Young contenders

Popular wisdom has it that the smartphone has shrivelled teenagers’ attention spans. But they are getting better at chess, and there is no doubt that technology is the main driver. Chess knowledge is more widely accessible than ever before, with any number of sparring partners, courses and coaches (like me!) available online. Chess engines, such as the famous ‘Stockfish’ program, are far more useful as training tools than they were 20 years ago, when they were tactically unbeatable but strategically patchy. These days their suggestions are invariably sound, and can harnessed for post-game feedback after playing human opponents. For promising young players, with the right guidance, there is no end of opportunity.

Garry Kasparov became a grandmaster at age 17, and Viswanathan Anand at 18. But Andy Woodward, from the US, recently completed his qualification for the grandmaster title at the age of 13. That is an immense achievement, but even so it is not the record: Abhimanyu Misha, also from the US, in 2021 achieved his title at the age of 12.