Beat the 37-year-old grandmaster: the story of the 8-year-old boy who broke the chess record – News

8-year-old Ashwath Kaushik, who became the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in a classical chess tournament

Carleton Lim/Singapore Chess Federation

An 8-year-old boy from Singapore has become the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in a classic chess tournament in Switzerland.

The previous record belonged to a Serb who was 5 months older, reports CNN with reference to Chess.com.

Ashwath Kaushik, who lives in Singapore, became the record holder. His age at the time of victory was 8 years, 6 months and 11 days.

In the fourth round of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open tournament in Switzerland, the boy defeated 37-year-old Pole Jacek Stopa.

“It was very embarrassing and overwhelming. I was proud of my game and the way I played, especially because at one point I was worse, but I managed to come back.” Kaushik said after the victory.

The previous record was set by Leonid Ivanovych from Serbia. He became the first player under the age of nine to beat a grandmaster in a classic game. However, Ivanovich was five months older than Kaushik at that time.

Ashwath Kaushik was born in India in 2015. At his age, he has already managed to win a number of youth tournaments around the world. In particular, in 2022 he became the world champion in rapid chess among children under 8 years old.

At the last tournament in Switzerland, the boy took 12th place.

Ashwath trains for about seven hours a day, according to his father.

“It’s incredible, because there is no sports tradition in our family. Every day is a new discovery, and we sometimes stumble in search of the right path for it.” – he said.

It will be recalled that in Lutsk, an 8-year-old boy played chess with passers-by for money given by the ZSU.