At eight years, six months and 11 days, Ashwath Kaushik made history by becoming the youngest player to ever beat a chess grandmaster in a classical tournament.
The boy, who lives in Singapore, achieved the feat after beating Poland's Jacek Stopa, 37, in the fourth round of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland.
The previous record - CNN recalls - had been set only last month by Leonid Ivanovic, also eight years old, who had become the first player under nine years old to beat a grandmaster in a classic match.
However, Ashwath took the lead away from him, being five months younger than the Serbian when he beat Stopa.
“It was really exciting and surprising, and I felt proud of my game and how I carried it forward, especially because at one point I was behind, but then I managed to catch up,” Kaushik told Chess.com , the global chess community, after the winning match.
Born in India in 2015, Ashwath has already made a name for himself after winning numerous youth tournaments around the world, most notably becoming the Under 8 Rapid World Champion in 2022, according to Chess.com.
In an interview, Ashwath's father said that neither he nor his wife have a history of playing chess and it was a surprise to see his son, who practices about seven hours a day, become such a talented player: "It's surreal because there is no sporting tradition in our families."
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