Youngest player in the top ten?

Breaking into the 2700+ group happened over the course of his massacre of Topalov in their six-game match. That means the Turkish boy will officially join the 2700 club in the next FIDE rating list at 14 years, 10 months and 27 days, clearly improving on the previous record set by Wei Yi, who crossed the same rating barrier at 15 years, 8 months and 27 days. The next three in line – Alireza Firouzja, Gukesh Dommaraju and Magnus Carlsen – were all 16 years old when they achieved the same feat.

Actually Erdogmus breached the 2700 barrier in live ratings after his victory in the 5th game, played on April 16, 2026, when he hit 2704. Yagız was born on June 3, 2011, so he was 14 years, 10 months, and 13 days old on that day. 

You can see the Elo climb via 2700chess.com, or follow it on ChessBase Players:

Youngest top ten player

So this chess phenom is clearly on a path to the top ten in the world. But will he be the youngest ever when he gets there? We started researching the question when I received an email from our colleague Alber Silver, who wrote:

Here’s a quiz question for you. Who is the youngest official top ten player ever?

I’ll give you a hint. It is not Garry, who did it at a superb 17 years and 8 months, or Magnus, even more impressive at 17 years and 5 months. You might scratch your head and wonder if I am thinking of Bobby, who after all was a Candidate at age 16. One would have to rely on the retro Elo calculations of Jeff Sonas, which may be construed as not quite official. Judit? Nope, she was 19 when she cracked the top ten. She was rated 2675 and number ten in the world at the time.  

No, the crushing record holder is none other than Gata Kamsky, who at age 16 years zero months and 29 days became the world number 8, at 2650 Elo, in July 1990.

Here’s a table of the youngest top-tenners:

Can Yagiz Kaan break Kamsky’s record? He was born on June 3, 2011, so his deadline: July 2, 2027. He has approximately 14.5 months remaining to bridge the gap from his current live ranking of #29 to the Top 10. For that he needs to reach a rating of approximately 2755–2760 (the current threshold occupied by players like Arjun Erigaisi and Anish Giri). He needs to gain roughly 46 points enter the top ten. 

Gaining 45+ points at the 2700 level is incredibly difficult, even for a prodigy. However, Erdoğmuş is currently gaining points at a historic pace, having just broken the 2700 barrier almost a full year faster than the previous record holder, Wei Yi.

So will he make it? My prediction: piece of cake!

The oldest player

Albert supplied us with a further tidbit:

Who was the oldest player to break into the Top 10 for the very first time? The greatest late-bloomer is Michal Krasenkow, who broke 2700 for the first time at the age of 36 years and 8 months, hitting number 10 in July 2000.