Chess prodigies are children who play chess so well that they are able to beat experienced adult players and even Masters, often at a very young age. Chess is one of the few sports where children can compete with adults on equal ground; it is thus one of the few skills in which true child prodigies exist. Expectations can be high for chess prodigies; while some become World Champions, others show no progress in adulthood.

Early chess prodigies were Paul Morphy (1837–1884) and José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942), both of whom won matches against strong adult opponents at the age of 12; and Samuel Reshevsky (1911–1992), who was giving simultaneous exhibitions at the age of six. Morphy went on to be unofficial World Champion (before the official title existed), Capablanca became World Champion, and Reshevsky—while never attaining the title—was amongst the top few players in the world for many years.

It was more difficult for players of the "pre-computer" chess era to become a true prodigy than it is today. This is because it is necessary to play opponents of top level strength on at least a semi-frequent basis to develop these chess skills. Computer chess nowadays is at such a high level that nearly anyone that lives in an area other than a third world country has access to these programs. At the time Bobby Fischer become a teenage sensation in the 50's and 60's, he notably lived in New York City where he joined the Manhattan Chess Club, the strongest in the country.

Nicholas Nip (born March 10, 1998) is a United States Chess Federation (USCF) National Master (NM). In 2008, he became the youngest USCF Master in history, obtaining a rating of 2207 at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 26 days, a record that was surpassed in 2010 by Samuel Sevian.

Nip's feat broke the record held for a decade by fellow chess prodigy Hikaru Nakamura. However, Nip's record was not without controversy because matches were included in the rating calculations, prompting allegations of manipulation. Since accomplishing the record, Nip no longer plays chess, and due to his inactivity no longer appears on the bi-monthly top 100 lists for his age.

On April 21, 2008, Nip played ten simultaneous games on Live with Regis and Kelly. He defeated nine and had one draw.

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player in history to be ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list. His peak rating is 2835, the second highest in history, after Garry Kasparov.

On 26 April 2004 Carlsen became a Grandmaster at the age of &1000000000000001300000013 years, &10000000000000148000000148 days, making him the third-youngest Grandmaster in history. On 1 January 2010 the new FIDE rating list was published, and at the age of &1000000000000001900000019 years, &1000000000000003200000032 days, he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world number one, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik. Carlsen was also the 2009 World blitz chess champion.

His performance at the September–October 2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament has been described as one of the greatest in history and lifted him to an Elo rating of 2801, making him the fifth player to achieve a rating over 2800 – and aged 18 years 10 months at the time, by far the youngest to do so.

Henrik Carlsen (born November 30, 1959 in Copenhagen) is a Danish composer, record producer and keyboardist.

He was a founding member of Street Beat in 1982 and led it until it was disbanded in 1993.

As a composer, he has written or co-written pop-songs like "Ring a Ling" (Tiggy), "Diddley-doo" (Cartoons), "Easy Come Easy Go" (Los Umbrellos), and worked as producer or re-mixer with Barcode Brothers, E-Type, Blå Øjne and many more.

As of 2006, he has retired from the music business and now works as a school teacher. He has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Thomas Ernst (born 23 December 1967 in Wiesbaden, Hesse) is a retired German footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Ernst started playing professionally with Eintracht Frankfurt. At the Hessian club, he could only amass five Bundesliga appearances in seven years combined, being barred by legendary Uli Stein. In 1994, he moved clubs but stayed in the city, joining FSV Frankfurt in the second division.

After one season, Ernst joined VfL Bochum also in level two, only appearing twice in his first two seasons combined. His best individual year happened in 1998–99, when he appeared in 32 league games, but the North Rhine-Westphalia side suffered top flight relegation, as second from bottom.

From 2000–06, Ernst remained in the top division, with VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, but again appeared almost exclusively as a backup, until his retirement at the age of 38. In 19 professional seasons, he appeared in 152 league games, 106 of those in the first division.

Ernst moved into managing immediately after retiring, working as a goalkeeper coach with Germany women's national football team. The following year, he had his first head coach experience, with former club FSV Frankfurt, and returned to Bochum in 2008, as director of football.