(March 22, 2024) After a challenging three-hour match last month at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus-Open in Switzerland, Ashwath Kaushik, a third-grade student, was on cloud nine. At just eight years, six months, and 11 days old, he made history by becoming the youngest player on record to defeat a chess grandmaster in a classical tournament match. His opponent was the 37-year-old Polish Grandmaster Jacek Stopa.
“I feel very proud of my game and how I played against the grandmaster. My expectation was to win and my goal was to beat the grandmaster and get the world record,” said the Indian-origin chess player, who represents Singapore in international tournaments.
At the Burgdorfer Stadthaus-Open in Switzerland, he finished 12th overall. ‘It’s a classical contest, and I am very happy with the results,’ he shared after the win.
Impressive milestones at young age
Before facing Stopa, Ashwath had won his opening three games at Stadthaus-Open. The tension in the game had escalated from the early stages. In the 13th move, Stopa proposed a draw, but Ashwath chose to continue. As the game approached its conclusion, the young player capitalised on a mistake made by Stopa, ultimately securing the most significant triumph of his burgeoning career.
The youngster does not like to go for draws. “Fight till the end, even if you are losing because there is still some hope. Never give up and keep playing, try your best,” he said. “Just get to the centre and develop lots of pieces. Don’t blunder pieces randomly and just develop pieces and you’ll be better and your opponent will blunder pieces and then take advantage of the mistakes of your opponent,” he remarked. This is part of his winning strategy, and the young player emphasises, ‘Go in confident, don’t take draws, and always go for the win.’
Born in 2015, the young player has swiftly garnered recognition by securing victories in several youth tournaments. He had emerged the World Under-8 Rapid champion in 2022.
The same year, the then six-year-old had won three gold medals at the Eastern Asian Youth Championships in the Under-8 segment. A year prior to that in 2021, he had in the World Cadets Rapid Championships in Greece, and proved his talent.
“Chess is very important to me because it’s fun to play. You get to think a lot, and it’s good for your brain,” the young boy shared in a recent interview. The eight-year-old travels overseas multiple times a year for tournaments, and has displayed the patience and diligence by playing the game for up to five-and-a-half hours in tough tournaments.
Extraordinary talent
No one in Ashwath’s family plays chess and it was a surprise for his parents to see their son getting such a fine grip of the game at such a tender age. After discovering the game at the age of four the young player would spend hours engrossed in it. “It’s surreal as there isn’t really any sports tradition in our families” Ashwath’s father Kaushik Sriram said in an interview with Chess.com.
When he was introduced to the game by his parents, Kaushik had quickly surpassed their skills and had even outplayed his grandparents. Recognising their son’s extraordinary talent, his parents enrolled him in chess lessons to further hone the game’s tactics.
He ‘has a photographic memory’, Ashwath’s father said. “He solves long complex puzzles visually. He finished GM Jacob Aagaard’s entire Grandmaster series recently without using a board,” he added.
Ashwath also loves building LEGO in his leisure time. However, chess always remains on top of his priority list.
Ashwath Kaushik
Dedication and support
The young player who aspires to become a world champion, was so focussed since the beginning that he could play chess all day. Looking at his extraordinary talent his father had approached some of the best coaches in Singapore, who readily agreed to train the youngster looking at his talent. Amongst Ashwath’s trainers are Kevin Goh Wei Ming, a grandmaster and CEO of the Singapore Chess Federation.
“He is tactically very sharp, mainly due to lots of practice and we are trying to build his strategic understanding,” Goh remarked in an interview. Ashwath has also received training from grandmasters Thomas Luther and Andrey Kvon. A member of the Under-14 squad of Singapore, Ashwath considers Late Soviet-Latvian chess legend Mikhail Tal his idol.
He receives constant support from his parents and his school, Overseas Family School in Pasir Ris. Interestingly, he is keen on introducing his four-year-old brother to the game of chess as well. Like any child, he has his favourites, such as Juicy Drop candy, and enjoys family outings to the Singapore Zoo and Universal Studios Singapore.
The Indian-origin player had moved to Singapore with his parents in 2017 when he was barely two years old.
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