Magnus Carlsen has been at the top of the chess rankings for more than a decade and a half now and the Norwegian still continues to be at his best in all formats of the game. A generation of players have tried but have been able to be anywhere even close to him but can the next generation take him on and become as dominant as Carlsen has been?

FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky in a recent chat with ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah revealed the three young players he thinks can break into the top 10 of rankings before 2030. He also than evaluated if these players have in it them to be as good as Magnus in their careers.

FIDE CEO names three prodigies to take over chess world

Talking about the best up and coming players, Sutovsky named Argentina’s Faustino Oro, Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and America’s Andy Woodward as the three young players who will soon be among the best in the world.

However, he also cautioned that it is too early to say whether these players will be able to emulate Carlsen who is considered one of the greatest chess players in the game’s history.

“
Magnus also was of a very high opinion of Oro few days ago and now he’s of Erdogmus. I think all these guys are exceptional talents but it’s tad too early to claim they would be next Magnus or similar to that. It would be not difficult to expect or to forecast that,” the FIDE CEO said.

“Both Erdogmus and Oro would make into top 10 that’s for sure. Top five very likely because after all, if they are already best in this age group so what will happen in three or four years? The generation who are much older than them they will start fading away and then they’re best around this age so it’s natural to expect them by the year 2030 to be in top five for sure. But to be a dominating player like Magnus is very difficult feat,” he added.

“I will also add Andy Woodward. I like how he plays. I like very much his attitude. He’s very devoted to the game. So, I would surely think that both Erdogmus and Oro but also Woodward belong to a top 10 list for 2030 or maybe earlier,” Sutovsky predicted.

The world’s longest known run of consecutive Classical chess games without losing is over. The proud unbeaten record that is owned by Chinese-American Grandmaster Zhou Jianchao came to an end after 158 Classical games last week.

Incredibly, Jianchao, who has been playing for the USA since 2024, did not suffer a single loss in FIDE-rated classical tournaments for almost a year. But that record-setting streak ended early February when he lost to Toalian Grandmaster Francesco Sonis in the fourth round of the Connecticut Classical. Jianchao’s last defeat was against fellow countryman Andrew Lewis Titus on 23 May 2025 at the Annual Chicago Open.

Zhou Jianchao: The new Classical chess star

With his 158-game unbeaten streak in Classical chess, Jianchao broke the record of Croatian legend Bogdan Lalic, who scripted a 155-game unbeaten run in 2010-2011.

While a casual chess fan may not have heard about Jianchao, not losing a Classical for close to a year and across 158 games is a massive feat. Even the world’s best players, including Magnus Carlsen, suffer a few losses here and there on a consistent basis.

“I didn’t know how many games I had played without losing. Mentality is very important. If I had thought about this, it would have affected my performance, and I would have lost a long time ago,” Zhou told Chess.com.

Chess statistician Stefano Ferrara, who has been tracking Jianchao’s feat closely, noted that while the China-born Grandmaster had been playing against mostly weaker players in state events across the USA, he has also faced some unpredictable players.

“Getting to 100+ classical games without losing is incredible, getting close to 160 is historical objectively,” Ferrara told Chess.com. “But he also plays a lot of young, underrated players, so to get this record is still incredibly impressive.”

Ferrara, however, added that it would be unfair to compare Jianchao’s world record streak to five-time world champion Carlsen’s 125-game unbeaten streak from 2018 to 2020, which mostly came against players with an average rating of 2745.

“Of course, it would be unfair to compare his [Zhou’s] streak to Magnus’ 125-game streak because of the difference in the level of opposition,” the chess statistician added.

Carlsen vs Zhou Jianchao

Zhou Jianchao also has no problem admitting that Carlsen’s achievement was much better. “Carlsen is still obviously better. His opponents were much stronger, and his performance was better,” Jianchao said.

As compared to Carlsen, Zhou played against players with an average rating of 2298 during his 158-game unbeaten streak. He won 106 games and drew 52.

He played 26 games against Grandmasters and defeated Mahel Boyer, Praveen Balakrishnan, Brewington Hardaway, Emilio Cordova, and Robby Kevlishvili. His only match against a higher-rated opponent was a draw against current world No 22 Awonder Liang.

World No 1 and reigning Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour champions Magnus Carlsen sailed into the final of the inaugural Freestyle Chess World Championship, where he faces world No 3 Fabiano Caruana, after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov 3-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday. Caruana defeated German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer 2.5-1.5 in the other semi-final showdown to confirm a dream final with the Norwegian at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in Wangels, Germany.

Carlsen stamps his authority over Nodirbek

Carlsen had picked Nodirbek as his semi-final opponent after topping the round-robin standings despite suffering a
stunning defeat at the hands of Arjun Erigaisi. The semi-final showdown began with consecutive draws, the two players choosing to shake hands on level terms in both games with Carlsen holding fort despite facing serious time pressure in Game 2.

Carlsen surged ahead in Game 3 while playing as white, beating Nodirbek in 48 moves. Both players were in the mood to attack in this round, with both sets of bishops and knights getting knocked off the board by the 26th move. The Uzbekistani GM, however, committed a blunder (33. Re2) while pushing for a win, allowing his celebrated opponent to seize control and grind him into submission.

Nodirbek needed to win Game 4 in order to level the scores and force the semi-final showdown to head into tie-breaks. Carlsen, however, maintained a stable position on the board despite committing a couple of errors (19. h4 and 24. Nc5) and won in just 29 moves after cornering the white king with a knight, a rook and his queen to complete a 3-1 triumph.

Nodirbek had a considerable time advantage over his fancied opponent – three-and-a-half minutes compared to less than half-a-minute for Carlsen. The 35-year-old, however, reiterated the fact that it will take more than just time pressure to beat the best in the world.

Caruana vs Keymer showdown goes into decider

As for the other semi-final, Caruana had drawn first blood while playing as black and maintained a lead over his opponent with a draw in the second game. Keymer, however, made things interesting by leveling the scores in Game 3 to setup a decider in the fourth and final rapid game.

The first three games were hard-fought encounters.  Caruana defeated Keymer in 72 moves in Game 1, while the latter returned the favour in 68 moves in Game 3. Caruana, however, sealed a 2.5-1.5 victory in dominant fashion after winning game four in just 22 moves while playing as black, with nearly seven minutes left on the clock compared to just 20 seconds for his opponent.

🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen vs 🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana in the final!#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/uuAQi8MnZS

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 14, 2026

The final between Carlsen and Caruana gets underway on Sunday, 15 February, with Game 4 and the Armageddon tie-break taking place on Monday, if necessary. The winner will pocket a prize money of $100,000 while the runner-up takes home $60,000.

Indian No 1 Arjun, who had finished sixth out of eight players in the round-robin stage, defeated Javokhir Sindarov 3-1 and will be facing American GM Hans Niemann for the fifth place starting Sunday.