10-Year-Old Edges One Step Closer To Record-Breaking IM Title

10-year-old FM Roman Shogdzhiev continued his rapid rise at the Baku Open, where he secured his second International Master norm with a stellar 2514 performance in a field packed with titled players.

Top seed and 2024 European Champion GM Alexander Indjic took clear first ahead of GMs Baadur Jobava and Vahap Sanal in the Baku Open, which was held in the Azerbaijan capital from April 28 to May 6. However, it was a 10-year-old prodigy who stole the show with a spectacular performance.

Shogdzhiev finished 13th with 5.5 points in the strong 60-player field, which included 12 grandmasters and 17 international masters. The prodigy defeated two IMs and drew two GMs to register an extraordinary 2514 performance, well above the requirement for an IM norm.

He had already clinched the norm thanks to his 83-move round-eight win against IM Senthil Maran K. He then scored another half point in the final round against IM Read Samadov (2521) and picked up a total of 43 rating points.

Full games and results

The young prodigy played several fighting games during the event, in particular the decisive win against Senthil, where Shogdzhiev eventually showed excellent endgame technique to squeeze out a win after 83 moves.

"Roman was very happy, but the norm was not the goal since attention was paid to the quality of the games," his mother Saglara Shogjieva told Chess.com. "Fulfilling the norm was a pleasant surprise. Roman's new team helped him with new knowledge, new methods of preparation which allowed him to become more confident in his games against strong opponents."

Roman was very happy, but the norm was not the goal since attention was paid to the quality of the games.

—Roman Shogdzhiev's mother

Shogdzhiev's achievement builds on his historic first IM norm, earned just five months ago at the RadnickiChess IM tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. Then only nine years, 10 months, and seven days old, he became the youngest player in chess history to earn an IM norm, surpassing the mark set by Argentine "Messi of Chess," IM Faustino Oro.

Born in Elista, Kalmykia, a region once synonymous with chess under former FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Shogdzhiev learned chess from his father when he was only four years old.

He first made headlines when he beat five grandmasters during the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz Championship. The feat even raised the eyebrows of GM Magnus Carlsen, who told Norwegian TV: "It's fun to see—maybe we'll see him at the very top in a few years."

His resume since then has been impressive, including winning the European Youth Under 8 Championship in 2022 with a perfect 9/9, followed by another dominant performance at the 2023 World Youth Under 8 Championship, where he scored 11/11. In November 2024, he became the World Under 10 Champion with a commanding 10/11 result, just weeks before making IM norm history in Belgrade.

He has also made a habit of taking down grandmasters in speed chess, such as during a blitz tournament in Moscow where he beat strong GMs such as Andrey Esipenko, Vladimir Potkin, Ernesto Inarkiev, and Aleksey Dreev. In rapid, he's already above the 2400 rating mark.

With two IM norms at the age of 10 years and 3 months, Shogdzhiev is now on track to break Oro's record as the youngest-ever international master. The Argentinian earned the IM title at the age of 10 years, eight months, and 16 days, which means Shogdzhiev has another five months left to score his final norm and take his rating above the required 2400 mark.

In an interview with Chess.com in January, his parents said his goal was to achieve the title this year: "Roman will be looked at as a rising star of chess, and now he will have to live up to high expectations. At the same time, success gives confidence in his abilities. Roman certainly feels that he is capable of a lot, and this will give him additional motivation."

Shogdzhiev now resides in Moscow with his parents and last year secured a sponsorship deal with a law firm.