I don’t play chess, but I’ve always been fascinated by great players, their monomania and fast-developing talents, which seem to almost pull them along. But where it was easy in pre-digital times to announce a new prodigy, that isn’t the case in an age marked by so many advanced computer programs. From Dylan Loeb McCLain in the New York Times:

“After Bobby Fischer became a grandmaster at 15 in 1958, breaking the old record by three years, it was 1991 before Judit Polgar bettered his mark.

Since then, 33 other players, including Yi, have earned the title at a younger age than Fischer. The current record-holder is Sergey Karjakin of Russia, who did it in 2002 at 12 years, 7 months.

The onslaught of young grandmasters is the result of the development of strong chess computers that can be used for training as well as the creation of databases and the Internet, which give players easy access to tough competition. Since today’s young players have more tools than players of earlier eras and therefore mature more quickly, does that make them prodigies? It is difficult to say.”