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Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Meet Aarit Kapil, nine-year-old from Delhi's Mayur Vihar, who almost beat Magnus Carlsen in an online blitz game
Magnus Carlsen's Indian tormentors keep getting younger and younger. Weeks after the five-time world champion lost to 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju at the Norway Chess tournament, Aarit Kapil, a nine-year-old boy from New Delhi's Mayur Vihar, almost pulled off a win over one of the greatest players in the sport's history before settling for a draw due to time trouble. The Standard V boy from Mayur Vihar's Somerville School — who started playing chess just four years ago — had a winning position in an online blitz game against the current world no.1 in the Early Titled Tuesday competition. The Titled Tuesday tournament is organised twice every Tuesday by and is only open to players with FIDE titles (like Grandmaster, International Master, Candidate Master etc.) This particular Early Titled Tuesday event had elite GMs like Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik competing. Aarit, a Candidate Master, was playing in the online event from his hotel room in Batumi, Georgia, where he is currently in the middle of playing an over-the-board FIDE World Cadets Cup (in the under-10 category). For the Delhi boy, the draw with Carlsen is another step in what is turning out to be a fast rise: last December, he became the third-youngest player in the world to defeat a grandmaster in classical time control when he took down 66-year-old Raset Ziatdinov of the United States. 'He was five years old when his elder sister Aarna taught him chess. In one week, he was beating us. Not like I am a serious player – I am the equivalent of a bathroom singer in the sport: a casual player. But we saw his potential, so we got him working with a coach. And in a few days, he won an international online tournament,' Aarit's father Vijay tells The Indian Express. Unlike other Indian players, Aarit does not play too many international events. The family is on the lookout for sponsors to help him take the next steps in the sport. He spends five to six hours on the sport daily and is currently coached by IM Vishal Sareen. Vijay and wife Nisha, who is in Batumi accompanying Aarit, were on a phone call on Tuesday when the boy came shouting 'draw kar diya, Carlsen ko draw kar diya' into the room. That's when the parents realised what their nine-year-old had done. It could have been even better. Until the 46th move, Aarit had a winning position against the Norwegian. But with his time running low, Aarit allowed Carlsen to salvage a draw on the 49th move, which was still commendable for his age and in a format where Carlsen is formidable. What was even more remarkable was that Carlsen was playing with white pieces and had held a better position out of the opening. In Titled Tuesday, each player gets three minutes on the clock at the start and gets an increment of one second per move made. Carlsen's prep for the game was such that he had used up just seven seconds on his clock for his first 14 moves. Despite the stature of the man playing against him, Aarit attacked from early on, throwing both bishops deep into Carlsen's territory, offering them up as trades. Aarit had one less pawn on the board after move 14. But by the 18th move, with some devil-may-care attacking chess, both of his knights were deep in Carlsen's territory threatening his king. By the 25th move, the Indian boy held an advantage on the board. But on the clock, he was down to just 31 seconds while Carlsen had a minute and 25 seconds. By the 29th move, when both queens were traded, Aarit held a significant advantage on the board. But his time was down to 16 seconds, a challenge under any circumstances, but even more so against a player like Carlsen who relishes piling pressure on opponents to see them crack before defeating them. In this case though, Carlsen was the one in trouble on the board, despite having more than a minute to work his way out of jail. By move 31, when Aarit's pawns on e and f files were primed to make a run to get promoted, with both of his rooks guarding them from behind, the engine showed that the Indian boy had a winning position. Aarit held this advantage till the 46th move, when he was down to just seven seconds on the clock. But he had made Carlsen think, leaving the latter with just 20 seconds himself. Eventually, both players agreed to a draw after 49 moves. It must be noted that Carlsen is currently on a vacation with wife Ella, but just how seriously he takes the Titled Tuesday event can be gauged by the fact that he ended third at the event, which featured 664 players. Vijay, who works as a mutual fund distributor in the national capital, is hoping that the draw and the headlines it creates will lead to more sponsors showing an interest in his son's career. 'Sometimes when he has a bad tournament, we jokingly tell him 'tera chess rukwadenge' (We'll stop your chess). He says, 'jo marzi karlo, chess nahi chhodunga' (Do whatever you can, I won't stop playing chess),' laughs Vijay. Ask Vijay what other interests the boy has and the father replies: 'Bas chess hi karta hai. Aur kuch nahi karta. (only chess, nothing else).' Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
Gulf Today
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Giri and Abdusattorov share lead as Sharjah Masters surpasses 1m views
The 8th edition of the Sharjah International Masters Chess Championship, organized by the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, has officially surpassed one million views across social media platforms and international chess websites. Abdallah Murad Al Mazmi, Tournament Director, attributed this milestone to the global interest in the event, which features 350 players from 60 countries — making it a truly international competition. He noted that the daily broadcast of matches on specialized global platforms draws over 250,000 views per day, with India leading in online engagement due to the country's strong player representation and deep-rooted chess culture. Al Mazmi added that the presence of many internationally titled players significantly enhanced the tournament's prestige. The Sharjah Masters is also officially recognized by FIDE, allowing participants to earn qualifying points for the World Cup. In a major achievement, China's Huang Renjie secured the title of International Master after earning 3.5 points — with five draws and one victory — achieving his final norm. He becomes the second player in this edition to earn a title, following Kazakhstan's Edgar Mamedov, who was awarded the Grandmaster title. This marks the first time in the tournament's history that two players have earned international titles during the event. Meanwhile, the eighth round of the championship was inaugurated by Dr. Sultan Al Taher, Board Member of the UAE Chess Federation and Head of Technical Affairs, along with Imran Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, and Omar Fathi Afana, General Manager of FAST Contracting Company, a sponsor of the tournament. The penultimate round featured intense competition at the top of the leaderboard, as Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri and top-seed Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov shared the lead with 6 points. They were closely followed by a group of five players with 5.5 points: Serbians Aleksandar Indjic and Velimir Ivic, Armenian Shant Sargsyan, and Iranians Bardiya Daneshvar and Amin Tabatabaei. Fourteen players, including UAE's Salem Abdulrahman of the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, trail just behind with 5 points.
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First Post
22-04-2025
- Sport
- First Post
'Everybody can beat Magnus Carlsen... he is not a computer: 10-year-old chess prodigy Ivan Kukushkin
Bulgarian chess prodigy Ivan Kukushkin made the bold statement after collecting his second win against an International Master in as many games at the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open, where world No 1 Magnus Carlsen has already been crowned champion with a round to spare. read more Magnus Carlsen sealed his victory at the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open with a round to spare while 10-year-old Ivan Kukushkin punched above his weight to defeat two International Masters. Image credit: Freestyle Chess/Screengrab of YouTube video by Smiling Pawn The 2025 Grenke Chess Freestyle Open got underway just four days after the conclusion of the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and enters its final day on Monday. The event has witnessed the participation of some of the biggest names in the chess world, from world No 1 and Paris Grand Slam winner Magnus Carlsen to Weissenhaus champion Vincent Keymer and runner-up Fabiano Caruana. Watch | Carlsen forces opponent to remove wrist watch before match at Grenke Chess Open Advertisement World No 4 Arjun Erigaisi, who had finished fifth in the French capital on Freestyle debut earlier this month, is also among those in action. As is controversial American Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who finally showed up for a Freestyle Chess event after abruptly withdrawing from the Paris Grand Slam without offering an explanation. Among the players in action at the event which is being hosted in Karlsruhe, Germany, is a 10-year-old chess prodigy Ivan Kukushkin who has a FIDE rating of 2030 and defeated a couple of International Masters – Germany's Georg Seul and Canada's Shiyam Thavandiran, in consecutive games at that. The Bulgarian had even pointed out an illegal rook move during his game against Thavandiran and had a wholesome reaction after defeating his higher-ranked opponent. Watch: 'I can beat Magnus', says 10-year-old prodigy And after his victory over Thavandiran in the fifth round of the event, young Ivan told ChessBase India that he was eyeing the top spot in the tournament, which to no one's suprise would eventually go to Carlsen with a round to spare on Sunday. 'Yeah, I know,' Kukushkin said when host Sagar Shah pointed out that Carlsen was also among those in action at the Grenke Open. 'I can beat Magnus. Everybody can beat Magnus. Magnus is the best in the world but he is not a computer. He can make mistakes,' the 10-year-old added, before pointing out a 'bad move' by Carlsen in his third-round meeting with Swedish GM Nils Grandelius. Advertisement Also Read | Meet 11-year-old Faustino Oro - nicknamed the 'Messi of Chess' Carlsen isn't by any means unbeatable, having lost his semi-final meeting against Keymer in the Weissenhaus Grand Slam and also suffering a defeat against Erigaisi in the round-robin stage in Paris. At the Grenke Chess Open, though, Carlsen has had a perfect campaign by winning all eight games so far. And on Monday, he will be looking to make an emphatic statement by complete a perfect 9.0.
