3-year-old Indian prodigy becomes world's youngest chess player

A child in India aged just 3 years, 7 months and 20 days has made his way onto the chess scene by entering the official FIDE (International Chess Federation) list. His name is Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha and he now holds the record for the youngest chess player ever to achieve an official rating, beating the previous record of his compatriot Anish Sarkar, who reached this level at 3 years, 8 months and 19 days.

Despite his very young age, Kushwaha displays exceptional patience and learning ability. He's in kindergarten in the state of Madhya Pradesh and devotes several hours a day to chess training, between practice games, online training and studying instructional videos. According to his father, Siddharth Singh, the child revealed a natural talent from the very first lessons. Within a week, he could already name all the pieces correctly.

To obtain his official FIDE classification, Sarwagya had to beat at least five classified players. The young prodigy even beat experienced adults such as 20-year-old Yogesh Namdev, credited with a rating of 1,696. Considering his young age, his initial score of 1,572 points is particularly impressive, as it far exceeds the minimum requirement of 1,400 points to enter the official ranking.

Kushwaha is an outlier in the international chess landscape. India, land of grandmasters such as Gukesh Dommaraju and Viswanathan Anand, continues to produce world-class talent, and Kushwaha looks set to follow in their footsteps. A talent in a class of his own, this young player holds promise not only for his country, but for the entire chess world.