Etienne Bacrot was 4 years old when he first saw a chessboard. "I just sat down, looked and understood," he says. At 7, he scored his first tournament victory. Now the French 14-year-old is the world's youngest chess grand master: he beat two grownup grand masters in a tournament last month. Etienne trains with Russian chess pro Iosif Dorfman, who coached world champ Garry Kasparov for years.
Two hours of daily practice sharpen Etienne's gift for the game. He doesn't brag about his chess success to friends, and enjoys playing basketball, Ping-Pong and video games with them. "I love winning," says the champ. His next goal? Defeating Kasparov. "I'm getting closer," he says.