World chess has found a new record holder - nine-year-old Russian Roman Shogdzhiev has become the youngest chess player in history to achieve the first international master standard. This achievement was recorded at the prestigious RadnickiChess IM tournament in Belgrade in December 2024, daily.afisha.ru reports with reference to Chess.com.

At the Belgrade tournament, the young talent demonstrated outstanding skill, scoring 7 points out of 9 possible. Roman's only defeat was inflicted on him by the experienced Turkish grandmaster Suat Atalik, a 60-year-old veteran who became the winner of the competition.

Shogdzhiev's path to the title of international master is not yet complete - he still has to meet the standards at two more tournaments and achieve a rating of 2400 Elo points. At the moment, the young chess player's indicators are quite impressive: 2349 points in classical chess, 2380 in rapid and 2400 in blitz.

The set record is especially impressive because Roman received his first master's point at the age of 9 years 10 months and 7 days, beating the previous record holder, Argentine Faustino Oro, by a whole month. Shogdzhiev is also among the elite three chess players who have overcome the 2300 point mark before reaching the age of 10.

Roman's chess career began at the age of 4, and by the age of 7 he had already become the youngest Russian champion among children under 9. His track record includes: two-time Russian championship (2023), victories at the international tournament in Egypt and the Asian Blitz Championship. As well as a successful debut at the adult World Rapid and Blitz Championship, where he defeated five grandmasters.

In 2024, Shogdzhiev also became the world champion in classical chess among children under 10 years old and the Russian champion in classical chess among children under 11 years old.