Chess legends under 20 | TOP-5

Hello, hello! It's me again. In short, I won't waste your time with simple greetings, so let's get straight to the point.

It is obvious that chess has always attracted young talents who can surprise the world with their outstanding achievements.

When we hear the word "legend", we usually imagine an old grandmaster squinting at the board and remembering how he beat Kasparov himself before it became mainstream. But chess has long belonged to the youth! Today I have prepared my new blog (as funny as it may sound, but this is my first blog this year). So I am pleased to present you the Top 5 young prodigies, who are under 20 years old, who can checkmate faster than you can make tea.

I will say right away that I do not include chess players who are very young (for example, 10, 12, 15) in this blog. Of course, there are legends among them, but today is not about that, I chose older guys. At 12-15 years old, these chess players became grandmasters and conquered the world. For example, what were you doing at 13? Most likely, you were playing Dota and arguing whether it is possible to leave mayonnaise out of the refrigerator overnight, or how many milkshakes with cheeseburgers and French fries you can eat in 30 minutes. But these guys, at that time, easily beat adult chess players, looking at them as their peers - only with wrinkles.

Today in this blog I will introduce you to the 5 best chess players (in my opinion) who are under 20.

We are also here to understand who can be given a gold medal, and who just a donut and say something like: "Oh yeah, you play really well, in the future you will definitely become a champion and blah-blah-blah." Choose your favorite, rank the chess players, test your intuition and find out who will win. Well then! It's time to get to know these young chess stars better! And we'll start with...

Oh, and I forgot: enjoy reading!

Javokhir Sindarov - Uzbek hurricane

Javokhir Sindarov is an outstanding Uzbek chess player whose career began in early childhood. Born on December 8, 2005 in Tashkent, he began playing chess at the age of four. At the age of six, his parents took him to a chess club, where his talent quickly became apparent.

In 2012, at the age of six, Javokhir won the Asian Schoolboys Blitz Championship. In the following years, he continued to demonstrate outstanding results, becoming the Asian Schoolboys Champion in 2014 and 2015, as well as the World Rapid Champion in the U9 category in 2014.

In October 2018, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 5 days, Sindarov received the title of International Grandmaster, becoming one of the youngest grandmasters in the history of chess. He achieved this by achieving the required standards in various international tournaments, including the Alekhine Memorial and the World Junior Championship.

In 2019 and 2021, Javokhir became the champion of Uzbekistan among adults, confirming his status as the leading chess player of the country. At the 2022 World Chess Olympiad, he made a significant contribution to the victory of the Uzbekistan team, which won the gold medals of this prestigious competition for the first time in history.

By February 2025, Sindarov's rating reached 2700, which allowed him to enter the top 31 chess players in the world. His rapid rise and achievements make him one of the brightest stars in the world of chess.

Denis Lazavik - Belarusian Thunderer

Denis Lazavik (born November 17, 2006 in Minsk) is a Belarusian chess player, grandmaster (2022), champion of Belarus (2023). The youngest grandmaster and winner of the Belarusian championship.

From early childhood, Denis showed an interest in chess, learning the game from his father and grandfather. From the first grade, he began attending a chess club. From 2015 to 2017, he studied under the guidance of Yuri Nikolaevich Muyvid at the Republican Olympic Training Center, who made a significant contribution to his development. From the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2024, his coach was Russian grandmaster Alexander Rustemov.

In 2018, Denis was part of the national team at the Youth Olympiad, where the team took 4th place. In 2019, the team, which included Lozovik, won bronze medals at the Youth Olympiad.

In July 2021, at the age of 15 years and 7.5 months, Denis fulfilled the grandmaster norm, becoming the youngest holder of this title in the history of Belarus. In December 2022, he took part in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, taking 16th place in blitz and 42nd in rapid.

In 2023, Lazavik continued his successful performance, winning the AimChess Rapid Division 2, which allowed him to play in the series final in Toronto, where he took 8th place.

In December 2023, Denis again took part in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, improving his results: 8th place in blitz and 31st in rapid. In January 2024, he took 3rd place in the Belarusian Championship, and in March of the same year, 5th place in the Aeroflot Open tournament. In May 2024, representing the national team of the Republic of Belarus at the Russian Team Championship, Lazavik scored 4.5 points out of 7 possible, and the team took 4th place.

Denis Lazavik continues to actively develop in the chess world, combining his sports career with correspondence courses at the Belarusian State University of Physical Education.

Volodar Murzin — the Russian king of the chessboard

Volodar Murzin (born July 18, 2006 in Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk Oblast) is a Russian chess player, grandmaster (2022), world rapid champion (2024).

Volodar showed interest in chess from early childhood. At the age of seven, he began attending a school chess club, where his talent was quickly noticed. The Murzin family moved from Nizhny Tagil to Khimki near Moscow to provide the young chess player with better opportunities for development.

In 2019, at the age of 13, Murzin received the title of International Master, and in 2020 - Master of Sports of Russia. In 2022, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster, making him one of the youngest holders of this title in the country.

Volodar achieved his greatest success in December 2024, when at the age of 18 he became the World Rapid Champion at a tournament in New York. He scored 10 points out of 13 possible, securing victory in the prestigious competition.

The path to the top of the chess world was not easy for Murzin. As a child, he faced difficulties in the family, including abuse from his father, which led to him running away from his hometown and fighting for the right to do what he loved.

Despite the trials, Volodar Murzin continues to actively perform in the international arena, demonstrating a high level of play and a desire for new achievements in the world of chess.

Gukesh Dommaraju - Indian Ninja

 Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006 in Chennai, India) is an Indian chess grandmaster (2019), the 18th World Chess Champion (since 2024). He is the youngest world champion in history, having won the title at the age of 18.

Gukesh was born into a family of doctors. He started playing chess at the age of 7, attending a school club. His talent quickly became apparent, and his parents decided to support their son's passion by hiring a professional coach.

In January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months and 17 days, Gukesh received the Grandmaster title, becoming the third youngest holder of this title in history.

In April 2024, he became the youngest winner of the Candidates Tournament, taking first place and earning the right to compete for the World Champion title. In December 2024, Gukesh defeated the reigning champion Ding Liren to become the 18th World Chess Champion.

Aside from chess, Gukesh enjoys cricket, football, and badminton, and also enjoys reading comics.

Rameshbabu Pragnanandhaa – Indian Tiger

Rameshbabu Pragnanandhaa (born 10 August 2005 in Chennai, India) is an Indian chess player, Grandmaster (2018). He became one of the youngest grandmasters in history, having received this title at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days.

Pragnanandhaa took up chess, inspired by the success of his elder sister Vaishali, who is a two-time world champion among girls. From an early age, he was supported by his mother, accompanying him to competitions. Pragnanandhaa's coach is Ramachandran Ramesh, who notes his discipline and willpower.

In 2016, at the age of 10, Pragnanandhaa became the youngest International Master. In 2018, he received the Grandmaster title. In 2023, he won the silver medal at the Baku World Cup, which qualified him for the 2024 Candidates Tournament in Toronto.

In 2024, Pragnanandhaa, along with his sister Vaishali, made history as the first brother and sister duo to both become grandmasters and participate in the Candidates Tournament. In 2025, he won the prestigious Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee.

Pragnanandhaa is a vegetarian, like his compatriot, the 15th World Champion Viswanathan Anand. The chess player's main sponsor is the software company Ramco Systems.

And now it's time to determine our winner! Who will win this competition? Who is the best chess player who is not even 20 years old?! Who is this genius, this lucky guy? Choose your favorite and find out! But first, a little PR for each chess player, so that you can definitely choose who to root for!

Javokhir Sindarov – №1 This guy from Tashkent became a grandmaster so quickly (at 13!) that local meteorologists seem to have included him in their weather forecasts. Sindarov is not just a genius, but a man who literally from childhood looked at chess as an experienced coach. If he lived in the Middle Ages, he would definitely have been burned for witchcraft - but, fortunately, today he is awarded cups instead.

Denis Lazavik – №2 When your last name sounds like a spell from Harry Potter, you are destined to work miracles. Denis became a grandmaster at 15 and immediately began to show that in chess, as in life, the main thing is the right calculation. At his young age, he can already conduct master classes on how to win games and still keep a poker face.

Volodar Murzin – №3 Not everyone can live up to their name, but Volodar is clearly on the right track. He controls the chessboard with ease, seemingly ready to take control of any unpredictable situation. In 2024, he became the World Rapid Chess Champion, which means one thing: if you play him, you have exactly three seconds to admit defeat and save face.

Gukesh Dommaraju – №4 Have you ever met people who do everything before everyone else? Gukesh became a grandmaster at 12 and world champion at 18! This guy is so fast that if you put him up against a supercomputer, the machine would probably have to take a breather. If chess pieces could talk, they would be begging for mercy long ago.

Rameshbabu Pragnanandhaa – №5 When yo9u're 12, most of your peers are thinking about how to copy homework. And Pragnananda was becoming a grandmaster and hinting to Magnus Carlsen that it was time to retire. He beat the world champion more than once, and his strategic combinations make his opponents slightly nervous and want to immediately go into meditation.

Now let's get to work! To determine the winner, we need criteria. I have chosen 10 objective and fairly obvious criteria to fully evaluate these young chess players:

Let's rate these chess players on a 10-point scale (where 10 is the maximum score) and determine the winner.

Final rating:

Gukesh Dommaraju - 89 points → 1st place

Rameshbabu Pragnanandha - 87 points → 2nd place

Javokhir Sindarov - 79 points → 3rd place

Volodar Murzin - 74 points

Denis Lazavik - 66 points

Admit it, who was rooting for Gukesh?

Gukesh confidently takes first place in all criteria - his stability, rating, style of play and ability to fight with the elite are impressive. Pragnanandha is almost on par, his achievements and game against the strongest stand out.

You have reached the end of my blog. It is always sad to finish, I still wanted to tell you a lot about these chess geniuses, but there is so much information that it is easier to write a new blog. I really hope that you found it at least a little interesting to read, or that I at least once brought a smile to your face when you read this blog.

Of course, the chess world has a huge number of talents and it is very pleasing that there are always more and more new ones. It is also nice that young people are interested in chess and will definitely not let the world forget about this sport. 

Today I showed my favorite chess players who are under 20, but I think that you will agree with some facts in this blog (for example, that Gukesh deservedly won, and his compatriot is creating good competition for him).

Well, I will finish on this positive note and hope that this blog has added at least 1% of benefit, positivity to your general mood.

Until next time!

Thanks for reading!