On Sunday, February 18th, at just 8 years and six months old, Ashwath Kaushik set a record to become the youngest player to beat a grandmaster in a classical tournament game.
During the fourth round of the 22nd Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland, Kaushik beat 37-year-old GM Jacek Stopa from Poland after capitalizing on a mistake. Believe it or not, the previous record for youngest player to defeat a grandmaster in a classical tournament was set just a few weeks prior by Leonid Ivanovic of Serbia.
Ashwath Kaushik was born in India in 2015, and started playing chess at the age of four when his parents introduced him to the game. Within months he was beating his parents and grandparents, and his parents quickly enrolled him in chess classes so he could gain more in-depth knowledge about the game. He has made a name for himself after winning multiple youth tournaments around the world including becoming the World Under-8 Rapid Champion in 2022.
After his win on February 18th, Kaushik told Chess.com “I felt really excited 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.”
We can't wait to see what else Ashwath Kaushik will accomplish in his chess career!
image from the Singapore Chess Federation