When world champion Gukesh Dommaraju takes his seat today to play against 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in the second round of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand, he will feel as if he is looking at a younger version of himself. Having become the classical world champion at the age of 18, Gukesh has already shown that the era of the teenage prodigy is upon us. But the Turkish prodigy is already eliciting gasps for his exploits on the chess board at a much younger age.
Turkish media last year went ga-ga over Erdogmus because he defeated Magnus Carlsen in a blitz game in 41 seconds. That conquest over Carlsen was not the only time the Turkish prodigy had beaten the five-time world champion, who is particularly fearsome in blitz, and is one of the greatest chess players in history.
In the first round of the Grand Swiss tournament on Thursday, when Erdogmus was battling against Aleksandra Goryachkina (a prodigy herself back in the day), grandmaster David Howell offered an insane tale of what happened when former world champion Magnus Carlsen faced Erdogmus in an online blitz match (more on that later).
See how a 13-year-old checkmated Carlsen in just 41 seconds
Gukesh is currently the third youngest player to become a grandmaster in history, getting to the title at the age of 12 years, 7 months, 17 days. Right behind him is Erdogmus, getting there at the age of 12 years, 9 months, 29 days.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and 14-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus at the Grand Swiss chess tournament. (PHOTOS: FIDE via Michal Walusza)
The Turkish phenom at 13 was already the second-youngest player in history to break into the top 100 ranking list (left behind only by legend Judit Polgar, who reached world number-55 as a 12-year-old in 1989 with a 2555 rating). He got there just last month, reaching a rating of 2642. Erdogmus was also the youngest grandmaster to touch the 2600 FIDE rating threshold.
The Story Behind Carlsen’s Stormy Face
During the first round of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament, GM David Howell was serenading viewers of the Chess.com live stream with anecdotes of Erdogmus’ victories over Magnus Carlsen in blitz games online.
Once we were at a party. Magnus suddenly disappeared for an hour-and-a-half and he came back with his face looking like a storm.
“I know he has beaten Magnus many times in blitz on Chess.com,” Howell said on the live stream with Polgar listening in. “Once we were at a party — I’m not sure I should be telling this story — but Magnus suddenly disappeared for an hour-and-a-half and he came back with his face looking like a storm. It was because he had been playing a blitz match on his phone against Yagiz and it hadn’t gone well. Yagiz is super-fast and super-strong.”
Howell reveals Carlsen once played a 1.5-hour blitz match vs. 14-year-old Erdogmus, and it didn’t go well for the world no. 1! #GrandSwiss pic.twitter.com/cGtFc4UPQQ
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 4, 2025
Howell said that Erdogmus was a “bit like Arjun Erigaisi in chess style”.
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“He can play positionally if he wants to… (but) he plays very aggressive and direct,” said Howell.
Erdogmus went on to take down Goryachkina, who is among the two female players to compete in the 116-player open section at Grand Swiss rather than in Women’s Grand Swiss.
When Erdogmus played Peter Svidler in Clash of Generations
Recently, Erdogmus pitted his wits against Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler in a standalone contest christened the Clash of Generations. The event, which took place in France’s Marseille in July saw the 14-year-old take on Svidler in a combined classical and blitz match.
There the Russian won the blitz portion 10-2. But then, Erdogmus claimed the classical portion 4-2 with three victories. In the fourth game of the classical portion, which he won, Erdogmus unleashed a tactical masterclass and won in just 22 moves. The game saw him offer up a rook sacrifice even though Svidler was playing the Grunfeld, his insignia as a player.
