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9-year-old Ethan Pang breaks Faustino Oro’s record and becomes the youngest player in history

Posted on by Dsen .N
9-year-old Ethan Pang breaks Faustino Oro’s record and becomes the youngest player in history

Meet nine-year-old Ethan Pang from London, UK. This chess prodigy just fulfilled his dream after a series of incredible results earned him the title of Candidate Master and the record of the youngest player ever to break the 2,200-game barrier.

A seemingly endless generation of adolescents have come under the spotlight in recent years and continue to break records. The new kid on the block is Pang, a pupil at Westminster Under School in the heart of London. He has had a few exceptional months, racking up a whopping 334 rating points in just three tournaments since turning nine in March, rocketing from 1,878 to 2,212.

Pang’s last success was a 3/4 finish at the EACU County Team Championship in June, where he rose 48 rating points. His best result was a tie with 2493-rated IM Alan Merry from a supposedly winning position. He is unbeaten in his last 16 Classic games.

Ethan Pang’s rise in recent months has been meteoric. Source: FIDE.

Last week, Pang also competed in the U13 ChessKid Youth Championship, where he defeated none other than Grandmaster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the world’s youngest grandmaster.

Pang learned to play chess at school club at the age of five. When he was just seven, he tied in a simul with two-time British champion GM Gawain Jones. How did he become so good, so young?

“It seems like it all came down to practice in the end. When he has the opportunity to play with strong players, he takes it more seriously and fully engages. The constant practice and the opportunity to compete with different types of opponents were key factors in his chess development,” Ethan’s father, Raymond Pang, told Chess.com.

He noted that the ability to access online chess resources and compete with other players from around the world played a key role in Ethan’s chess development during the pandemic.

Nine-year-old Ethan Pang is another kid to watch.

“We believe the pandemic played a huge role in his chess development, as the few chess club sessions he attended sparked his interest and then the lockdown suddenly forced everyone to stay at home. This period gave Ethan the opportunity to delve even deeper into his newfound passion, and we can honestly say that it was thanks to Chess.com and ChessKid videos,” he said.

Pang’s rise is remarkable, as he broke the 2200 barrier for the first time and won the CM title. At the age of nine years and three months, he became the youngest player ever to have a published rating of at least 2200, according to Chess.com research. The previous record holder was none other than FM Faustino Oro, who recently became the youngest International Master in history.

“Ethan enjoys every moment of playing chess, finding it mentally challenging and rewarding — perhaps even more so when he wins. He has a strong sense of direction and determination, knows exactly what he wants and goes after it with all his might,” his father said.

Ethan enjoys every moment spent playing chess, finding it mentally challenging and rewarding—possibly even more so when he wins.

—Ethan’s Father, Raymond Pang

He added, “One of his biggest motivators to improve is participating in Titled Tuesday, which gives him the chance to face Hikaru and play the infamous “Bongcloud” against him! Of course, Ethan has no chance of winning, but at least he can tell everyone he tried!”

Chess.com profiled an incredible generation of talented players born in 2015, children who learned to play chess during the pandemic. Many of them have already defeated grandmasters in classical games, like Leonid Ivanovic of Serbia, who became the youngest to do so at eight years, 11 months and seven days.

This record was broken shortly afterwards by CM Ashwath Kaushik of Singapore, aged eight years, six months and 11 days, who defeated GM Jack Stopa with a rating of 2351. Another notable player born in the same year is CM Roman Shogdzhiev, who defeated five grandmasters in the World Rapid & Blitz Championships last December.

Pang now tops the list, 27 points ahead of WFM Bodhana Sivanandan, a three-time world champion and the youngest player ever to achieve a WIM norm. Third on the list is Attila Orman, son of WGM Turkan Mamedyarova and nephew of GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

This isn’t the first time Ethan Pang has been in the spotlight. In April, WFM’s Anna Cramling posted a hilarious video of her informal blitz game against Ethan in Menorca, Spain. The video has since been viewed by over 375,000 people.

It’s no surprise then that things didn’t go so well for the Swedish content creator and streamer.

When asked about his future plans, his father said Ethan jokes that he will become the youngest FM in history in the next few months, adding:

“We have no expectations for Ethan’s progress in chess. Our top priority is to support his continued involvement in the game. As long as he remains enthusiastic about playing chess, we will be there to support him.”

We have no expectations regarding Ethan’s progress in chess… As long as he has the passion to play chess, we will support him.

—Raymond Pang

For Pang, the chess journey is just beginning. His next tournament is the British Chess Championship in July, where he received a wild card.