Checkmate! Eight-year-old youngest to defeat grandmaster

AFTER three hours at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus-Open on Feb 18, Ashwath Kaushik could not help but grin widely as he delivered the good news to his mother Rohini Ramachandran: he had just beaten Polish grandmaster Jacek Stopa.

At eight years, six months and 11 days, he became the youngest chess player to beat a grandmaster in a classical game with his victory over the 37-year-old Stopa at Hotel Stadthaus in Burgdorf, Switzerland.