A Singaporean child chess prodigy set a new record when he took down a 37-year-old grandmaster on Sunday.
8-year-old Ashwath Kaushik earned the title of the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in a classic tournament game.
During the fourth round of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open last weekend, Kaushik defeated Polish grandmaster Jacek Stopa.
After his win, Kaushik said to Chess.com “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.”
Last month, 8-year-old Serbian Leonid Ivanovic defeated grandmaster Wonder Liang. But, shortly after, Kaushik replaced his record by a mere five months.
The Indian-born boy from Singapore finished in 12th place in Switzerland after losing to opponent Harry Grieve. NBC reported that his chess rating is now expected to increase.
His historic performance on Sunday is another accolade added to his impressive list, which includes the World Under-8 Rapid Champion in 2022.
His father, Kaushik Siriram, said that his son learned the game from the online platform Chesskid. Ever since the age of four, he said that Kaushik would spend up to seven hours playing chess.
“It’s surreal as there isn’t really any sports tradition in our families,” Kaushik said. “Every day is a new discovery, and we sometimes stumble in search of the right pathway for him.”
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