ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (1010 WINS) – A New Jersey boy has become the youngest chess grandmaster in history.
Abhimanyu Mishra, 12, broke the record Wednesday after defeating grandmaster Leon Mendonca at the Vezerkepzo GM Mix tournament in Budapest, Hungary, according to the U.S. Chess Federation.
Mishra, who hails from Englishtown, is now the world’s youngest grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 4 months and 25 days.
The title was previously held by Sergey Karjakin, who earned the title at 12 years and 7 months.
In addition to being the youngest grandmaster in history, Mishra has broken other records. He was the youngest master in U.S. history at 9 years 2 months, as well as the youngest International Master, a title he received at 10 years, 9 months, and 3 days, the U.S. Chess Federation said.
“We are over the moon that our kid is the youngest grandmaster ever. We are elated,” his mother, Swati Mishra, told the New York Post. “I can’t even describe the feeling. He wanted to be the youngest grandmaster in the world and now he is.”
She said her son practices 12 hours a day and will travel to Russia later this month to take part in the Chess World Cup.
Gov. Phil Murphy applauded Mishra in a tweet Thursday, writing, “Congratulations to New Jersey’s own Abhimanyu Mishra – who, at just 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days old, became the youngest chess grandmaster in chess history. Checkmate!”