8-year-old chess prodigy makes history after beating 37-year-old grandmaster

A boy from Singapore became the youngest chess player to beat a grandmaster during a tournament last weekend in Switzerland.

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Ashwath Kaushik, 8, made history last weekend. According to People magazine, he became the youngest player to defeat a grandmaster during an official match.

Kaushik beat Jacek Stopa, 37, in a tournament in Switzerland, CBS News reported. He beat Stopa in the fourth round of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open, according to CNN.

Earlier last week, Leonia Ivanonic, who is 8 years, 11 months old, was the previous player to hold the record before Kaushik, CBS News reported.

“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,” Kaushik told Chess.com, according to People.

Chess.com said that Kaushik won multiple youth tournaments across the globe, according to CNN. He also became the World Under-8 Rapid champion in 2022.

In the tournament in Switzerland last weekend, he finished 12th, CNN reported.

“He picked it up on his own, playing with his grandparents,” Kaushik’s father, Sriram Kaushik, told Chess.com, according to CBS News. He also said that Kaushik plays chess about seven hours per day and that he “solves long complex puzzles visually.”

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