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8-year-old chess player sets record for youngest to beat a grandmaster

Ashwath Kaushik of Singapore beat the previous record that was set last month by Leonid Ivanovic of Serbia. Their age difference is about five months.
8-year-old chess player sets record for youngest to beat a grandmaster
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An 8-year-old boy from Singapore set a new record Sunday, becoming the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess. 

Ashwath Kaushik beat 37-year-old Jacek Stopa of Poland in round four of the Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland.

The previous record was just set last month by Leonid Ivanovic of Serbia, who became the first player under the age of 9 to beat a grandmaster in a classical game. But at 8 years, 6 months and 11 days old, Ashwath is now the record-holder, according to Chess.com.

"It felt really exciting 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,” Ashwath told Chess.com after he secured the win. 

Ashwath finished 12th overall at the tournament in Switzerland. 

The young player is originally from India and had already made a name for himself after winning several youth tournaments around the world, Chess.com reported. His parents said neither of them played chess and were surprised by his obvious talent in the game. 

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