HUNGARY. Budapest: Abhimanyu was 12 years, four months and 25 days old when he achieved the grandmaster title in Hungary on Wednesday. Before Abhimanyu, Sergey Karjakin was the youngest grandmaster who won the title in 2002. Karjakin was 12 years and seven months old at that time.
A resident of Englishtown, New Jersey, US, Abhimanyu Mishrapreviously held the record of being the youngest ever international master at 10 years nine months.
He achieved his third and final GM norm at 12 years four months and 25 days and secured the Grandmaster title when he defeated 15-year-old Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca in an exciting and breathtaking ninth round at the Vezerkepzo GM Mix tournament in Budapest.
The making of a prodigy
To keep Abhimanyu off from addiction to electronic gadgets, his parents introduced him to the game of chess when he was just 2 years and 8 months old. It took him a couple of years to get used to the game. Soon he started participating in competitive tournaments at the age of five, observing which his parents decided to shape Abhimanyu as a professional chess player. He was given coaching under Grand Master Arun Prasad Subramaniam and Grandmaster Mahesh to fine tune his skills and make him prepare as a professional player.
Achievements at a very tender age
Born February 5, 2009, Abhimanyu learned to play chess at a tender age of two-and-a-half years and became the youngest ever US expert earning a 2000 USCF rating when he was 7 years, 6 months, and 22 days. Abhimanyu also won the under-eight section of the 2016 ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship (CONIC).
When he was 9 years, 2 months, and 17 days, he became the youngest National Master with a rating of 2200 USCF. At 10 years, nine months and 20 days old, he became the youngest ever International Master. Abhimanyu tied for first position with GM Vladimir Belous In March 2021, in the Charlotte Chess Center’s Spring 2021 GM Norm Invitational. His score was 5.5/9 and he crossed 2400 FIDE for the first time on an official rating list.
To become a grandmaster in chess, a player must achieve three grandmaster norms like an award given for a high level of performance in a chess tournament and as well as achieving an 2500 Elo rating given out by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the rankings that govern international chess competition. Abhimanyu’s tournament performance rating (TPR) was 2735 which is at par with the world top 20 grandmasters.
Abhimanyu played over 70 games in last two months during his stay in Budapest, Hungary. He scored both his first and second GM norms at the April Vezerkepzo tournament but he couldn’t follow it up in his next three tournaments there. Ultimately in his final attempt this month, he succeeded in achieving the third GM norm.
Abhimanyu is now heading to Sochi, Russia to participate in FIDE World Cup 2021 scheduled between July 10 and August 8. He has been given a wildcard entry by The International Chess Federation (FIDE). The FIDE headquartered at Lausanne, Switzerland, is the governing body of the sport of chess, and regulates all international chess competitions.
Abhimanyu Mishra is surely one of the best talents of his generation and a probable contender for the world title. After having become the youngest GM, Abhimanyu has set his sights on becoming a world champion.
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