Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the Azerbaijani grandmaster who is the sixth highest-rated player in history, a man who once touched 2820 and sat at World No. 2, wants Erdogmus at 2900. (Credit: Beil International Chess Festival and Selim Gurcan/Monte-Carlo Chess Club)Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is the youngest player in history to cross a live rating of 2700, taking the record from China’s Wei Yi. He got to 2600 first too, at 13 years, 2 months, 15 days. He held the highest rating ever recorded for a player his age before he turned 12, before 13, before 14. He was the youngest into the world’s top 100, the youngest into the top 50, the youngest into the top 20. He is currently World No. 26, rated 2716.He may not fully realise what any of that adds up to yet. But the wheels are already turning.“Ediz and I are trying to make chess more popular in Turkey,” he says, tying himself to Ediz Gürel, the 17-year-old alongside whom he is leading a new generation of the country’s players. “It’s not as popular as in India, so we are trying to change that. I hope Turkey becomes one of the best countries in chess.”Turkey has had good players before him: Mustafa Yılmaz, Emre Can, Vahap Şanal. Erdogmus is something else, and Magnus Carlsen, who does not hand out praise easily, has said so. “He’s an incredible player. The best 14-year-old that the world has ever seen.” Erdogmus with Mamedyarov (Credit: Selim Gurcan/Monte-Carlo Chess Club)His coach thinks bigger still. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the Azerbaijani grandmaster who is the sixth highest-rated player in history, a man who once touched 2820 and sat at World No. 2, wants Erdogmus at 2900. Nobody has ever gotten there. Reaching it would mean finding, and beating, a deep pool of 2800-rated opponents, over and over. Mamedyarov saw something in the boy early enough to put his own career on hold for it.Erdogmus knows exactly what is being asked of him. “2900 is very tough,” he says. “Magnus is the greatest in history, and he couldn’t reach 2900. I can do that, but it’s going to be very tough. I’m not feeling the pressure now because it’s early. First, I have to reach 2750, and I have other goals. But 2900 is very tough. I will give my best. I hope it can happen.”They no longer share a team. Mamedyarov plays for a rival side in the Global Chess League now, but the arrangement hasn’t really changed. “We have a good relationship,” Erdogmus says. “He prepares for all my games. We always talk with each other. He always sends me some lines when I need them. He’s helping me a lot, and he also plays competitive chess at this age, which is impressive. He will also be my opponent here, so it’s going to be interesting games.”Story continues below this adAsk him what kind of player he is and the answer arrives without hesitation. “Strategic and tactical,” he calls himself. “My calculation is also very good, but I like to do sacrifices as well. Then I realised it actually makes me more of a positional player.”Also Read | GCL 2026: American Gambits dominate with two wins, Carlsen’s Pipers edge past Mumba MastersIt started, as these things often do, without any of this weight attached to it. “We had a lesson in kindergarten. I looked at the pieces and liked the game, so I decided to play. We went to a chess course, and I really liked it. I was beating everyone, and that motivated me. Chess makes me very happy.”For now, the target closer to home is smaller than 2900. At the Global Chess League, Erdogmus plays for PBG Alaskan Knights alongside Viswanathan Anand and Arjun Erigaisi, sharing a dressing room with the very generation of Indian chess he says Turkey is still trying to catch up to. He hasn’t decided yet which of Anand’s old games he wants to study. But he already knows the question he wants to ask him: how did you train, when you were still preparing for the World Championship.