Age 6: Learns chess from his father.
Age 12: Becomes an international master and competes as member of the Philippine Olympic team in Turin, Italy in 2006.
Age 14: Becomes a grandmaster, beating Bobby Fischer's achievement by a year and four months.
Age 15: Earns a chess rating of 2610, making him the youngest in history to surpass the 2600 level, breaking current World Champion Magnus Carlsen's record.
Age 18: Climbs into top 100 in world rankings at No. 99 in August 2012.
Age 19: Joins the list of about 50 "super grandmasters," those with a rating above 2700, in March 2013.
Age 20: Ranks 14th in October 2014.
Age 21: Cracks the top 10 in November 2014.

Age 21: Climbs to 7th best in world in February 2015 (and currently sits at number 8), with a rating of 2788.