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8-year-old from Singapore makes history as youngest to defeat a chess grandmaster
Eight-year-old Ashwath Kaushik from Singapore set a new world record in chess by becoming the youngest player to ever defeat a grandmaster in a classical tournament game.
The Indian-born Ashwath made history at the 22nd Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland by defeating 37-year-old Jacek Stopa in round four of the game on February 18.
The previous record which was set just a month earlier by Leonid Ivanovic from Serbia, who, at 8 years of age but five months older than Kaushik, defeated 60-year-old Bulgarian grandmaster Milko Popchev at the Belgrade Open. Ivanovic became the first player under the age of nine to defeat a chess grandmaster.
"It felt really exciting and amazing, and I felt proud of my game and how I played, especially since I was worse at one point but managed to come back from that,” Ashwath is quoted by Chess.com.
Ashwath Kaushik is an Indian by birth hailing from Singapore, who already made a name for himself by becoming the World Under-8 Rapid Champion in 2022.
Ashwath's father said his son learned the rules of chess at the age of four. He is quoted by Chess.com to have said “It’s surreal as there isn’t really any sports tradition in our families. Every day is a new discovery, and we sometimes stumble in search of the right pathway for him.”
The young chess prodigy now joins a list of the youngest chess players to have achieved the feat of defeating a grandmaster before reaching the age of 10.
