
Here’s a list of the youngest and brightest in the world of professional chess.
13 Youngest Chess Grandmasters Aged 13 or Less
Here are the youngest chess grandmasters in the history of the game, starting with the oldest of the bunch to the current youngest chess grandmaster.
1. Richárd Rapport
Richárd Rapport is a chess grandmaster from Hungary. The chess grandmaster was born in 1996 and achieved his grandmaster title in 2010. At the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, he’s the oldest to win the title on this list.
Rapport plays for Romania, and he’s currently ranked the 12th player in the world and has a FIDE rating of 2745.
2. Samuel Sevian
Samuel Sevian is an American chess grandmaster and is currently ranked the 10th player in America.
He finished his final norm in November 2014 at the age of 13 years, ten months, and 27 days.
3. Bu Xiangzhi
Bu Xiangzhi was the youngest chess grandmaster in history in 1999.
He won the title at the age of 13 years, ten months, and 13 days becoming the youngest chess grandmaster at the time.
The Chinese chess grandmaster held the title for three years until 2002 when the Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin took the title.
4. Raunak Sadhwani
Raunak Sadhwani is the first Indian chess grandmaster on our list, but he’s not the last.
Raunak Sadhwani earned the title of chess grandmaster at the age of 13 years, nine months, and 28 days. He currently has a FIDE rating of 2627.
5. Wei Yi
Wei Yi was born in 1999. The same year, fellow Chinese chess grandmaster Bu Xiangzhi earned the title of the youngest chess grandmaster in history.
Wei Yi also gained his grandmaster title at 13 years old. He was even younger than Bu Xiangzhi at 13 years, eight months, and 23 days.
On top of that, he broke a new ceiling by being the youngest chess grandmaster to score a FIDE rating of 2700. At 23, his current FIDE rating is 2722.
6. Parimarjan Negi
Parimarjan Negi is another Indian chess prodigy. Parimarjan Negi achieved his third norm at 13 years, four months, and 20 days.
However, Parimarjan Negi couldn’t reach a FIDE rating of 2700. His FIDE best was 2671.
Then he retired in 2017 with a FIDE rating of 2624.
Praimarjan Negi left the world of chess for the tech world. He graduated from Stanford and is currently a Ph.D. student at MIT.
7. Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and by far the most famous on this list. Carlsen currently has the title of World Chess Champion.
Magnus Carlsen has kept the title for ten years since 2013.
The world champion earned his grandmaster title at 13 years old. At the time, he was only the second youngest chess grandmaster after the 12-year-old Sergey Karjakin.
Magnus Carlsen has an online presence and participates in chess games on online platforms. He regularly updates his YouTube channel and has nearly a million subscribers.
He is currently the first-ranked player in the world, with a FIDE rating of 2852.
8. Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Nordirbek Abdusattorov is a chess grandmaster from Uzbekistan. Nordirbek Abdusattorov earned his grandmaster title at 13 years, a month, and 11 days.
However, Abdusattorov’s greatest achievement was winning the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2021, making him the youngest player to be the World Rapid Chess Champion.
Currently aged 18, Nordirbek Abdusattorov has a FIDE rating of 2731.
9. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is yet another young Indian grandmaster who earned his grandmaster title at 12 years, ten months, and 13 days.
Currently, at age 17, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has a FIDE rating of 2691.
He’s yet to reach the milestone of 2700, but at his young age, he has all the time in the world to grow as a player.
10. Javokhir Sindarov
Javokhir Sindarov is another 17-year-old. He earned his grandmaster title at the age of 12 years, ten months, and five days.
The Uzbek grandmaster currently has a 2661 FIDE rating and is ranked the 85th chess player in the world.
11. Gukesh Dommaraju
Now we’re down to the three youngest chess grandmasters in the history of chess.
The Indian grandmaster, known as Gukesh D, is only 16 years old, and he’s currently ranked the 18th chess player in the world and has a FIDE rating of 2730.
The chess prodigy got his grandmaster title at the age of 12 years, seven months, and 17 days.
12. Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Karjakin was the youngest chess grandmaster in history in August 2002 (until Abhimanyu Mishra took the title in 2021).
Sergey Karjakin is a Russian grandmaster who finished his last norm at 12 years and seven months. He’s currently the 12th player in the world with a FIDE rating of 2747.
In 2022, FIDE banned Sergey Karjakin for six months for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
13. Abhimanyu Mishra
Last but not least is the reigning youngest chess grandmaster. Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster from New Jersey.
Abhimanyu Mishra took over the title from Sergey Karjakin on the 30th of June 2021.
Abhimanyu Mishra is currently 14 years old, and he was 12 years, four months, and 25 days when he became the youngest chess grandmaster nearly two years ago.
Abhimanyu Mishra’s FIDE rating is 2548, but we can rest assured that his best is yet to come.
Final Thoughts
The youngest chess grandmasters are younger than ever. The youngest was barely above 12 when he won the title.
These are the 13 youngest chess grandmasters in the history of the game. Maybe in the future, we’d even see an 11 or 10-year-old chess grandmaster, but until then, we are happy with the growing love for the game.
