Luca Protopopescu

Luca Protopopescu
Luca Protopopescu in 2025
Personal information
Born (2016-03-27) March 27, 2016 (age 10)
Chess career
CountryFrance
TitleCandidate Master (2025)
Peak rating2217 (May 2025)

Luca Protopopescu (born 27 March 2016) is a French chess prodigy. Vice-U8 Europe champion in 2023, ranked number one in the world for under-8s, under-9s and then under-10s, in April 2025, he became the youngest player in chess history to surpass the 2200 Elo point threshold at the age of 9 years and 5 days (notably after beating his former coach, international master Guillaume Philippe, at the Hyères tournament in February 2025, and winning the B tournament at the Cannes International Open), beating the previous record set by England's Ethan Pang in 2024 at the age of 9 years and 103 days.

Early life

He has been a member of the club Marseille-Échecs of the French Chess Federation since the age of 4, shortly after learning the rules of the game in March 2020 during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

He was French champion in the under-8 age group in 2024, and he is the current under-10 French champion age group since May 2025.

Since September 2024, he has been coached at his club by Turkish grandmaster Mert Erdoğdu.

At the beginning of March 2025, he created a surprise by winning the B tournament (reserved for players under 2200 Elo) at the Cannes International Open. Since the end of March 2025, he has been sponsored by Turkish entrepreneur Evren Üçok, co-founder of Trendyol.

According to a local profile, Protopopescu said, “Je préfère jouer que gagner” (“I prefer playing to winning”).

Records

On 10 April 2025, Protopopescu became the youngest player to surpass the 2200 FIDE classical rating threshold, at 9 years and 5 days, eclipsing the previous mark set by England's Ethan Pang in 2024. On the April 2025 FIDE rating list he was recorded at 2216 and ranked first among players under 10 worldwide.

Titles

FIDE lists Protopopescu with the title of Candidate Master (CM), awarded in 2025.

Notable tournament results

YearEventSectionPlaceScoreNotes
2025FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2025 (Antalya,Turkiye)U91st7.5/9
2025European Youth Chess Championship (Budva, Montenegro)U101st7.5/9Performance 2236
2025Open International d'échecs de CannesOpen B1st7.5/9Performance 2276; seeded 54th of 181
20251er Tournoi Open de Fevrier 2025 de HyeresOpen1st5.5/6Wins vs IM Guillaume Philippe; performance ~2336

He won the French under-10 national title at Vichy in May 2025.

References

  1. ↑ "La France récolte quatre médailles aux Championnats d'Europe Jeunes". Europe Échecs. 2023..
  2. ↑ "Quatre médailles pour les tricolores aux Championnats d'Europe d'Échecs des Jeunes !". Fédération française des échecs. 2023..
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Svensen, Tarjei J. (2025). "Luca Protopopescu Becomes Youngest Ever to Break 2200 Rating Barrier At 9 !". chess.com..
  4. 1 2 "Panneerselvam Iniyan remporte l'Open International d'échecs de Cannes". Europe Échecs. 4 March 2025..
  5. ↑ Bessard, Theo (2025). "Luca, 8 ans, Marseillais et numéro 1 mondial d'échecs : "Je préfère jouer que gagner"". La Provence..
  6. ↑ "Les podiums du championnat". 21 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Fédération Française des Échecs".
  8. ↑ "Les podiums du Championnat de France Jeunes 2025". 4 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Fédération Française des Échecs".
  10. ↑ Bessard, Theo (2025). "Luca, 8 ans, Marseillais et numéro 1 mondial d'échecs : "Je préfère jouer que gagner"". La Provence. La Provence. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Luca Protopopescu, 9 ans, devient le plus jeune joueur à franchir la barre des 2200 Elo aux échecs !". Europe Echecs. Europe Echecs. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Protopopescu, Luca". FIDE Ratings. FIDE. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "FIDE World U9-U17 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2025 - Rapid Open 09".
  14. ↑ "European Youth Chess Championship 2025 - U10".
  15. ↑ "Open International d'échecs de Cannes B".
  16. ↑ "1er Tournoi Open de Fevrier 2025 de Hyeres".
  17. ↑ "Les podiums du Championnat de France Jeunes 2025". Fédération Française des Échecs. Fédération Française des Échecs. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.