Shogdzhiev Smashes Oro's Record To Become Youngest International Master In History

The chess world has a new record-breaker. 10-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev from Russia has become the youngest International Master (IM) in history, smashing the record by over five months and reinforcing his status as one of the chess world's most exciting young players.

The wave of astonishing results by some of the world's greatest prodigies keeps coming. A new milestone was set by Shogdzhiev at the RadnickiChess May IM tournament in Belgrade, Serbia, which concluded on Sunday.

The 10-year-old tied for first place with top seed IM Md Imran, both finishing on 7/9 points, enough to secure the prodigy's third and final IM norm.

Shogdzhiev built his results early, scoring 5.5 points in the first six rounds. He ended the tournament with three draws, securing the required seven points in the final round. 

Among his five wins was this one against 60-year-old GM Milko Popchev in round three:

In round five against 15-year-old FM Kush Bhagat, he faced some pressure in the opening, but swiftly capitalized on consecutive mistakes.

Shogdzhiev achieved his first norm at the same event in December and followed up at the Baku Open just weeks ago, where he scored a 2513 performance and gained 43 rating points. With another 30 points added in Serbia, he has surpassed the 2400 rating barrier and achieved all the requirements for the IM title.

Shogdzhiev, at 10 years, 3 months, and 21 days, has broken the previous record set by Argentina's IM Faustino Oro in June 2024. Oro was aged 10 years, 8 months, and 16 days when he achieved his final norm.

Shogdzhiev becomes the fourth player to achieve the title before the age of 11, following Oro, GM Abhimanyu Mishra (10 years, 9 months, and three days) and GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (10 years, 9 months, and 19 days). 

Shogdzhiev has positioned himself among the most exciting prospects in the chess world today. Alongside Oro, and Turkey's 13-year-old GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, he is setting records that would be unimaginable just a few years ago, which largely can be explained by the global surge of incredible talents witnessed since the pandemic.

His mother Saglara Shogdzhieva shared insights into Roman's early chess journey with Russian media, saying that her son discovered the game at the age of four from his father. "I think it was fate, because when my husband showed him the first moves, Roma never left that box again. He both woke up with chess and fell asleep with it. Of course, he didn't know all the rules, but he made them up himself, he was very interested," she said.

I think it was fate, because when my husband showed him the first moves, Roma never left that box again. He both woke up with chess and fell asleep with it.

—Roman Shogdzhiev's mother Saglara

The world under eight and under 10 champion was just eight years old when he first attracted international attention. At the 2023 World Blitz & Rapid Championship in Uzbekistan, he  defeated five grandmasters, and the feat even caught the attention 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." The two later met for a photo at the event.

Since then, he has continued to deliver particularly impressive performances in speed chess, where he regularly defeats grandmasters. In blitz last year, he beat experienced GMs such as Andrey Esipenko, Vladimir Potkin, Ernesto Inarkiev, and Aleksey Dreev.

Shogdzhiev was born in Elista, Kalmykia, a region once synonymous with chess under former FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The family now lives near Moscow where he is sponsored by a law firm. The Russian Chess Federation has taken him under their wings, providing him with a total of seven grandmaster coaches.

Among them, is two-time Russian Champion GM Evgeny Tomashevsky, once ranked 13th in the world. "There is already a lot of pressure on him, so I wouldn’t make any more bold statements yet. I’ll just say that when you play like Roman at ten years old, then if it’s not a unique case, it’s very close to it," he told Russian newspaper Sports Express.

I’ll just say that when you play like Roman at ten years old, then if it’s not a unique case, it’s very close to it.

—Evgeny Tomashevsky

The youngster, who spends up to six hours a day on chess, has been homeschooled since first grade and his mother quit her job to be able to teach her son at home. "Our whole life is chess. We make all our plans depending on what classes and tournaments Roman will have. That is, they ask us, 'When will you have a vacation?' but we don't have a vacation, because it could be used to pay for another tournament that Roman might play," she told a Russian news site.

The 10-year-old prodigy has now set his eyes on scoring grandmaster norms. "I want to be a world champion. And this year I want to achieve a grandmaster norm. I think it’s realistic," he told Russian state-controlled news agency Tass.

I want to be a world champion. And this year I want to achieve a grandmaster norm. I think it’s realistic.

—Roman Shogdzhiev

Shogdzhiev is next scheduled to play in the World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship, which takes place in London from June 11 to 15.