 "Roman Shogdzhiev becomes youngest chess player to secure International Master norm")
Roman Shogdzhiev, 9, has become the youngest player in the history of chess to secure an International Master (IM) norm, and also became only one of three players to surpass the ELO rating of 2300 before turning 10 years old. Shogdzhiev secured the norm at 9 years, 10 months and 7 days, which is almost a month younger than Argentine chess prodigy Faustino Oro. The Russian chess player achieved the feat during the RadnickiChess IM tournament that was held in Serbia’s Belgrade in December.
Roman finished that tournament in second place with a score of 7 out of 9 points, behind Servia’s Suat Atalik with 7.5 points. Roman sealed the norm with a draw against Serbian Grandmaster Branko Damljanović. There were two Grandmasters and two International Masters competing in the tournament. American chess Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra had secured his first IM norm when he was 10 years and 9 months.
‘Happy with my results this year’: Roman
“I am happy with my results this year. I did quite well in many ways and played well. Next year I set myself the goal of getting the title of international master,” Roman told Chess.com. Roman has a classical rating of 2349 in January and has thus become the world’s highest-rated player below the age of 11. Roman’s parents know that there will be high expectations going forward.
“Roman will be looked at as a rising star of chess, and now he will have to live up to high expectations.
“At the same time, success gives confidence in his abilities. Roman certainly feels that he is capable of a lot, and this will give him additional motivation,” his parents told Chess.com.
When he was just eight years old, Roman defeated five Grandmasters at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships in 2023. In November last year, he became the world champion in the U10 open category and a year prior, he won the World Youth Under 8 Championship. In 2022, he won the European Youth Under 8 Championship.
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