Turkish chess player Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has become the youngest grandmaster to reach 2,700 points in the world rankings. The 14-year-old chess player broke the age record set ten years ago by 15-year-old Chinese Wei Yi.
The Turkish teenager defeated 51-year-old Veselin Topalov, who was ranked number one in the FIDE rankings in 2006, in an official match. The 14-year-old chess player entered the match ranked 35th in the world with a score of 2,687. However, by defeating Topalov, Erdogmush managed to reach 2,700 points in the rankings.
Thus, 14-year-old Erdogmus became the youngest grandmaster to cross the 2,700-point mark. He broke the age-old record of Chinese chess player Wei Yi, who reached this mark at the age of 15 in 2016.
Having increased his rating to 2700 points, the 14-year-old chess player entered the top 30 grandmasters in the world. In real time, Yagiz overtook five chess players at once: Nodirbek Yakubboev, Teymur Radjabov, Aravind Chithambaram, Matthias Bluebaum, Sam Sevian and Andriy Yesipenko.
“Reaching 2700 has been my long-standing dream. I always try to play chess well first. Now I will try to reach 2800. This is my next goal. But I know it will take a lot of time and hard work,” Erdogmus said.
Only two chess players in the world currently have a point total of over 2,800 — leader Magnus Carlsen and second-place Hikaru Nakamura. World number three Fabiano Caruana has seven points less.
Erdogmush is coached by former world number two from Azerbaijan, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, who has been helping him for the past two years. And while Yagiz has set himself the goal of reaching 2800, Erdogmush's coach says the next goal is 2900.
“I want Yagiz to be the first player to reach a rating of 2900. That's our goal. People don't even know 5% of Yagiz's chess knowledge. He's at a level where he can play any opening he chooses from the moment he wakes up.”
Erdogmus' next tournament will be the annual TePe Sigeman, which will be held in Malmo, Sweden, from May 1 to 7. The list of participants is headed by world number one Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen has previously described Erdogmus as “the best 14-year-old the world has ever seen.”
Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus: what is known about the chess player?
- In 2024, he became the fourth youngest grandmaster in history, and later that year, the youngest chess player to ever reach a rating of 2600 points.
- In July 2025, he entered the top 100 of the world rankings. Erdogmus became the second youngest chess player in the top 100 at the age of 14, second only to Hungarian chess player Yudil Polgár, who entered the top 100 at the age of 12.
- In January 2026, Erdogmus was invited to participate in a world-class tournament, where he took seventh place, ahead of five grandmasters from the top ten of the world ranking, including the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh.