Nine-year-old Aarit Kapil from Delhi has scripted history by becoming the youngest Indian to beat a chess Grandmaster, defeating Raset Ziatdinov of the United States in the ninth round of the KIIT International Open tournament. This was stated in a report by PTI.
At just nine years, two months, and 18 days old, Aarit is the youngest Indian and the third-youngest player globally to achieve this feat under classical time control.
The record for the youngest player to beat a Grandmaster is held by Indian-origin Singaporean Ashwath Kaushik, who defeated Jacek Stupa of Poland earlier this year at the age of eight years and six months.
Ziatdinov, 66, showed his experience with solid positional play, gaining the upper hand through a better pawn structure. However, Aarit displayed remarkable resilience, holding his ground with the white pieces.
Despite being slightly worse in the middle game, he capitalised on Ziatdinov's decisive endgame error, winning a knight and eventually converting his advantage into a well-earned victory after 63 moves.
While this win highlights Aarit’s immense potential, all eyes will now turn to his performances in upcoming tournaments, including the under-13 national championship in Durgapur later this month and the under-9 nationals in Pune.
In other tournament highlights, Grandmaster Boris Savchenko of Russia emerged as the winner of the KIIT International Open, securing 8.5 points out of 10 after a final-round draw against India’s Sayantan Das.
