Chess: Turkey’s Yagiz Erdogmus, 14, reaches record 2700 rating – ‘now for 2800 and 2900’

Erdogmus’s next tournament will be at the beginning of next month, when the annual TePe Sigeman competition takes place in Malmö, Sweden, from 1-7 May. The field is headed by no less than Magnus Carlsen, making one of his increasingly rare appearances in a classical event. Other significant entries in the eight-player field include the in-form Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, and Jorden van Foreest. Carlsen is on record as describing Erdogmus as “the best 14-year-old the world has ever seen”.

Financial support for the prodigy comes from the Turkish billionaire entrepreneur Evren Ucok, whose backing has enabled Erdogmus to access top coaching and grandmaster competition. Ucok also helps a small number of other international talents, both boys and girls. The only non-Turkish girl in his squad is Bodhana Sivanandan, who recently became England’s No 1-rated female at the age of just 11.

The European individual championship, staged last week in Katowice, Poland, ended with the most surprising result in its 26-year history. All the previous winners were grandmasters, but the 2026 champion, Roman Dehtiarov, was still only an international master. Dehtiarov was also the youngest-ever winner at age 17, and the lowest-ever seed, ranked No 126 in a record entry of 501 players.

Dehtiarov comes from Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, which is close to the front line in the war with Russia. In 2022, an evacuation to England, where several other Ukrainian talents now live, was arranged for his family, but the then 14-year-old refused to abandon his father.

Fide’s rules for the European championship include a provision for its winner, if not already a grandmaster, to be awarded the title instantly. This meant that Dehtiarov began his final round game against his nearest rival David Anton, the No 1 from Spain, knowing that victory would give him the GM title in addition to the €20,000 first prize and qualification for the 2027 World Cup.

The European Championship was also a success for Azerbaijan, whose players took the second, third, and fourth prizes. England’s trio of GM Matthew Wadsworth, GM Shreyas Royal, and IM Jonah Willow all scored 6.5/11 and had small rating declines, while IM Aaravamudhan Balaji (6) and WFM Zoe Varney (5) played to their ratings.

England has traditionally been one of the dominant nations in the annual World Senior Team Championships, whose 2026 edition began at Durres, Albania, on Sunday, and this year has sent a record total of 56 players spread over 12 teams, six in the over-65, where England are the defending champions, and six in the over-50.

For any chess player who lived through it, the English Chess Explosion of the 1970s and 1980s was an exhilarating experience, with team successes against the mighty Soviets and individual achievements by Tony Miles, Nigel Short and others, so it is natural that the 2026 championships evoke a sense of à la recherche du temps perdu for older players.

England 50+ are strengthened by the inclusion of GM Danny Gormally, who turns 50 in May (Fide reckons all birth dates from 1 January) and have the eight-time reigning British champion Michael Adams on top board, but they are seeded behind the USA squad of mainly ex-Soviets.

England 50+ won their first three matches, but were close to dropping points against Canada, where Adams survived a lost position, and Iceland, whose former world title candidate Jóhann Hjartarson missed several good chances until Adams eventually survived in an endgame of rook against two knights. The match was turned round by the England captain, GM John Emms, who produced a vintage minor piece ending in the last game to finish. Adams’s poor form finally brought a zero in round four, against Kazakhstan, when Gormally also lost to offset wins by Mark Hebden, who scored with a zestful attack, and Emms in a 2-2 draw.

England 65+ have GM John Nunn on top board, and won their first three matches, but drew all four games against Germany in round four.

50+ after five rounds (of nine): USA and Italy 9/10, Hungary and Alkaloid Macedonia 8, then four teams on 7. England are seventh on board count after losing to USA 1.5-2.5 (three draws and a loss for Hebden). 65+ after five rounds: France 9/10, then eight teams on 8/10, including England who are fifth on board count after a 2-2 draw with Israel (win for Paul Littlewood, loss for Peter Large).

There are more than 400 competitors in Durres and photographs from the playing hall show crowded conditions, with minimal space between boards. Looking at the pictures, I was reminded of the notorious Room 18 on the top floor of St Bride’s Institute, Ludgate Circus, the longtime London League venue where once play started you were trapped in your chair and had to manoeuvre your score sheet between g1 and h1.

Play in the World Senior Teams continues on Saturday with round six (of nine), following Friday’s rest day. The five top matches from both the 65+ and 50+ can be viewed live starting at 2.15pm BST.

4021 1…Rg4+! 2 Kxg4 Qg2+ 3 Kh5 Qf3 mate.