IMRoman Shogdzhiev

Roman Shogdzhiev was born in Elista, Kalmykia, and learned chess from his father at four. His family later lived in Moscow, where his mother taught him at home. He won the European under-8 championship in 2022 after a three-way tie. At the 2023 World Cadets Championship, he won all eleven games to take the under-8 title. Later that year, aged eight, he defeated five grandmasters across the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. His first International Master norm came at a Belgrade tournament in December 2024. He added another at the Baku Open in May 2025 and completed the requirements in Belgrade later that month. At ten years, three months and twenty-one days, he broke Faustino Oro's record for the youngest International Master. His training team has included grandmaster Evgeny Tomashevsky. He earned his first Grandmaster norm at the 2026 Asian Individual Championship in Ulaanbaatar, remaining unbeaten against six grandmasters. A second followed while playing first board for Partizan Belgrade in the Serbian league that October.