New Jersey, USA (CU)_ Indian-origin Abhimanyu Mishra from New Jersey has become the world’s youngest chess grandmaster. The 12-year-old player earned his third GM norm in Budapest tournament, having already surpassed the needed 2500 Elo rating barrier. According to Chess.com’s official statement, “Mishra defeated the 15-year-old Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca with the black pieces, securing a performance rating higher than 2600 over nine rounds”.
Mishra defeated GM Sergey Karjakin, who had held the record for 19 long years. Karjakin, the world championship challenger in 2016, achieved grandmaster status on August 12, 2002, when he was 12 years and seven months. Karjakin said, “I hope that he will go on to become one of the top chess players and it will be just a nice start to his big career. I wish him all the best”.
This is not the first time that Abhimanyu has set a record. When he was nine years and two months, he became the youngest master in US history, and when he was ten years, nine months, and three days, he became the youngest International Master ever, shattering the previous record of GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa by only 17 days. GM Arun Prasad, Mishra’s coach, complimented his student on his accomplishment, saying it was a well-deserved honour for all of his laborious work. Abhimanyu, who was born on February 5, 2009, required 12 years, four months, and twenty-five days to achieve the greatest chess championship.
Abhimanyu’s father Hemant, who works in data management, introduced him to chess when he was only two and a half years old. However, at the age of five, he defeated his father and started competing in local tournaments, where he began beating players who were his father’s age. He stayed in Budapest, Hungary for a long time, seeking the title and the record and competing in back-to-back games. He earned both his first and second GM norms there, the Vezerkepzo event in April 2021 and the First Saturday tournament in May 2021, both round-robins involving ten players particularly designed for scoring norms.
