On Wednesday June 30, 2021, Abhimanyu Mishra, a 12-year-old from Englishtown, New Jersey, USA, became the youngest grandmaster in the history of chess, breaking the 19-year record of Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin, who had achieved the feat in 2002 at the age of 12 years and 7 months.
Mishra eclipsed Karjakin’s record by 66 days, attaining that status at 12 years, 4 months and 25 days. He earned his third and final grandmaster norm (a performance-level measure) at the Vezerkepzo GM mix tournament in Budapest, Hungary, where he defeated GM Leon Luke Mendonca to complete his relentless journey to grandmaster invincibility.
The grandmaster record is not the first one Mishra shattered, but it is the most meaningful to date. Mishra became the youngest master in US history at 9 years and 2 months and the youngest international master ever at 10 years, 9 months and 3 days breaking the record previously held by Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa by 17 days.
Generations have argued that child prodigies only exist in the fields of mathematics, music and chess. Becoming a chess grandmaster in childhood is a mark of genius of the highest ability. As long as chess is considered to be an idiosyncratic pastime as it is today, we will continue to look in awe at childhood prodigies.
Why is it significant to qualify as a full-fledged grandmaster in one’s youthful years? One reason is that the feat brings insurmountable influence and prestige to one’s nation. Added to that, it is the first step towards enjoying the meritorious benefits which chess has to offer.
World champions Magnus Carlsen and Bobby Fischer qualified as grand-masters at 13 and 15 years old respectively. They both reached the pinnacle of the game. And, as a case in point, Karjakin, the youngest grandmaster before last Wednesday, had opposed Carlsen for the world championship title, though he failed in his quest. The future, therefore, is bright for young Mishra.
Chess game
White: Frank Marshall
Black: Carl Schlechter
Tournament: Monte Carlo MNC.
February 6, 1902
Type of Game: Semi-Slav Defence,
Marshall Gambit, Main Line
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4
Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Nd7
9.Nf3 c5 10.Bc3 Ngf6 11.Qd6 Qc6 12.Qg3 O-O 13.Rd1 Nh5 14.Qh4 g6 15.Rxd7 Qxd7 16.g4 Qd8 17.gxh5 Qxh4 18.Nxh4 e5 19.hxg6 hxg6
20.Rg1 Re8 21.Nf3 f6 22.Rxg6+ Kf7 23.Rg3
Bd7 24.Nd2 Rh8 25.Ne4 b6 26.Rf3 f5
27.Bxe5 Rh4 28.Nd6+1-0 . Black resigns.