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

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. 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 m ...

, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and . he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 17 in the

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

. 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 The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. History Three different formats have been used: *In 2000 and 2002, it was a multi-stage tournament, with a group stage consisting of 24 players in fo ...

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 Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

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. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

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. History The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 t ...

in the under-14 category in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

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 Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

required for the title of Grandmaster, in the

European Individual Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), ...

, 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 Dariusz Świercz (born 31 May 1994) is a Polish-American chess player playing for the United States. He was the youngest Polish player of all time to qualify for the title Grandmaster; he was 14 years and seven months when he achieved this title ...

. In April 2013, he came first in the

First Saturday The First Saturdays Devotion, also called the Communion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is a Catholic devotion which, according to Lúcia dos Santos, was requested by the Virgin Mary during the apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima in ...

GM tournament in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In August, Duda took part as a

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

presidential nominee in the

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. History Three different formats have been used: *In 2000 and 2002, it was a multi-stage tournament, with a group stage consisting of 24 players in fo ...

, where he was eliminated in the first round by

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhailovych Ivanchuk (; born March 18, 1969) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading chess player since 1988, Ivanchuk has been ranked at No. 2 on the FIDE world rankings thr ...

. 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 FIDE Onli ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, 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 than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

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 than classical chess time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz chess, and bullet chess. A ...

Championship, both held in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland.

2015–2016

In July 2015, Duda won the Lake Sevan

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

Martuni, Armenia Martuni (), is a town in the Martuni Municipality of 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 estimate the population ...

. In September 2015, he finished equal first with

Mikhail Antipov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Antipov (; born 10 June 1997) is a Russian chess grandmaster who plays for the United States. Chess career At the age of 15, Antipov was awarded the title of Master of Sports of Russia. He earned his first grandmaster ...

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 Rits ...

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

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

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...

(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 six-time winner of the World Chess Solving Championship, and two-time winner of the Polish Chess Champions ...

. He recorded victories over Piorun,

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

, Daniel Sadzikowski, and

Aleksander Miśta Aleksander Miśta (born 7 January 1983) is a Polish chess Grandmaster (2004) and FIDE Trainer (2012). Chess career Aleksander Miśta is a multiple medalist of the Polish Junior Chess Championship: * Gold: 1991 (U10), 2000 (U18), 2001 (U18); * S ...

. 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. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th youngest in history. He is the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700, accomplishing this feat ...

, 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 ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

, Georgia, he defeated

and drew against

Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov (; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-h ...

and

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...

, 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 To ...

, eventually losing to

Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster, a three-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the first World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 201 ...

. 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 Rapi ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

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 consists of three to six chess tournaments, which used to form part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Champio ...

tournament, which is part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2020. 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 (, ; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE Elo rating system, rating of 2800, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carls ...

. 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 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 monument. The abbey was ...

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 ...

(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 Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic ter ...

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, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. 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 C ...

, 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.

2021–2023

At the 2021

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

Wojciech Moranda Wojciech Moranda (born 17 August 1988) is a Polish chess Grandmaster (2009). Chess career Moranda won multiple Polish Junior Chess Championship medals: Two golds (2003 16 2007 20, two silvers (2005 18 2006 18, and one bronze (2002 14. ...

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 Polish ...

. In round five, Duda defeated the Russian GM

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

Vidit Gujrathi Vidit Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 27 ...

in the quarterfinals and eliminated the World Chess Champion

in the tiebreaker of the semifinals to qualify for the

2022 Candidates Tournament 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,Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...

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

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, 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 ...

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 Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster who is a former World Blitz Chess Championship, World Blitz Champion. With a peak Elo rating system, ra ...

. 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 Anish Kumar Giri (; ; born 28 June 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on ...

, 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 The Champions Chess Tour (CCT) is a series of elite online rapid chess tournaments organized by Chess.com. It was established in 2020 by the Play Magnus Group and became part of Chess.com’s portfolio following its acquisition of the company in 20 ...

, ahead of

. In 2023, he reached the fifth round at the 2023 Chess World Cup where he lost to

. In 2024, he was part of

Gukesh Dommaraju Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006) is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion, the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing s ...

's team for the

World Chess Championship 2024 The World Chess Championship 2024 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Ding Liren and the challenger Gukesh Dommaraju to determine the World Chess Champion. The match took place between 25 November and 12 December 2024 in Singapo ...

2025

In Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, he was tied 7th scoring 17 points.

Political views

In December 2023, Duda participated at the

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, Uzbekistan. He caused controversy at the event for refusing to shake hands with Russian chess grandmaster

Denis Khismatullin Denis Rimovich Khismatullin (, born 28 December 1984) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He is the first grandmaster from Bashkiria. Khismatullin competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013 and 2015. Chess career Born in Neftekamsk, Khismatullin li ...

before their game in round one. The decision was motivated by his opposition to Khismatullin's vocal support of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Duda risked disqualification because refusing a handshake in chess can be interpreted as an insult; however, Khismatullin did not file any official complaint and further released a statement in which he wrote that he respected Duda's right to his opinion.

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. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duda, Jan Krzystof 1998 births Living people Polish chess players Chess Grandmasters World Youth Chess Champions Chess players from Kraków Chess Olympiad competitors

Chess career

2007–2008

2012

2013–2014

2015–2016

2017–2018

2019–2020

2021–2023

2025

Political views

Personal life

See also

References

External links