Sergey Sklokin

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sergey Sklokin

• Sergey Sklokin is a young chess prodigy of half-Russian (father) and half-Armenian (mother) ancestry.

  

• He plays under the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) flag.

• In 2020, when he was in second grade, his father enrolled him in a chess club. In an interview, he mentioned that initially, the club’s coach denied him admission because Sklokin didn’t know how to play the game. However, his mother convinced the club to let him join, and from November 2020, chess became a significant part of his life.

• In 2023, Sergey won the FIDE World Cadet titles in Blitz, Rapid, and Chess Composition, becoming a triple world champion in the Under-10 category.

• In the same year, he scored an impressive 9.5/11 in the Under 10 group at the World Cadets events.

• In 2023, he became one of the youngest players ever to defeat a Grandmaster.

• In 2024, Segey Sklokin achieved notable victories against grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura from America, Suleymanli from Azerbaijan, and Khismatullin from Russia, as well as International Master Leyva from Peru. He also drew with grandmasters Zvjaginsev from Russia and Karthik from India, along with International Masters Madaminov from Uzbekistan, Zhalmakhanov from Kazakhstan, and FIDE Master Tom O’Gorman from Ireland in a series of online games.

• In the same year, he was selected as one of the 13 young prodigies worldwide to attend the FIDE Chessable Academy’s in-person training camp, where he trained with elite coaches like GM Judit Polgar and GM Artur Yusupov.

  

• In 2024, Sergey earned the FIDE Master (FM) title, a significant milestone for young players and two ranks below Grandmaster.

  

• In December 2025, during the FIDE World Blitz Championship, gained widespread global attention, where he defeated grand master Gukesh D in the third round, because Gukesh refused to play for a draw by exchanging rooks and tried to fight on.

  

• In the 2025 World Rapid Championship, Sergey Sklokin gained 226.4 FIDE rating points, the largest in the Open category.