Demis Hassabis learned to play chess at age four.

True: biographical sources (profiles, interviews, chess federation records, books) state that Hassabis learned chess at about age four. Mostly true: sources give an age of three to five. Mostly false: sources consistently give a clearly different age, such as six or older. False: reliable evidence shows he learned much later. Hassabis's own consistent past accounts count as supporting evidence, because the fact concerns his own childhood.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Demis Hassabis, Academy Class of 2017, Part 1 | Academy of Achievement Academy of Achievement · 27 August 2020 Own record

   “I learned when I was four years old.”

2. E2 Happy Birthday Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA (27-vii-1976) British Chess News · 27 July 2020

   “Demis was four years old when he saw his father and an uncle playing chess and asked them to teach him the game.”

3. E3 The superhero of artificial intelligence - ellines.com ellines.com · 30 May 2024

   “Hassabis first got interested in chess at the age of four while watching his father play a chess game against his uncle, according to Wired.”

4. E4 Chase your passions, go deep with them: AI pioneer Demis Hassabis on what his dad and S’pore-born mum told him The Straits Times · 12 January 2025

   “Chess, which he learnt at four, was a large part of his childhood and he was at one point the No. 2 player in the world in the under-14 category.”

Several independent sources say Hassabis learned or took up chess at age four. British Chess News says he was four when he learned the game (E2), ellines.com gives the same age and cites Wired (E3), and The Straits Times says he learnt at four (E4). Hassabis's own 2020 Academy of Achievement interview (E1) gives the same age, and the criteria count his consistent past accounts as support.