As a new year begins, it is a good time to look back at the highlights from 2025. One of the biggest rising stars in the chess world is Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the 14-year-old from Bursa, Turkey who has climbed to second place in the juniors' ranking, as players born in 2005 or later, like Pragg, have left the juniors' list on 1 January. Remarkably, Erdogmus is the youngest player among the top 20 in this ranking.
Erdogmus had a few very strong performances in 2025, including his 8/11 at the European Individual Championship, his 4/7 at the TePe Sigeman Tournament and his victory over Peter Svidler in the classical portion of a six-game match in Marseille.
The most important tournament Erdogmus participated in, though, was the FIDE Grand Swiss. At the event in Samarkand, the Turkish prodigy entered as the 52nd seed and finished 28th, with a 6/11 score and a 2721 TPR. During the tournament, he obtained wins over Aleksandra Goryachkina, Aditya Mittal and super-GM Levon Aronian.
Erdogmus' most eye-catching victory surely was the one achieved, with the black pieces, in round four over Aditya. GM Daniel King was impressed by the youngster's effort and made a video about the game in his Power Play Chess YouTube channel. King described the game as "The Turkish Immortal" and emphasised Erdogmus' boldness and tactical ability.
The final combination seen in the game was spectacular, but the wild tactical skirmish began much earlier, when Erdogmus decided to (awkwardly) place two minor pieces deep in the opposite camp.
Follow along as Daniel King goes over this very entertaining chess battle.
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