Roman Shogdzhiev, 11, Is One GM Norm From Mishra's Record

IM Roman Shogdzhiev, 11, scored his second GM norm on Monday in the Serbian Super League. He now needs one more norm and 29 rating points to pass GM Abhimanyu Mishra’s 2021 mark as the youngest grandmaster in chess history.

He played board one for Partizan Belgrade in the team event, a heavy assignment for a player his age. He finished on 6/9 after drawing Hungarian GM Ferenc Berkes in round nine, then sat out the last two rounds. His only loss came in round seven, against Santhosh.

The wins behind the norm

Three of those points came against grandmasters rated above 2600. Shogdzhiev beat Ivan Cheparinov (2631), Bharath Subramaniyam (2603) and Jingyao Tin (2602).

The Cheparinov game was the standout. Cheparinov is a four-time Bulgarian champion who currently works with super GM Alireza Firouzja, and Shogdzhiev was in control from start to finish.

Elsewhere he showed fighting spirit, grinding out wins in the endgame rather than relying only on opening preparation or a single tactical blow. Technique like that against 2600-level opposition is what separates a promising junior from a norm-scoring one.

The numbers

His performance rating came out at 2662, comfortably above the 2600 a GM norm requires. He also gained 26.1 rating points, lifting his live rating to 2471.1.

That rating is the second hurdle. The GM title needs a 2500 rating alongside the norms, so the 29 points he still lacks is the gap between 2471.1 and 2500. Gains of the size he just made suggest that gap is not large, and ratings move quickly for juniors with a high K-factor, which helps a rising player.

What stands between him and the record

The remaining task is one more norm, which means another strong event against titled opposition with enough GMs in the field and a performance near 2600 again. That is hard to schedule and harder to deliver, but he has just done it against a field that included three 2600-plus players.

The clock is part of the story. Mishra became a grandmaster at 12 years, four months and 25 days in June 2021, so Shogdzhiev, now 11 years and eight months, has until late June 2027 to beat that. If he completes the requirements before his 12th birthday on February 4, he would be the first grandmaster ever under 12. His next norm event has not been announced.