Eleven-year-old IM Roman Shogdzhiev scored a grandmaster norm at the Asian Individual Championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The Russian player broke an 18-year-old record by finishing undefeated against six grandmasters.
Shogdzhiev scored 6 out of 9 points at the event held from May 29 to June 6. Seeded 50th in a 143-player field, he placed 10th overall after drawing with GM Sasikiran Krishnan in the final round. At 11 years, 4 months and 1 day old, he surpassed the previous mark set by GM Ilya Nyzhnyk in 2008. The player defeated GMs Ilamparthi A R and Li Di while remaining unbeaten in all six games against grandmasters. Shogdzhiev's mother said he learned chess from his father at age four and has been dedicated since. Coach GM Evgeny Tomashevsky noted the pressure on the young talent but described his play at age 10 as nearly unique. Magnus Carlsen commented on an earlier performance by Shogdzhiev, saying it was fun to see and that the player might reach the top in a few years. The prodigy stated his goal is to become world champion.
