Erdogmatism: young Turk in chess

In previous columns I have animadverted upon the exploits of alarmingly youthful players who are, nevertheless, making a definite mark on the international chess scene. The most recent manifestation of precocious and prodigious talent has been the shared second prize won by the 13-year-old Turkish Grandmaster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus at the TePe Sigeman tournament in Sweden. Erdogmus particularly distinguished himself by defeating the 2700 level Hungarian GM Richard Rapport.

In 1964, I won the British under-18 championship, while still eligible for the under-16 section. At the time, this was regarded as remarkable precocity; twelve years later, at the age of 28, I secured the Grandmaster title. Nowadays these feats would have indicated that I was hopelessly retarded as a chess player.

In fact, before titles and ratings were formalised, accounts abound of amazingly youthful chess prodigies. José Raul Capablanca allegedly picked up the moves of the game aged four, simply by watching his father play. Then there was Paul Morphy, who at twelve defeated the illustrious European Master Löwenthal. Perhaps most spectacular of all, Bobby Fischer became US champion at the age of fourteen and victor of the so-called Game of the Century when he was thirteen. I have written about prodigies for TheArticle here.

It seems to me that there must be some quality which links chess, music and mathematics. I believe that quality to be an inner harmony, which connects all three activities and which the youthful human brain is capable of identifying. The striking factor is that prodigies in chess, music and mathematics are capable of performing at the highest level without significant prior experience.

It would be unthinkable for a child or young teenager to paint like Leonardo da Vinci or write with the depth and insight of Tolstoy or Shakespeare, since the relative life experience would not yet have been accumulated — in general such dimensions would be missing. For music, mathematics and chess, on the other hand, the prodigies appear to be able to leap the chasm of experience and tap directly into an underlying harmony, a harmony which most of us cannot easily perceive. According to Wikipedia, here is a  …

courtesy: Wikipedia

However, a correction is necessary. The chart above has inexplicably omitted a couple of entries, one all the stranger, for being the subject of the Wiki column. They follow:

1. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus: In April 2024, he became the third youngest Grandmaster, at 12 years, 9 months, and 29 days;
2. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa:In June 2018, he became the fourth youngest Grandmaster, at 12 years 10 months and 14 days.

Erdogmus appears to have developed a magic formula for victory, open the f-file, double rooks and then sacrifice the lead rook to force checkmate.

Damirali Magzumov vs Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus

FIDE World Blitz Team, Astana, 2024, rd. 7

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Be3 c5 5. c3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. h3 Nxe4 10. Bxf7+ Rxf7 11. Nxe4 Qa5+ 12. Nc3 h6 13. O-O Bd7 14. Qb3?! 

We shall see at the finish, that this redeployment of White’s most powerful piece is a shot in the foot. White has a most satisfactory game after, 15. d5 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bd4 (stronger than 16. Bxh6) 16… Bxd4 17. Qxd4, with a comfortable position.

14… Rf8 15. Kh2?

A passive defence of the h3-square, placing his king in danger. Pro-active and more productive is, once again, 15. d5 Nb4 16. Rad1 Na6 17. Nd4 Nc5 18. Qc2 Kh7, with chances for White to reconnect his distant queen with the action on the other flank.

15… Kh7 16. Rac1 Rxf3!

17. gxf3?

An instinctive but disastrous reaction, leaving White with no defence for his light squares. He can try 17. d5 Rxe3 18. fxe3 Rxf1 19. Rxf1 Ne5 20. Qxb7 Qc5, although Black still has two pieces for a rook, plus the better structure and safer king. Indeed, the win is at hand.

17… Qh5 18. Ne4 Bxh3 19. Ng3 Qh4 20. Kg1 Rxf3 21. d5??

Having avoided d5 for so long … checkmate is now inevitable after 21… Rxg3+ 22. fxg3 Qxg3+ 23. Kh1 Qg2#

21… Rxg3+ White resigns 0-1

Ilia Smirin vs. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus

FIDE World Blitz Team, Astana, 2024, rd. 3

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6

White’s best now is 3. c4.

3. Nc3 b5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bb7 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nxc6 Bxc6 8. O-O e6 9. a4 b4 10. Nb1 Bd6 11. Nd2 Ne7 12. Qe2 Ng6 13. Nf3 O-O 14. Bg5 Qc7 15. Rfe1 Bf4 16. g3 Bxg5 17. Nxg5 Ne5 18. Nf3 Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 f5 20. Qe2 f4 21. Bxa6 Rf7 22. Bb5 Raf8 23. Rf1 Qe5 24. Bxc6 dxc6 25. a5 f3?

Up until this point, neither player had forged a tangible advantage, the initiative alternating between them. However, the text is a mistake by Black, offering his opponent a promising opportunity to impose his advantage. Black can maintain the equilibrium with 25… Qxb2 26. Qc4 Qe5 27. a6 h6 28. Qxb4 fxg3 29. fxg3 Rxf1+ 30. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Qa1+ 32. Kf2 Qxa6.

26. Qe3??

Catastrophic. White should be enjoying a comfortable advantage after the continuation, 26. Qc4 h6 27. a6 c5 28. c3 Ra7 29. Rfd1 bxc3 30. bxc3, but after the text move, it is Black that inherits a clear win. White can parry the threat of …Qh5-h3 by moving his f1-rook and retreating his queen to f1.

26… Qh5 27. h4 Rf4 White resigns 0-1

There is no defence to …Rxh4.

I cannot suppress the suspicion that Erdogmus has based his winning formula on the following early masterpiece by Boris Spassky.

Semyon Furman vs. Boris Spassky

USSR Championship, Moscow, 1957, rd. 18

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. e4 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Nh6

Already envisaging an opening of the f-file as a conduit for attack.

7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 f5 9. exf5 Bxd4

White’s next recapture is natural but strategically mistaken. Much the best is 10. Bxh6! It should be noted that this is a reversal of the optimal positioning of White’s QB

recommended at move 14 from Erdogmus’ win against Magzumov, cited above.

10. Bxd4 Nxf5 11. Bc5 d6 12. Ba3 Nfd4 13. O-O Bf5 14. Rc1 Qd7 15. Nd5 Rf7 16. b3 Raf8 17. Bb2 e5 18. b4 Be6 19. Bd3 Bg4

The prelude to a devastating invasion of White’s camp.

20. f3 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Nxf3+ 22. Kh1 Qh3 23. Rf2 Ne1 White resigns 0-1

Ray’s 206th book, “  Chess in the Year of the King  ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “  Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius  ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwells. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with chess playing artist Barry Martin,  Chess through the Looking Glass ,  is now also available from Amazon. 

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