At the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland, an eight-year-old kid of Indian heritage defeated Polish chess grandmaster Jacek Stopa, becoming the youngest player to do so in traditional chess. According to Channel News Asia, Singapore’s Ashwath Kaushik overcame Stopa, who is nearly five times his age at 37.
The previous record was set only a few weeks ago at the Belgrade Open, when Serbia’s Leonid Ivanovic, who is several months older than Ashwath, defeated Bulgarian grandmaster Milko Popchev, 60. He also credited Ashwath’s accomplishment to “many other coaches and supporters” during his trip. Goh also hopes that Ashwath’s success will motivate more children to pursue competitive chess.