Chess prodigies tend to be... the nice word is "encouraged" by their parents/teachers. Which naturally raises the question of whether they can be manufactured.

Chess prodigies tend to be... the nice word is "encouraged" by their parents/teachers. Which naturally raises the question of whether they can be manufactured. And, regardless of how you may feel about the ethics of testing that experimentally, László Polgár tested it in order to explore his idea that "geniuses are made, not born". The result of his experiment: * Oldest daughter Susan (Zsuzsanna) achieved Grandmaster at age 22. Peak rating 2577. * Middle daughter Sofia (Zsófia) achieved International Master, peak rating 2505. * Youngest daughter Judit achieved Grandmaster at age 15 years 4 months, at the time youngest person ever to do so. Peak rating 2735, ranked #8 (not "women's #8", worldwide #8).