A 12-year-old Indian-American prodigy has just become the youngest chess grandmaster in the history of the game.
According to CNN, Abhimanyu Mishra, who hails from New Jersey, broke Hungarian Sergey Karjakin's record by becoming a chess grandmaster at the age of 12 years, four months, and 25 days old.
This means that Mishra has won three grandmaster norms - an award given for a high level of performance in a chess tournament.
He has also won the honor of a 2500 Elo rating, awarded by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE); the organization that ranks international pro chess players.
The young boy also managed to defeat grandmaster Leon Mendonca in the ninth round to earn his third and final norm, after earning his first two over the last two months.
Mishara announced his incredible achievement in a post made on his official Twitter account, writing to his 2,100 followers:
"Finally checkmated the biggest opponent (ongoing pandemic ) which stopped me for 14 months. Thanks everybody for all your love and support. Looking forward [to] World cup."
The International Chess Federation also celebrated Mishra's record-breaking success, writing on Twitter:
"Congratulations to 12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra for setting the new world record!
"[Mishra] becomes the youngest grandmaster in history, earning his final norm at the tender age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days."
In an interview with ESPN, Mishra's father Hemant stated that the hardest challenge for his son was matching the physical stamina of his adult opponents when required to stay up late or travel long distances.
Hemant stated: "Up until now I've been taking the calls, but once he becomes GM, he's free to choose what he wants to do with his life. Whether it's the tournaments he plays or if he wants to continue to play chess at all. It'll be his decision."
Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Mishra will now travel to the 206-player Chess World Cup, which is held in Sochi.
His first-round opponent will be Baadur Jobava - a three-time chess champion of Georgia. If he wins against Jobava he will then go on to face the former US champion Sam Shankland; ranked world No 31 after his recent victory in Prague.
