This is a summary of the Chess.com news article “Erdogmus Smashes Prestigious Rating Record, Receives Hero's Welcome Back Home” by Tarjei J. Svensen (October 1, 2024).
A record by almost a year
At 13 years, 3 months and 28 days, Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş became the youngest player ever to hold a published FIDE classical rating above 2600, beating the previous record by close to a year. It came four months after he broke Judit Polgár's 1989 record as the highest-rated player before turning 13. Playing board three for Türkiye (12th place) at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, he scored 8/11 with a 2636 performance, which lifted him to 2601 on the October list. Before him, no one had passed 2600 before their 14th birthday; the old mark belonged to American GM John Burke, who did it two months after turning 14.
The road so far
Erdoğmuş crossed 2400 at age 11 in 2022, reached 2500 a year later and 2600 nine months after that. The article notes that today's top players reached 2600 considerably later; Firouzja, Gukesh and Caruana did so about two years older than he is now. His next target is Wei Yi's record as the youngest to reach 2700 (15 years and nine months), which leaves him roughly two and a half years. He is backed by Turkish investor Evren Ucok and has worked with several grandmasters, including Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who sees him as a future world champion candidate, and Evgeny Romanov, who called him the most talented player he had ever seen.
The Olympiad and the welcome at home
In Budapest he opened with four wins against lower-rated opponents, then lost twice in a row, and answered with a strong 4/5 finish. One of his wins was against Poland's Kacper Piorun, a game also covered by Hikaru Nakamura in his recap. Back in his hometown Bursa, Erdoğmuş was greeted at school by hundreds of classmates, a scene shared by Chess.com Türkiye.
The game: Piorun – Erdoğmuş
The moves come from the Lichess broadcast of the Olympiad.
Piorun – Erdoğmuş 0-1, Budapest 2024 (round 10)
Source: Tarjei J. Svensen, Chess.com. Photos: Mike Klein and Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
