Who Is Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş? Teenager Takes Down Arjun Erigaisi At Tata Steel Masters

Last Updated:January 25, 2026, 09:11 IST

Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş stuns Tata Steel Masters by beating Arjun Erigaisi, rising as the youngest grandmaster and chess prodigy from Turkey.

Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş beat Arjun Erigaisi in Round 7 of Tata Steel Masters (Picture credit: Lennart Ootes)

Turkish teenager Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş on Saturday, January 24, made Tata Steel Masters sit up and take notice when he beat India’s Arjun Erigaisi with black pieces in the seventh round of the tournament, comprehensively outplaying his 22-year-old opponent.

This was not Erdogmus’ first big win, as he had also defeated Jorden van Foreest in Round 6 of the tournament, having drawn against the likes of Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Hans Niemann, losing only to Javokhir Sindarov till now.

Erdogmus is currently fourth in the standings, behind Niemann and ahead of Vladimir Fedoseev.

Who is Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş

A chess prodigy, Erdoğmuş earned the International Master title before the age of 12, becoming the youngest from Turkey to do so. In 2024, he rose to become the fourth-youngest grandmaster in history and later that year the youngest player ever to cross the 2600 Elo mark.

As of November 2025, Erdoğmuş is the youngest grandmaster in the world.

Yağız was born in Bursa, Turkey, to parents Gülsüm and Selahattin Erdoğmuş. He was introduced to chess by his kindergarten teacher and started playing the game at the age of six.

In 2018, Erdoğmuş claimed the U-8 title at the 6th Çeşme International Open Chess Tournament and followed it up by winning the same age-group category at the 2019 Turkey Youth Chess Championship.

Later that year, Erdoğmuş dominated the U-8 European Chess Championship, winning all eight of his matches and sealing the title before the final round.

Erdoğmuş earned the International Master title at the 3rd FIDE Council in 2022, after a brilliant showing at the Svetozar Gligorić Memorial Chess Tournament in Serbia. That year, he also won the ChessKid Youth Speed Chess Championship online. In 2023, he finished ninth at the same event with 7.5 points from 10 matches, while continuing to take part in advanced training and competitive tournaments.

In April 2024, Erdoğmuş’s performances at the Grenke Chess Festival propelled him to the grandmaster rank, making him the fourth-youngest GM in history.

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