Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

grandmaster. A

prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and 21 days. he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 18 in the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. His personal best rating of 2760 makes him the highest ranked Polish player of all time. Duda won the Polish Championship in 2018 and the Chess World Cup in 2021. He is a bronze medallist at the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

in 2021 and he also competed in the

Candidates Tournament 2022 The 2022 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament to decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2023. The tournament took place at the Palacio de Santoña in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5, 2022,Golden Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was aw ...

for his achievements in chess.

Chess career

2007–2008

In 2007, Duda placed first in the U8 Polish Youth Championship chess tournament. In 2008, Duda won the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

in the under-10 category and as a result he was awarded the title of

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. The same year, he also won the U8 Polish Youth Championship tournament for the second time.

2012

In 2012, Duda won the Polish under-18 championship in Solina and the

European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 there was als ...

in the under-14 category in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. In the same year, he tied for first with Jan Krejčí in the

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

Chess Summer tournament and was awarded the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

2013–2014

In May 2013, Duda achieved his final

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...

required for the title of Grandmaster, in the European Individual Championship, at the age of 15 years and 21 days. This made him the second youngest grandmaster in the world at the time. Duda also thus became the second youngest Polish grandmaster ever, after Dariusz Świercz. In April 2013, he came first in the First Saturday GM tournament in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. In August, Duda took part as a

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

presidential nominee in the

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, form ...

, where he was eliminated in the first round by

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...

. In October, FIDE officially awarded him the title of Grandmaster. In August 2014, Duda played for the Polish team at the 41st

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway, scoring 8.5/11 on board three. In December 2014, he won the European

Rapid Chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...

Championship and took silver in the European

Blitz Chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...

Championship, both held in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, Poland.

2015–2016

In July 2015, Duda won the Lake Sevan

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

Martuni, Armenia Martuni ( hy, Մարտունի), is a town and urban municipal community in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia, located on the southern shores of Lake Sevan. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 12,894. As per the 2016 official e ...

. In September 2015, he finished equal first with Mikhail Antipov in the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty language, Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi language, Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the admini ...

, Russia, and received a silver medal after tiebreaks. In 2016, he was awarded by the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and the ...

(not related) the Silver Cross of Merit for his "great sports achievements in 2016 as well as contributions to popularizing the game of chess".

2017–2018

On 1 July 2017, Duda became the first Polish junior player to break the 2700 barrier in FIDE rating, achieving the highest ranking in his chess career so far. With a rating of 2707, he was the second highest ranked Polish player and 41st in the world at the time. In May 2018, Duda won the

Polish Chess Championship Individual Polish Chess Championship is the most important Polish chess tournament, aiming at selecting the best chess players in Poland. Based on the results of the tournament (mainly), the Polish Chess Federation selects the national and subsequ ...

with a score of 6½/9 (+4–0=5), a full point ahead of runner-up

Kacper Piorun Kacper Piorun (born 24 November 1991) is a Polish chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in September 2012. He is a five-time winner of the World Chess Solving Championship, and two-time winner of the Polish Chess Champion ...

. He recorded victories over Piorun,

Radosław Wojtaszek Radosław Wojtaszek (born 13 January 1987) is a Polish chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Polish champion. Wojtaszek has acted as Viswanathan Anand's second, assisting the former world chess champion in his successful title defence match a ...

, Daniel Sadzikowski, and Aleksander Miśta. In July 2018, he became the No. 1 ranked Polish player and the No. 1 ranked junior in the world, outstripping Wojtaszek and

Wei Yi Wei Yi (born 2 June 1999) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th Chess prodigy#List of youngest grandmasters, youngest in history. He is the youngest ...

, respectively. In July 2018, Duda competed in the 46th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, placing fourth with a score of 4/7 (+2–1=4). During the 2018 Chess Olympiad held in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, he defeated

and drew against

Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenians, Armenian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A ches ...

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of ...

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United Sta ...

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oghlu Mammadyarov ( az, Şəhriyar Həmid oğlu Məmmədyarov; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is ranked No. 1 in Azerbaijan and No. 13 in the world. ...

and

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken b ...

, claiming fourth place overall with the Polish team. In 2018, Duda reached the semi-finals of the Speed Chess Championship after beating Karjakin and

Alexander Grischuk Alexander Igorevich Grischuk (born October 31, 1983) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Grischuk was the Russian champion in 2009. He is also a three-time world blitz chess champion (in 2006, 2012 and 2015). He has competed in five Candidates ...

, eventually losing to

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...

. In December 2018, Duda finished in second place in the

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, scoring 16½/21 (+15–3=3), half a point behind the winner

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

2019–2020

In January 2019, he became the first ever Polish chess player to exceed 2800 barrier in the blitz category. In November 2019, Duda participated in the Hamburg

FIDE Grand Prix The FIDE Grand Prix is a biennial series of chess tournaments, organized by FIDE and its commercial partner Agon. Each series consist of three to six chess tournaments, which form part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship or ...

tournament, which is part of the qualification cycle for the

World Chess Championship 2020 The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Expo 20 ...

. The tournament was a 16-player event. On 13 November, Duda reached the finals losing to

during the tie-breaks. In January 2020, Duda participated in 2020 Tata Steel Chess Tournament and finished the tournament in 8th place with a score of 6½/13 (+1-1=11), which is the same score as former Chess World Champion

, and

Alireza Firouzja Alireza Firouzja ( fa, علی‌رضا فیروزجا, ; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest ever 2800- rated player, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months ...

. In May 2020, he achieved his first victory over the reigning Chess World Champion

by beating him in Round 7 of the

Lindores Abbey Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh, Fife, Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a reduced ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores and is a scheduled ancient monumen ...

Rapid Chess Challenge, with the game entering an

English Opening The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move: :1. c4 A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins th ...

(King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line). On 10 October 2020, he again defeated Magnus Carlsen (in a Caro–Kann Defence, Tartakower Variation) at the

Altibox Altibox is a unified brand name for Broadband, IPTV and VoIP services distributed in Norway and Denmark with over 35 local Norwegian and 6 Danish FTTH networks. Altibox was set up by Southwestern Norwegian multi-utility firm Lyse Energi Lyse ...

Norway Chess Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...

tournament held in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. It was Carlsen's first defeat after a 125-game unbeaten streak in classical chess. At the

FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 The FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 was an online chess tournament organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and hosted by Chess.com. It was held between 24 July and 30 August. The event was organised after the 44th Ch ...

, he won bronze medal after the Polish team reached the semi-finals of the tournament and lost in a match-deciding tie-break 1-2 against India.

2021–2022

At the 2021

, he won bronze medal with the Polish team, which also included

, Wojciech Moranda and Paweł Teclaf. In July–August 2021, Duda competed in the

Chess World Cup 2021 The Chess World Cup 2021 was a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia, beginning 12 July and ending 6 August 2021. It was the 9th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner of this tournament was the Polis ...

. In round five, Duda defeated the Russian GM

in the rapid tiebreaker after drawing the classical games. He then knocked out

Vidit Gujrathi Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. he is the second highest rated player in India (behind Viswana ...

in the quarterfinals and eliminated the World Chess Champion

in the tiebreaker of the semifinals to qualify for the 2022 Candidates Tournament. He went on to win the Chess World Cup by beating former World Cup winner

in the finals with a score of 1.5-0.5. In December, he won the European Blitz Chess Championship held in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

, Poland. At the 2021 World Rapid Chess Championship held at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

in Warsaw, Poland, he finished fifth while at the jointly-held 2021

he finished second behind only

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest r ...

. From the perspective of the sum of the scores of these two championships in the same event, he was the player with the highest score: 24 points. In April 2022, Duda won the Oslo Esports Cup ahead of

, Anish Giri, and

. In May 2022, he won the Superbet Rapid & Blitz tournament (hosted in Warsaw as part of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour) with a convincing four-point lead ahead of

and

. In July 2022, he finished in the seventh place at the

Champions Chess Tour A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

, ahead of

Personal life

Duda graduated from the University School of Physical Education in Kraków in 2020. He enjoys listening to

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...