Abhimanyu Mishra, 12, has become the youngest grandmaster in chess history!
The New Jersey resident broke Sergey Karjakin’s record of 12 years with a third norm in Budapest, Hungary. Karjakin became the world champion in 2016 after beating Magnus Carlsen and earned the title of grandmaster at 12 years and seven months.
In order to become a chess grandmaster, a player must achieve a score higher than a 2500 Elo rating. The player must attain three grandmaster norms, which is an award given to the highest level of performance in a chess competition. The Elo rating system is determined by the player’s results in past rated matches, as reported by Chess.com.
Mishra had to be at least 12 years, four months, and 25 days to obtain the title of grandmaster. At the Vezerkepzo GM Mix tournament, he defeated Indian grandmaster Leon Mendonca in nine rounds.
The young champion took to Twitter to celebrate his historic win:
Achieving such a monumental milestone is something that Mishra is familiar with. At just the age of seven, he became the youngest expert in the United States Chess Federations.
In addition, he was the youngest National Master at nine years old. When he was 10 years, nine months, and 20 days old, he was the youngest International Master in history.
Hemant Mishra, Abhimanyu’s father, told ESPN that he is proud of his son’s achievement and will continue to support him in whatever he wants to do in the future. The young chess player was first introduced to the board game by his father at the age of two.
“Up until now I’ve been taking the calls, but once he becomes GM, he’s free to choose what he wants to do with his life,” his father explained. “Whether it’s the tournaments he plays or if he wants to continue to play chess at all. It’ll be his decision.”
Positive World Online 