Evren Ucok's $5 Million Bet on Young Chess Prodigies

Chess patrons usually fund a tournament or a federation. Turkish entrepreneur Evren Ucok has taken a different route. According to a ChessBase feature by FM Selim Gurcan, he has spent over $5 million on chess causes in three years, and most of it goes into a handful of very young players. Gurcan is not a neutral observer: a friend of Ucok’s since their teens, he helps run the programme.

Ucok’s stated motive is that chess counters the attention crisis among children raised on 15-second reels. He estimates that 50 to 100 hours of competitive chess improves concentration, humility and logical reasoning, and that the effect is permanent. That is his own estimate, not a research finding.

What the money buys

The programme covers more than coaching fees. It includes career and tournament advice, camps, sports psychology, tailored nutrition, fitness and, where needed, family stipends. Ucok also backs the Marseille Chess Club, the European Chess Union (for women’s and seniors’ chess), the Monte Carlo Chess Club and the Istanbul Chess Club.

Technology is part of it too: strong engines and a professional platform meant to curb cheating, stalling and trolling. His team also researched micro-devices used in over-the-board cheating and alerted FIDE, the ECU and national authorities.

Starting with Yagiz

It began in August 2023 with GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, a Turkish prodigy close to quitting for lack of support. Ucok committed to at least five years of backing. With GM Mert Erdogdu coaching, Yagiz went from zero GM norms to three in three consecutive tournaments, and the title came in April 2024.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov later took over as coach, and three “Clash of Generations” matches against super-GMs followed. Yagiz scored 12.5 from 18 and became the youngest player ever rated above 2700. He is now 15 and the world’s top junior.

At the Olympiad he played board one for Turkiye, scoring 8/10 (six wins, four draws) with a 2839 performance and a board-one silver. His live rating rose by 15 to 2731, No. 17 globally. Readers can check where that sits in our FIDE Top 100.

The wider group

The roster has grown well beyond Turkiye:

• Luca Protopopescu, 10, from Marseille, became the youngest ever above 2200, at 9 years and 5 days.
• Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, supported since January 2026, became the youngest girl to beat a 2600+ GM, breaking a record Judit Polgar set in 1988. She then became the youngest British Women’s Champion.

We covered her youngest-WGM milestone separately.

• Marc Llari, 13, won the U12 World Cup in June 2026 with 9/11, undefeated, and took a first IM norm at Spilimbergo in August.
• Christian Glöckler, 14, won the Biel Masters Open with 8/10 and a 2597 performance for a first GM norm.
• Atilla Kuru, 15, completed his GM title with a third norm at the Sants Barcelona Open, unbeaten with a 2656 performance.

Aydin Suleymanli, 21, and Isik Can, 21, complete the group. Suleymanli beat Mukhiddin Madaminov 4.5-1.5 in a six-game match, rose above 2670 and sits at No. 45. Can won the Liaocheng Rising Stars unbeaten and plays board three for Turkiye.

Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, the reigning European Women’s Champion, joined a July Marseille camp as a guest and leads Ukraine’s women’s team; our FIDE Women’s Top 25 shows the field she is part of.

A reading of the model

The notable feature is concentration. One patron, one coaching circle around Erdogdu and Mamedyarov, and a pipeline of norms, camps and invitational matches. Whether that produces more Yagizes, or just expensive early peaks, will be tested over the next few years. For now, Ucok’s own commitment to Yagiz runs to at least 2028.