At the age of 3 years, 7 months and 20 days, a kindergartner from India has become the youngest chess player to earn an official rating from the sport’s international governing body.
Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha, born in 2022, was rated 1572 in rapid chess by FIDE after he beat opponents many times his age. The rating is considerably higher than the minimum 1400 required.
To be rated by the International Chess Federation, a player must score points against at least five already rated players at official events.
Sarwagya, who comes from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, joins a growing list of young Indian players who have come to dominate the sport in recent years — a major shift from the Cold War era, when Russians prevailed in the sport.
Sarwagya was about 30 months old when he started playing chess, his father, Siddharth Singh, told The Indian Express, an English-language newspaper in India.
“We pushed him into chess last year because we noticed his mind was a sponge and he would pick up things very quickly,” Singh said.
“In a week of being taught chess he could name all the pieces accurately,” he added.
Sarwagya plays chess for four to five hours a day, including one hour at a training center, the newspaper said.
His victories this year have included matches against Yogesh Namdev, 20, with a rating of 1696; Abhijeet Awasthi, 22 (1542); and Shubham Chourasiya, 29 (1559).
Sarwagya broke the record by almost a month, dethroning another Indian boy, Anish Sarkar, who last year was rated 1550 at the age of 3 years, 8 months and 19 days.
India’s growing prowess culminated in an iconic moment in June, when Gukesh Dommaraju, 19, defeated Magnus Carlsen, 35, who is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time and who ended the match by slamming his fist on the table.
Last year, Dommaraju became the youngest-ever world champion.
Sarwagya could also train to become a grandmaster, his father said, following in the footsteps of Indian stars such as Dommaraju and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.
The record for youngest grandmaster is held by the American Abhimanyu Mishra, who in 2021 became one at the age of 12 years, 4 months and 25 days, three months earlier than Dommaraju.
