'Best 14-Year-Old That The World Has Ever Seen' Erdogmus Climbs In February Rating List

GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was recently described by GM Magnus Carlsen as the strongest 14-year-old in the history of the game. He's demonstrated his ability in recent months, and gained more points than anyone else among the world's top-100 players in the February rating list. 

Erdogmus gained 11 points to reach a rating of 2669, making him the 46th highest rated player in the world. Erdogmus' gains came from a December match against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. His rating will continue to increase next month after his success in the recently concluded Tata Steel Masters tournament, which gave him a live rating of 2687. Tata Steel will be officially rated in the March rating list. Erdogmus has more than a year to reach 2700 and break GM Wei Yi's record as the youngest to ever break that mark!

After 2 losses, 14-year-old Erdogmus bounces back to beat Fedoseev, finishing with a pawn checkmate! https://t.co/X7kxOC6Akt pic.twitter.com/g58CEAlEod

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 31, 2026

Erdogmus was the only player in the world's top-100 to gain more than 10 points in January. Other players with a strong start to the year included former Candidates participant GM Kirill Alekseenko, who gained nine points to reach 2648. The biggest rating gains among players in the top-20 went to GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who gained eight points to reach 2739 and the number-14 spot in the rankings. American GM Awonder Liang continued his recent run of post-college success, gaining six points and reaching a career best rating of 2719, entering the world's top-25 for the first time.

Some of the players with recent success in the 2025 FIDE World Cup struggled to maintain their higher ratings. GM Jose Martinez dropped 11 points to 2656 and GM Alexander Donchenko dropped 10 points to 2655. The top player with the most difficult month was Vachier-Lagrave, who dropped 14 points to a rating of 2720 and outside of the world's top-20, mostly from his match against Erdogmus.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100: February 1, 2026

The biggest gains among the top juniors went to Israeli GM Yahli Sokolovsky, who won this country's national championship and gained 30 rating points, reaching 2567. 

19-year-old Yahli Sokolovsky (🇮🇱 2537) is the new Israeli Champion. pic.twitter.com/RGRERwmVTO

— David Llada ♞ (@davidllada) January 28, 2026

Erdogmus' 11 points place him second among all juniors, behind only the world champion, Gukesh D. Gukesh is such a fixture among the chess elite these days it can be difficult to remember that he's just 19 years old. As GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has aged off the junior rating lists, Gukesh has firmly solidified himself as the world's top junior player, leading the rankings in all three categories: classical, rapid, and blitz. 

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 25 Juniors: February 1, 2026

January was a tough month for the top women on the rating list. The four highest-rated women all lost rating, particularly the world's number one, GM Hou Yifan, who lost 17 points in the Chinese League and fell below 2600 for the first time since 2013. GM Tan Zhongyi was the only woman among the top 20 to gain rating, earning 11 points and reaching 2535 and the fifth spot in the rankings. The top gainer in the women's top-100 was WIM Rachael Li, from the U.S.A., gaining 36 points to enter the women's top-100 for the first time with a rating of 2358.

FIDE Classical Ratings Top 100 Women: February 1, 2026

Outside of the world's top players, Indian player Ragul Arul Dass gained an astounding 293 points to reach 1704. At a higher level, Joemel Narzabal from the Philippines, gained 276 points and ended the month at 2115. Among titled players, FM Ezra Paul Chambers, representing Burundi, gained the most points, adding 67 and climbing to 2410. 

Prodigy Watch: Erdogmus Is Probably More Impressive Than You Think

The Prodigy Watch by Chess By The Numbers founder Tai Pruce-Zimmerman tracks the progress of young chess superstars, with his "prodigy rank," a measure of how a player's current rating at their current age compares historically. If there are 11 players in chess history who have been rated higher at or before the player's age, then the player would have a prodigy rank of 12. You can read more about Prodigy Watch here.

This month's Prodigy Watch update reminds us that perhaps we don't say enough about Erdogmus. Yes he has held a #1 Prodigy Rank (meaning he is the highest rated player of all time at or before his age) for 21 straight months. Yes he has cemented his place as the greatest 13 to 14 year old chess player of all time. But one thing Prodigy Rank doesn't tell us is how far ahead a #1 prodigy is compared to the second best historical player at the same age.

Prodigy Watch Top 15: February 1, 2026

Rated 2669 at the age of 14.67 this month, Erdogmus is 61 rating points ahead of the next best same-aged player (Praggnanandhaa, 2608). That is a massive gap. The second youngest player to exceed Erdogmus' current rating was Carlsen at the age of 15.58, meaning Erdogmus could extend his streak of #1 Prodigy Ranks another 10 months without playing another game. And for a third angle of the same concept we note that at 14 years old Erdogmus already has the 10th highest rating anyone has ever achieved before their 17th birthday! He is literally years ahead of the curve! And all of this still underrates him because by the time this article went to print, he had added 18 more rating points to his live rating at Tata Steel, which wasn't included in this month's rating update.

But maybe 14 year olds pushing 2700 aren't what you're here for. You feel a player is not really a "prodigy" anymore, once they're in the world top-50? Good news, this month's rating list was also extraordinary for a number of 10 year olds! Highlighting the list was Aarit Kapil, 10.39 years old, whose rating shot up 138 points after a month in which he beat five different 2300+ opponents across two events. Now rated 2271, his Prodigy Rank soared to #11.

Started working with 10-year-old Aarit Kapil a few months ago. Congrats to him on winning a rapid tournament today 👏
Early days still. Credit to his long-term coach Vishal Sareen and supportive parents. Excited about a talent after a long time! pic.twitter.com/mKFKwvi5JJ

— Srinath Narayanan (@srinathchess) February 1, 2026

Additionally, we have four players born in 2016 whose birthdays we don't know. Conservatively calling them all 10.09 years old (though they could be as much as a year younger), all four jumped into the top 50 of our list this month with huge rating gains and new personal rating records. Sarbartho Mani (2175), Han Nam Pham (2172), Michael Mortensen (2158) and Samuel Xu (2146) are the ones who joined the ranks of next prodigies to watch in coming years.

Prodigy Watch Top 13 Girls: February 1, 2026

On the girls side, three players in our top 50 achieved new personal rating records this month. All three are from the United States. Stella Xin at just 9.84 years old pushed her rating to 1972, and is the 12th best girl of all time for her age. Aimee Yang, 12.08 years old, hit a new peak of 2122 for a #34 Prodigy Rank. And WIM Rachael Li, just turned 16, achieved a #42 Prodigy Rank with her new personal best rating of 2358.

All data courtesy of FIDE.